Keeping What's His: Tate (Porter Brothers Trilogy 1)

“He was walking home, and he came up on the killer, or the killer used the opportunity to kill him,” Sutton thought out loud before moving to stand beside the front door, Tate’s rifle held seemingly casually in her hand. Keeping both brothers in her line of sight, she lifted the butt of the rifle to her shoulder, pointing it at Tate.

“What the fuck!” Dustin took a step forward.

“Dustin, stop.” Tate jerked him to a halt.

“Listen to your brother,” Sutton warned.

“I’m going to take that shotgun away from you and smack that ass.” Tate now took a step forward.

“Try me. You told me the killer took your gun, so how did Dustin have it?” Sutton pumped the handle, the distinctive noise bringing Tate to a sudden stop.

“I have more than one gun. I don’t carry that one anymore,” he explained, his brown eyes snapping in fury.

His answer explained why the notch marks seemed old and faded. She lowered the weapon.

“Do you mark the barrel of that gun when you get laid by a different woman?”

His silence had her wanting to shoot him.

“I should have known.” Her eyes went to Dustin. “Do you have the same disgusting habit?”

Dustin’s silence betrayed his guilt, too.

“Wow. I see you raised your brother to be a jackass, too.”

“It started out as a joke—”

“Keeping track of the women you sleep with isn’t funny; it’s disgusting.”

Sutton shoved the gun at him before she changed her mind and shot him.

“Woman, have you lost your mind? You don’t handle a shotgun that way. You could have accidently shot one of us.”

“My pap taught me how to handle a gun.”

When both men’s eyes narrowed at her, she gave them a sinister smile.

Dustin returned it with a friendly grin. “I forgot how much I like you. You fucked up when you let her get away.” His eyes traveled down her body. “How do you feel about being with a younger man?”

Sutton made gagging noises.

Dustin’s grin slipped. “That wasn’t nice.”

“The only thing worse, in my opinion, than being with a younger man would be to be with a Porter.”

“What’s wrong with being with a Porter? You’re the one who lied and cheated on Tate. If you didn’t look so good naked before you wrapped up in that towel earlier, I wouldn’t even be interested.”

Sutton held her hand out to Tate. “Give me the gun.”

Tate took a step back, the gun held tightly in his hand. “Calm down. He’s joking.”

“No, I—”

“Shut up, Dustin, before I save Sutton the trouble.”

“I’m going.” He raised his hands up in surrender. “I left the bag of clothes I brought for you outside. Come to the bathroom, and I’ll give it to you.”

Tate nodded before following his brother back to the bedroom.

Sutton went into the kitchen to make herself a bowl of cereal. She was sitting at the table, eating, when Tate returned.

“You didn’t make me a bowl?”

“Why don’t you call one of your women to come and wait on you hand and foot?”

“A simple ‘no’ would have been good enough.”

Sutton watched as he made himself a bowl of cereal. He was pale and moved stiffly. His overpowering presence made him seem better than he actually was. When she saw him almost drop the gallon of milk, she stood up.

“Sit down. I’ll make it for you.” Her fingers accidently touched his when she took the milk from him.

“Thanks.” He sat down at the table as she finished making the cereal for him then set the bowl down in front of him.

“Do you need another pain pill?”

“I already took it when I was in the bathroom.”

Sutton nodded as she sat back down.

“How did you meet your husband?”

She paused with the cereal-filled spoon halfway to her mouth, assessing him. His face was neutral, as if he was just trying to make conversation. Sutton ate her cereal as she decided if she wanted to answer his question.

“Come on. I’m bored being cooped up.”

“So, you want me to discuss my marriage to entertain you?”

“I want you to tell me about your life because I’m interested.” The sincerity in his voice broke her resolve not to discuss her disastrous marriage.

“I met Scott when I was selling pharmaceutical supplies. He was a doctor on my route.”

“Was it love at first sight?”

“No, he actually asked me out several times before I agreed to go out with him. At first, I wasn’t interested. He seemed to be pompous, letting the prestige of his position go to his head. One night, I gave in and went out with him.” She took another bite of her cereal as she remembered back to the time when she had first started dating him.

“He seemed to loosen up while we were dating. He had a sense of humor that was wickedly funny, and I didn’t feel as lonely when I was with him. He asked me to marry him on Valentine’s Day. I thought it was romantic and that he loved me, so I said yes.”