“Uncle…Miggy?”
Heather’s niece Cashlyn—Murdoch Lake’s little sister-in-law—shot Dom a grin. She was a beautiful woman, too—just notin the same way as her older sister Zoey or her aunt. But the resemblance was there. Strongly. She looked more like a fairy princess than a goddess, as he’d heard Lake describe his wife. No denying that.
Hell, every Coleson woman on the planet could have a man hitting his knees begging, with just one smile.
“Why not? It’ll happen eventually. Hope just doesn’t seem to realize that yet. It’s getting a little entertaining, you know. Especially with…him in and out all the time. And Daniel.”
Dom just snorted. Poor Daniel. Bastard was getting what he deserved. Dom knew exactly what the other man was trying to accomplish by staying with Heather’s family.
It wasn’t what the man said it was. Not by a long shot. “Dan doing okay tonight?”
“As far as I know, he was having a bit of trouble…resting. No surprise, honestly. Our house is a bit chaotic at times. There are just so many of us. Bound to get a…rise…out of a man now and then.”
She was up to something. This woman had a wicked soul. He’d bet his last paycheck on that. Yes, he’d admit, there was a small stirring of attraction forthisone. Nothing like the hold Madison had over him though. Just enough to appreciate that she was an attractive woman. But Madison had him completely. “I’m sure it does just that. Heather woke. Recognized me. Asked me a few questions. I told her the elder Grundenman was still on the run. She was lucid, but exhausted.”
“That’s wonderful. Hopefully, next time she can stay awake longer. That’s what’s next in her recovery. Longer stretches. She’s going to be okay.”
He ignored how her voice broke.
The Colesons had been through some serious shit lately.
And unlike a lot of his pals, Dom didn’t believe they were up to their eyeballs in what was going on in this city. He just didn’t.But why shit seemed to be circling one particular family didn’t make a bit of sense to him at all, either.
Someone else came to the door. Dom tensed then relaxed. Heather’s oldest sister stood in the door—looking very much like her daughter. Maybe it was the almost matching scrubs. Wonkus McBubbles and Prince Rufus dotted both women’s shirts.
“Hi, Mama. Break time?”
“Yes. I wanted to check on her, sweetie. How is she?” The two even sounded alike when they spoke.
“Handsome here said she woke and spoke for a little while. Even recognized him.”
They sounded alike, and Cashlyn looked very much like the woman who had adopted her.Toomuch like her, he’d heard one idiot say. Even the damnedSnotty Garlichad weighed in—claiming this womanwasn’tadopted, but was a clone of Bonnie provided by Eastman to serve Bonnie’s need to be a mother. An actual geneticclone.The latest theories didn’t involve IVF, they involved cloning and surrogates. Or aliens—theSnotty Garlicsaid the Colesons were all alien-births.
Never mind that the very police report where Denita Coleson had abandoned Cashlyn in a hospital at birth had been found by all the major news companies in Texas and part of Oklahoma. And published. Bonnie had been almost seven months pregnant with her only biological daughter when she’d adopted Cashlyn straight from the NICU. It was very well documented.
This young woman’s history was plastered all over the internet now.
He did see whereclonewould make sense. Cashlyn was a younger version of Bonnie right down to the hairline and ears.
“Hello, Detective Acardi. How are you this evening?” Bonnie turned her attention to him. Turning those eyes on him. And smiled.
That was all it took.
Dom stumbled through the small talk. Cashlyn was beautiful, but Bonnie carried herself in a way that he found disconcerting. No denying that to himself. She was such a…lady. Almost like a little queen, too good to be bothered by the rough peasant men like him.
Rather like her niece, the governor’s wife, who also resembled this woman a great deal. Dom had gotten tongue-tied around Ariella Deane a time or two, too. Never had a problem with the governor’s wife’s sister Zoey, though. Zoey was as intense as Heather—and looked just like her. Terrifying.
Funny, how genetics worked. How families tied together, even when the people involved didn’t recognize those ties.
When he left Heather’s room, he at least had a direction to go in.
He just had to track down her precious baby sister.
The Gremlin of the TSP.
That was what he’d do—first thing in the morning.
Now, though…he had a Madison to catch.
