We all burst into laughter and when I glanced back at Bodie his eyes were on me. A tingle raced down my spine at the heat in his gaze.
“See, they are on their way to baby-making already,” Alley said, throwing us all into a fit of giggles again.
Bodie raised a brow, clearly wondering what all the laughter was about. He handed Serenity back to Brinley and started our way.Shit, I need to come up with something good.There was no way I was telling him about our conversation.
I was saved by the doorbell.
The adults stilled and Bodie paused midway to where the girls and I stood. We were probably all wondering the same thing. Everyone we knew was here for Christmas so who would be at the door on a holiday?
Braxton was on the move toward the door. I couldn’t see who was there from where I stood but when Braxton opened the door he didn’t even have time to say a word before a man’s voice made a stern demand. What I heard had my knees buckling and me hitting the floor.
“I want to talk to my sister, Gemma. Now!”
* * *
I couldn’t have heardthe guy right.
Bodie was in front of me in seconds, pulling me to my feet, and shoving me behind him protectively. My hands had a death grip on the sides of my man’s red button-down shirt.
“You need to back up and we can talk about this outside,” Braxton told the man in a serious, don’t mess with me tone.
I watched as Rowan and Landon corralled the kids in a group while the other men walked toward the door in a united front.
They were a force to be reckoned with for sure.
However, the guy on the other side of that door, from what I heard next, didn’t seem to be shaking in his boots or deterred from whatever his mission was.
“You and I seem to have some of the same connections, so when you went asking around about me, I was quick to find out.”
Say what?
Braxton knew about this guy?
“That may be, but since that was only a few days ago and we haven’t spoken, I’m not going to just let you waltz in here, on Christmas nonetheless, to talk to Gemma.” Braxton’s voice was tense. “Especially not after what she’s been through and the threat against her.”
“What do you mean athreat?” the guy asked, sounding pissed.
Before his question could be answered, curiosity got the best of me. That and my worry that Braxton would convince the guy to leave. What if he was my brother?
Letting go of Bodie’s shirt, I rushed around him and out of the kitchen area where I stood but Braxton’s muscular frame was obstructing my view of the newcomer.
“I want to talk to him,” I blurted in a rush.
Braxton swung around to look at me, changing the angle of his body, and there stood the man claiming to be my brother.
My gaze took him in and my breath hitched. All the air left my lungs and I stumbled back as our eyes locked on one another. Bodie was there quickly and stopped me from falling on my ass.
He wrapped his arms around me and whispered in my ear. “I’m here, baby.”
With Bodie at my back and after hearing his softly spoken words, I felt more grounded.
There was no doubt in my mind this man was my half-brother. He looked so much like my father that it was uncanny. I’d always looked like my mother. So many emotions were swirling in my head it was as if I was a child again, spinning in circles on the teacup ride at the fair.
“Braxton, please let him in. I want to talk to—”
I stopped abruptly, not sure how to refer to him.
“Paxton. My name is Paxton.” He gave me a small smile and my heart pounded in my chest. His smile was just like my dad’s too. Down to those dimples that warmed a person’s heart every time.
