“The lab still has everything we collected but I’m sure he wore gloves. “
“What about this woman who was killed? You said she worked for the records department in city hall? Could that be more than coincidence?”
“Anything is possible at this point, Sandman. I mean, we can’t figure this out. We don’t have any leads and even the guy who was framed for Clara Thompson’s murder didn’t think he had any enemies.”
“I’ll have Duke and Big Jay look into this a bit more,” Sandman replied as he watched Grace joke around with his brothers. She wasn’t going to take the latest news too well. She felt responsible even though she wasn’t. He decided he would talk to his brothers first and have them find out more about the woman who was killed and about the guy the real killer framed for Grace’s sister’s murder.
“What was that about?” Big Jay asked as Grace began cleaning up from breakfast. Duke was bumping into her, flirting, and pretending to act nonchalant about it. They liked her. That thought hit his stomach like a ton of bricks.
“Nothing. Jim is going to send me some stuff. I want you and Duke to look into a few things for me.”
Grace turned toward him.
“Is everything okay? Did something else happen?” she asked.
He felt bad for lying to her, but he wanted a little time to gather some good news.
“It’s fine. Just some new details. This is why I have my brothers helping me out. So, why don’t I show you the library we have and the awesome number of books. If there’s nothing you like, we have an e-reader in there, too. You can download whatever you’d like,” Sandman stated. Duke stared at him over Grace’s head. Duke knew that Sandman was keeping something hidden from Grace.
“Hey, I’ll show her the library and you can go over the things you want Big Jay and I to look into.”
He stared at his brother and felt the tinge of awareness as Duke placed a hand on Grace’s shoulder then ran his hand down her arm to her hand. It caught both Grace and Sandman off guard. But even more so was the way Grace immediately turned toward Sandman. “Go with Duke, honey. You’re in good hands,” he stated.
His words suddenly felt as if they had more meaning than he could even comprehend right now. It was instant and Grace felt it, too. Her cheeks turned a shade of red, a
nd then to top it off Big Jay walked over to her. The sight of his brother Jay, standing over six and half feet, in front of a very gorgeous, petite woman like Grace as his other brother Duke remained holding her hand, stirred his entire body. His cock hardened, his eyes felt as if they zoned in on her face, her lips, her body, and instantly he could see them making love to her together. Holy fuck! This is what Jim and his brother feel for Deanna. This is exactly what Gunner, Garrett, and Wes felt for Gia.
He and his brothers thought about getting involved in a ménage relationship because of their lack of trust issues and what they felt were hardened hearts. If there were three of them to love one woman, then she would never be at a loss for attention and love. So if one of them or even two out of the three were having a hard time facing their emotions or dealing with their military pasts, then the other brother or brothers could take over providing attention to their woman. It made sense. The three of them had lost a lot of their empathy, their connection to other human beings.
“I’ll come check on you in a little while, okay?” Big Jay whispered as he gently rubbed his fingers under her chin, gripping it gently. She looked like an angel as she stared up into his brother’s eyes appearing timid and shy. When she licked her lower lip, Big Jay moaned then abruptly released her and stepped away. He walked over to his laptop computer and released a long sigh.
Grace locked gazes with Sandman and he stared at her, unable to say a word. It seemed the attraction between the four of them was immediately intense.
“Go ahead, darlin’,” Sandman whispered and Duke led her out of the kitchen and still remained holding her hand.
* * * *
Big jay was trying to calm himself down. He nearly kissed the poor woman. Holy shit I don’t know what came over me and then she licked her lip and fuck, I almost grabbed her and kissed her. What am I thinking?
“Hey, are you okay?” Sandman asked him and he wondered if his brother and Duke felt what he was feeling.
“No, I’m all fucked up.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know damn well what I mean, Sandman. You see her, you feel it, don’t you?”
Sandman ran his hands through his hair then turned his back toward Big Jay and looked out toward the sliding glass doors.
“She’s a beautiful woman. It’s natural to be attracted to her, Big Jay. Don’t freak out.”
“Fuck you, don’t freak out. I saw the desire in her eyes, in Duke’s eyes and yours, too,” Big Jay stated as he turned his brother around by his upper arm. They were nearly toe-to-toe and even though Big Jay had a few inches on Sandman, his brother was just as big and just as strong.
“She’s in danger. Jim just called and said that they found the other body. The one of the missing woman whose picture was sent to Grace.”
Big Jay felt his blood pressure rising. He saw the pictures through the e-mails Jim sent along. The woman was beautiful, with long brown hair and green eyes. He also knew what Grace found in the envelope. His brother had explained everything.
“Why didn’t you tell Grace?”