Page 19

Bishop

I strode around to the passenger side of the car, opened the door, and stooped to offer my hand to the woman seated inside. Her green eyes blinked up at me briefly, and then she slowly slid her fingers over mine and allowed me to help her out.

“Open doors, pay for food, and—”

“Heavy lifting, I know.” Her soft voice was wry. “I’m still not convinced this is a good idea.”

“You’d rather go to the party without any confidence in being able to convince everyone we’re married and in love?”

“I’d rather not go at all.”

“It’s not like I didn’t give you all the information before you signed on the dotted line.”

“You didn’t . I’m pretty sure you still haven’t told me everything.”

I hit the button on the key fob and locked the door, then offered Eden my arm. She hooked her fingers around it and kept pace beside me.

“I’ve told you everything you need to know. This is not a normal situation for me, either. Normally, I take a fee and do the job. I’m not usually part of the assignment. You just happened to appear at a time when it was useful for me.” I glanced at her. “It’s a win/win really, for both of us. You get something that you would never have been able to afford. I get a way out of something I never should have started.”

I placed my hand on top of hers and stopped just before the entrance to the restaurant.

“If you really don’t think you can pull this off, now’s the time to say something. Once we go in there, we’re committing to following this through to the end.” I ignored the little voice in my head that pointed out how a couple of days ago, I’d have told her if she didn’t play her part, then the deal was off.

She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. For a moment, I thought she was about to call a halt but then she nodded.

“You’re the oldest of three brothers. Rook is the middle child, and ... Knight ? That’s right, isn’t it? Knight is the youngest?”

“That’s right.”

“We’re meeting Rook, and his girlfriend, Magdalena tonight. They’ve been together for five months.”

I nodded.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath, then stepped forward toward the doors.

I caught her hand as it fell from my arm and tugged her back beside me. “We really should walk in together.”

A blush colored her cheeks. “Right … of course.”

“Take a breath. Treat this evening like it’s the first day of your new life.”

She slanted a look at me. “Easy for you to say.”

“Isn’t that what it is, though? The last couple of days have been laying the foundation, now it’s time to put it into action.” I tightened my grip on her hand and led her inside the restaurant.

An usher stood to one side, and he murmured a low greeting when we stopped in front of him.

“Reservation for four, Chambers.”

“One moment, sir.” He looked down at the tablet in his hand and scrolled through the list. “Your guests have already arrived. If you’ll follow me …”

He led the way through the tables toward a corner at the far left of the restaurant. The back of Rook’s head came into view, a familiar brunette beside him, and we stopped beside the table.

“Bishop.” My brother rose to his feet, his eyes moving from me to the woman beside me.

“Rook, this is Eden. Eden … Rook and Magdalena.”

“Pleased to meet you.” Eden held out a hand.

Rook quirked an eyebrow in my direction but accepted it and shook.

“Bishop!” Magdalena stood and wrapped her arms around my waist, leaning up to kiss my cheek.

“Forgiven me for the interruption earlier, then?”

She turned pink, then laughed and bumped my arm with her shoulder before turning to greet Eden with a warm smile. I moved to the opposite side of the table and pulled out a seat. When Magdalena returned to her place beside Rook, Eden took the seat I was holding, and I sank onto the one next to her.

“I ordered a bottle of wine for the girls,” Rook said into the silence, waving a hand toward the bottle on the table. “Is that okay?” He directed the question at Eden, who nodded. “I’m curious about how you met. Bishop isn’t known for his charming personality.” He filled two glasses, handed one to Eden and the other to Magdalena.

“She was having car trouble,” I replied before Eden could. “I stopped to help.”

“Really?” Rook drew the word out. “And then what? You were struck by lightning?”

“No, I tried to leave, and he shot the ground by my feet.” Eden answered his question.

Magdalena choked on the sip of wine she’d taken. “He did what? ”

“We met in Dallas; he wanted me to fly to New York with him. I said no. When I walked away—”

“You ran away,” I pointed out.

“You were trying to kidnap me.”

“I’m fairly confident I wasn’t trying to do anything. I’d already done it.”

“When I ran away, he fired his gun at my feet.”

“If I’d meant to fire at your feet, I’d have hit your feet.”

Magdalena was shaking her head.

“What?”

“You and Rook are exactly the same.” She smiled against her glass.

“I didn’t try to shoot you.” Rook draped an arm across her shoulders.

“Yes, you did! When I came to your place that night. You held a gun to my head!” She looked at Eden. “He held me at gunpoint for an hour. I thought he was going to kill me.”

Rook snorted. “Then you shouldn’t go creeping around people’s backyards without invitation.”