His brother Knox met him outside before he could exit the vehicle. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” Rory answered, shutting the truck door.
Knox was only a year older than Rory and had just turned thirty. He had the Albertini dark hair and height, but his eyes were an unusual mixture of green and blue, which varied according to his mood. Right now, they were a mellow aqua. “You and Serenity figure things out?” He stalked over to his long metal shop and pressed a button to roll up the wide garage door.
“No, not yet. She doesn’t seem to be forgiving me very fast.”
Knox threw back his head and laughed. “That’s why I don’t get involved, brother. I love Serenity. I think you two are meant to be together, but with your career, it’s not the time to settle down…unless you’re finally ready to come on in.”
Rory’s long legs easily ate up the distance to the interior of the shop. Since they’d been born so close together, he and Knox were usually on the same page. They occupied the middle lineage of the six Albertini brothers and were both good at staying under the radar. Usually. “I’m ready to join you as soon as I finish up one last case.”
Knox raised the hood of a vintage Mustang and tossed his brother a wrench. They’d been working on the vehicle for over a year, at least when they were in the same town and had a chance. Knox owned and operated an outfitting company with their other brother. However, that wasn’t all Knox did.
“You sure?” he asked, leaning over to gingerly maneuver a piston in the engine bay.
“I’m sure,” Rory said, stepping up to inspect the cylinder walls, searching for signs of wear or damage. “I finished the last case, and things are just heating up. I’m done interrogating people.”
Knox flashed him a quick grin, looking just like their dad for a second. “Sounds good. However, it’s not exactly like we’ll just be hunting and fishing.”
“I know,” Rory murmured.
“We sure could use your skill set.”
Rory’s chest heated. It’d be nice to work with family again. “I appreciate that, brother.” He ducked his head to start disassembling a valve for Knox to inspect. They definitely needed to replace the worn bearings soon. “I would probably need to tell Serenity the whole truth about the organization.”
“Yes, you would,” Knox agreed. “Vince, Finn, and I have discussed it. If she agrees to be engaged to you again—and not until then—you can tell her everything before the wedding. I mean months before so she can really make up her mind. Work smart and work careful.”
“Yeah, but...” Rory said. “You operate well because nobody knows about the Core.” They weren’t an official organization. Several private security and dark-ops groups had already offered Rory exceptionally well-paying jobs, but if he went the private route, he wanted to work with Knox, Finn, and Vince. They ran a small group of former operatives and soldiers who took private jobs—ones that meant something to them.
Knox’s concentration was as intense as ever. “Serenity would need to know about your new job, and she’d have to keep it confidential.”
That was more than fair. Rory wiped grease off his left hand. “By the way, that’s a nice bruise you have across your temple.”
“Thanks. Got that in, well…right outside of Ukraine.”
That made sense. “Were you successful?”
Knox leaned in, and his voice echoed off the carburetor. “Yeah. A couple needed to flee—American—and we had the best resources for rescuing them. It was dicey for a while, but now here I am at home. There’s nobody to explain the bruise to because I am…unattached,” he said blithely.
“You’re unattached for now, but rumor has it Nonna Albertini has you in her sights.” Rory took great pleasure in the slight paling of his brother’s broad face.
“That doesn’t matter,” Knox uttered a little too forcefully. “I’m in the thick of several campaigns right now and am not involving a woman in any of them. I don’t want to change my life, Rory.”
Rory rolled his neck, popping the side. Relief followed. “I’m not changing my life or profession because of Serenity,” he retorted quickly. “It’s for me. I’m ready to be out and doing something different.” Well, it would be much of the same, but he’d be a private contractor instead of working with the government. So he could choose his assignments. He wanted to have kids someday, and he definitely wanted to stick close to home then. But for now, he had to secure Serenity and get her back where she belonged.
“Do you think there’s a chance she won’t forgive you?” Knox merely sounded curious.
Rory reached for a different wrench. “No. I mean, she’s stubborn and strong, but she also has a heart of gold, and that heart is mine.” He shrugged. “I know I screwed up, but she still loves me, and…I don’t know, we’re meant to be together. Even Nana O’Shea says so.”
“Well, if Nana O’Shea says so”—Knox chuckled—“it must be true.”
Rory was a cynical bastard sometimes, but he believed his Irish nana when she said something was meant to be. The woman was gifted, and if he allowed himself one second of whimsy, he figured she was magical. Either way, even without Nana O’Shea, he knew he and Serenity belonged together. “By the way, I need you to contact whatever sources you have in comms. Someone’s been calling Serenity and harassing her via phone.”
Knox tossed a wrench into a nearby bucket. “Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not you?”
