Shattered (Steel Brothers Saga 7)

“Nice duds,” Talon said to me.

“Yeah, I didn’t get the memo on the dress code.”

“It’s all island wear here, even at dinner,” he said. “Where were you, anyway? We would’ve told you what to wear.”

“I walked over to the nude beach and took a quick swim in the pool.”

Talon laughed. “Hey, guys,” he said to the others. “Ry here already made a visit to the nude beach.”

The razzing from my brothers began. Joe’s friend Bryce joined in as well.

“Where are the ladies?” I asked.

“Jade was still getting ready when I left,” Talon said. “She told me to go ahead.”

“Ditto for Melanie,” Jonah said. “I assume Marj and Ruby will be along with them any minute.”

“Cool.” I sat down and opened the menu. “I don’t imagine they have any decent wines around this place.”

“In your opinion?” Jonah said. “Probably not. But they should have some good wine.”

I perused the list and was pleased to find a few I approved of. I ordered a couple bottles, while Talon ordered a bourbon, Jonah a martini, and Bryce a beer.

“So where’s Henry this week?” I asked Bryce, referring to his nearly one-year-old son.

“With my mother and my aunt.”

“And how’s your mom doing?” I regretted the words as they left my lips. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about that. Then again, if Henry was staying with his mother, surely she was okay.

“She’s better. It helps her to be around Henry. And she’s with my Aunt Vickie too, so between the two of them, Henry’s in good hands. Mom was suffering from a little bit of neurosis and some situational depression after she found out about my father. And then his suicide?

?? To be honest, I think she’s relieved that he’s gone.”

“Understandable.”

“She’s going to stay with Aunt Vickie for a while. They need each other right now. Now that Vickie knows for sure what happened to her son, and my father’s part in it…” Bryce sighed. “Uncle Chase is there. They’ll be all right.” He smiled. “And I plan to call. A lot.”

“Marj sure does adore Henry,” I said. Marjorie had taken care of Bryce’s son a few times. I had never imagined her as the motherly type. She hadn’t been content to stay in the house like a good girl, much to my chauvinist father’s chagrin. She worked right alongside us guys on the ranch. I never imagined her doing anything in the childcare department, but she had really taken to the little guy.

“Here come the women now,” Talon said, smiling. His eyes were glued to Jade, his fiancée.

Jade was beautiful, her golden-brown hair tumbling down around her shoulders, and she wore a pink bikini top—yeah, she was my brother’s woman, but she had an amazing rack—and a black-and-pink sarong tied around her waist.

Melanie, Jonah’s fiancée, had wavy blond hair and was taller than Jade and not as curvy. She looked gorgeous in a casual black dress that showed off her great legs.

Our sister, Marjorie, was the tallest of the lot at around six feet. She was wearing a red sarong tied into a dress.

Coming up behind her was—

My eyes nearly popped out of my head. Who the hell was that?

Sleek dark hair with only slight waves hung well below her shoulders, resting on beautiful breasts. A light-blue V-neck tank showed lots of cleavage, and a denim miniskirt hugged her hips. Her legs were shapely, and so were her arms. This woman was athletic—athletic but still curvy and perfect in all the right places. Her full lips were painted scarlet, and her face…

Ruby Lee.

Still no makeup other than maybe some mascara and the red lipstick. Damn, she didn’t need it.

She was beautiful. And God…that body.