He rolled a massive shoulder. “I’ve always been proud.”
“Baloney.” The way she remembered it, West had been plenty pissed at her when she’d “stood up to” their dad.
Another breeze stirred, bringing with it the scent of rain.
Hands in his pockets, West looked up at the darkening sky, then to Dash and the cat. “You’ve got it wrong, you know.” That quiet, too serious tone settled around her. “I just wasn’t crazy about your timing.”
“Things happen when they happen.” With her dad, well, there had been no putting off the inevitable. Not if she hoped to keep a clear conscience.
Not if she was to live up to the standards she set for others.
“The timing could have screwed you over more than anyone else.” He kept his voice low but some rough, anomalous emotion filled every word. “I should have known to trust you to work it out, though. And I’m sorry that I didn’t. You blow it off as just doing the expected, but the way you’ve risen through the ranks is nothing short of impressive. The rest...” West again glanced at Dash standing vigilant on the front porch—while also staying very focused on Margo. “Well, let’s just say you did what was right. I know it. Even Dad knows it—though I doubt you’ll never hear him admit it.”
A compliment from her father? Yeah, right. Compliments were for the weak needing validation. And she was never weak.
But the praise from her brother...it filled her like a sweet bubble. “I don’t need anything from Dad. But from you...” What could she add to that? She shook her head. “It means a lot. Thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome.” He nodded toward Dash. “I don’t think he trusts me any more than he does Dad.”
She turned her head—and found Dash staring at them.
Again.
Still.
Knowing the truth, Margo twisted her mouth and gave her attention back to her brother. “He trusts you or he’d have dragged me along with him to the porch, rather than leave us alone.”
West cocked a brow. “You would allow that?”
The brisk, fresh air filled her lungs. So many weighty problems occupied her thoughts, yet with Dash, she felt more lighthearted than she knew was possible. “It’s funny. He has this protective, almost gallant streak that somehow...flatters me.”
“No kidding?” West grinned, showing his beautiful teeth and that undeniable charm that could win over Satan himself. “I never figured you for being that female. Even as a little bug you were pugnacious as hell, always determined to do everything I did, by yourself, without any help from anyone. Even a hint of assistance offended you grossly.”
“I’m not a little girl anymore.”
“No, but from what I could tell you’ve only grown more independent with age. Hell, Margo, you make grown men shake in their boots.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
He put a hand over his heart. “Swear. You do understand that’s the reason most of them give you such a hard time, right? You intimidate the hell of out of them.”
She laughed and shook her head. Sure, they resented her authority, disdained her rank, but she didn’t know of any men who feared her.
“Laugh it up, but I’m not telling you a tale.” Undecided for only a moment, he stepped closer and said, “Last week I had to threaten to deck a guy. I caught him running his mouth about you to two of his idiotic buddies.”
“I don’t want you fighting for me!”
A slow grin spread. “You see what I’m talking about?” He leaned down to face her and enunciated clearly. “I’m your big brother. Grant me the right to defend my little sis, will you?”
He sounded so silly, Margo’s smile went crooked. Indulging him, she gestured for him to continue. “Okay, let’s hear it. What heinous things did the knucklehead say about me?”
“He called you a ballbuster. Said you were always breathing down his neck, demanding perfection.” West shrugged. “That’s me prettying it up a little for your ears, by the way. No way will I repeat his exact words. But I’d like it to go on the record that your reaction is typical for you. You brush off their dumb insults like they’re nothing, like the men giving them are nothing. And that, as much as anything else, really neuters a guy.”
“So what? You think I haven’t heard it all before?” But then curiosity got the better of her. “So what did you say to him?”
West rubbed his ear. “Well, first I told him to take out his tampon and stop PMSing.”
“West!” The sexist remark should have annoyed her, but instead it had her laughing. And that, too, was another of Dash’s influences. The gravity of her existence had been lightened by his presence.
West shared her amusement, even looking pleased by it. “I also told him you asked no more of others than you were willing to do yourself and if he couldn’t keep up, then maybe he wasn’t much of a man.”
“Wow, bet he took that well.”
“He’s lucky all he got was a verbal slap because I really wanted to stomp him—and he knew it. The clincher, though, was when I told him I just might report his behavior to you. He apologized real quick and went on his way.”
Smirking, Margo wondered if gratitude was in order or not. She settled on a shoulder bump and said, “Thanks for sticking up for me.”
