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“What the hell?” Silas demanded. “You kept that from your family? We would’ve helped.”
“How?” She tilted her head at him. “You’re busy with your families. And besides, Cam already uses the security company and is friends with the owner. He took care of it. Justin’s taking care of it. I didn’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily.”
Silas turned my way, his eyes haunted, reminding me of what Olivia had told me about their loss of a sister. His twin. It was clear he still had so much pain buried deep in there and a threat against another person he loved was opening that wound. “And are you? Taking care of it? Are you protecting the girls?”
“With my life.”
He seemed to sense something in me as well. Something I hadn’t said out loud, didn’t have the words for. But it reassured him, and after a moment, he nodded and sat back.
Eventually, conversation shifted to other, less emotional things. Asher told Olivia about his recent promotion to assistant warden and their last vacation to Florida. Levi talked about the store he ran with his wife and his twins’ latest escapades. Silas listened to it all quietly, offering a word here or there and answering when directly asked a question, but otherwise remaining silent, his eyes continually darting across the lawn to his dark-haired wife and daughters.
Olivia laid her head on my shoulder at one point, laughing at something one of them said, and they commiserated that they wished Jamison and Joshua had been able to make it. Two more brothers to add to the Protect Olivia squad, I was sure.
“Maybe next time,” she said with a sleepy smile.
“Yeah,” Levi said. “And are Titus and Elias ever going to come home for a visit?”
I knew she had a brother in the Air Force and another who was acting in L.A., and was probably wishing they could be here too.
“I’m not sure,” she answered.
“Do you have any siblings?” Asher asked, turning to me. “A loud mess like our family?”
I smiled benignly, fighting to keep the tension from my face. Olivia must’ve felt it because she squeezed my hand. “A sister,” I said, keeping it generic. “And, no, my family is pretty tame in comparison.”
I was saved from more questions when Olivia’s dad proudly announced that the burgers were ready.
The crowd became even more boisterous as we huddled around the family-style setup, Olivia’s father offering a quick grace, before everyone dug in and found a spot at one of two picnic tables or at one of the scattered Adirondack chairs in the shade.
It was clearly the women’s turn to feel me out when I found myself at a table surrounded by all the women, earning myself a smirk from Silas the Silencer himself as he sat under a tree with one of his daughters perched on his lap.
“So, how did you two meet?” the blonde I now knew was Harper, the health food store owner, asked after we finished eating.
I glanced at Olivia. “Want me to take this one?” I whispered.
She nodded, tension leaving her body. “Thank you.”
I repeated basically what she’d told her cousins, softening it just a bit and hopefully making it sound more romantic. No need to get the women all riled up over the situation that I had well in hand and ruin this perfectly good day.
“Oh my God,” Silas’s wife, Eden, said, her dark eyes wide. “I’ll bet Silas nearly lost his mind that you kept that a secret until now.”
“He’s okay,” Olivia said with a smile. “Justin reassured him that he’s got it under control.”
Asher’s wife, Genevieve, studied me with the scrutiny of a bloodhound. “He’s okay with it because he knows a man will do anything for the woman he loves.”
I felt Olivia stiffen next to me, but I held my own reaction in check. Nobody had said anything about love, and I didn’t like having one observant woman digging into the depths of feelings I hadn’t finished exploring myself yet.
“Gen—” Olivia started in an emotional whisper, but I cut her off.
“He’s okay with it because I swore on my life to protect them both, and I will.”
“Like I said...” Genevieve shrugged with a little smile.
Thankfully, our awkward powwow was interrupted by a rush of kids as Levi and Harper’s twins ran over along with Asher and Genevieve’s oldest, Caleb.
“Mommy!” Caleb said, his dark eyes dancing. “Can we blow bubbles?”
Genevieve ran a hand over his hair that was a shade lighter than hers. “That’s up to Aunt Judy. What did she say?”