“If it’s any consolation, his two buddies weren’t impressed with him. They both told me they haven’t had any problems with you. They said they’re glad you’re tightening things up.”
Who were they? She badly wanted to know, but refused to ask. “Glad to hear it. But you have to know that’s an isolated incident.”
“Not.”
“Dash has never been intimidated.” Just the opposite. He took great pleasure in showing her how soft and small she was in comparison to his strength and size. And thinking that made her shiver anew. She needed to be alone with Dash. Now.
Looking over her head, West missed her reaction. “Given how Dash is scowling at Dad, I’d say it’d take a lot to unnerve that one.”
She jerked around, and sure enough Dash and her father were headed toward them. Her father led the way with Dash close behind him. He must’ve put Oliver back in the house because he no longer held the cat, and the front door was again closed.
“Took him long enough,” West observed.
“He probably made a private call.” Maybe even to Dan. It wasn’t beyond her father to tattle on her to the commander. “You know Dad and his...allies.”
“Not as well as you do, obviously.” West scowled. “If you need me to run interference—”
“I can deal with Dad.”
“How you deal with him seems to have taken a sudden change. Should I credit Dash with that?”
He could credit overwhelming lust for the transformation; she needed to be alone with Dash and didn’t mind angering her father to see it happen. But she wasn’t going to explain any of that to her brother. “It’s probably just your imagination.”
“It’s not, but I’ll let it go for now.” Leaning closer, he said in a low voice, “Before they get here, I want you to know that I’m done keeping quiet about things. It hasn’t helped and in fact has only made matters worse.” His hand touched her chin. “After that damned wreck... Well, we could have lost you.”
“West,” she said, letting him know she was fine.
“Just thought you should know, I’m here if you need me.”
What in the world did that mean? Margo wanted to ask, but her Dad already stepped between them.
“You said you see the doc tomorrow?”
Cautious, unsure of his motives, Margo nodded. “Yes.”
“When?”
“A morning appointment.” As Dash stepped up close to her, he slipped his arm around her waist—and even that inflamed her. “I should know something by noon or so.”
He ignored Dash. “You’ll go into work after that?”
“I’ll probably come by here first to dress in appropriate clothes.” And molest Dash. She straightened her spine. “And then, yes, I’ll go in to the station.”
As if he’d expected no less, he nodded. “I heard about your newest case.”
How much did he know? Did he know that someone had offered a reward for her? That some very twisted individuals wanted to punish her? She hoped not. Given her father’s mercurial mood swings, she didn’t know if he’d smirk, expect her to single-handedly find the men...or maybe even offer herself as bait.
Refusing to give anything away, Margo asked, “What case is that?”
Annoyed by her obvious evasion, Martin waved a hand. “This kerosene business. Sick shit.”
“Yes.” Very sick.
“But you shouldn’t be involved.” He pointed at her. “Dan told you to take time away, and that’s what you should do.”
Good, he didn’t know. She felt Dash watching her, felt his presence beside her. It was comforting, but also unnerving because she shouldn’t want or need his comfort. “I would only be off duty until I got clearance. Tomorrow the doctor will give me clearance.”
“Maybe.” Her father gave her his patented glare of censure. “Who’s your doctor?”
Did he hope to butt in, to maybe influence a medical specialist? She wouldn’t put it past him. But if so, why? One minute he badgered her about not working, and now he acted as if he wanted to prohibit her from it. “You don’t know him, Dad, but don’t worry. He has an excellent reputation.”
“Great,” West said. “I expect to hear from you tomorrow, okay? Let me know what he says.”
“Sure.”
West opened the passenger door, holding it for Martin. “Let’s go, Dad. I have a hundred things to do yet today, and we’ve interrupted enough.”
In lieu of reassuring either of them that they hadn’t interrupted at all, Margo dismissed them by saying, “Drive carefully.”
Her father didn’t ask for a call. He didn’t say anything. He just mean-mugged Dash a little, turned and settled his large frame into West’s car.
Margo watched as they backed out. She watched as they drove up the street, as they started around the corner.
Dash watched her. “Your family doesn’t know about the bounty put on your head?”
“God, no. Trust me, we’ll all be better off if my family stays out of my business.” Even West, who claimed to want to support her, would complicate things if he knew.
“You and West talked for so long, I assumed you told him.”
Oh no, she wouldn’t get sidetracked with lengthy conversations. She knew she was in over her head when even a visit from her father didn’t dilute her physical need for this one specific man.