Read Leverage (The Brannock Siblings) for Free Online Page B

over the last
few years.
    I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not.
    By the time I had started making dinner, he had settled himself
on one of the stools at the island and watched me. Or at least, I think he
watched me. I felt his eyes burning into me the whole time, but being the
coward that I am, and completely unprepared to show him how confident I could
actually be, I didn't dare look at him.
    When my back was to him, I felt the familiar tingle on the
back of my neck that I had spent my whole life feeling when he was nearby.
After a moment, it would feel as if he was right behind me, running his fingers
down my back and stopping just above my backside. It had to be my imagination.
No way were his eyes on my ass.
    My curiosity would get the best of me and when I finally
turned around, I found him looking down at the counter in front of him, looking
at the day's newspaper.
    Yep, totally my imagination.
    It had been a welcome distraction when we had decided to
call my brothers and it gave me a moment to clear my head. I needed to keep my
head in the present reality, not in my hopeful imagination.
    "He should be home by now," I said when Lucas
walked into the kitchen after finishing up with Conall.
    I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and he took a deep
inhale and closed his eyes. "Mmm, that smells incredible, Ash. Don't
worry. He should be back any minute. He probably just took a little longer
because he had to get everything on the case gathered so he could bring it to
me. I need to review everything that happened during the meeting, too."
    "Are you not going to be able to go back in?" I
asked, worried that my presence was going to cause problems with him figuring
out this case.
    "I will once we get a schedule worked out. Your dad
will probably stay with you during the morning while I go in, then we'll switch
in the afternoon. He'll be staying later than normal."
    I frowned because I didn't like the sound of that. What if
he ended up alone at the station and something happened?
    "Don't worry. Everything will work out," he said
softly and leaned against the counter beside me.
    "I just wish I didn't feel like such a burden. If I
hadn't moved back, Dad wouldn't have to worry about me and he could just worry
about himself. I don't want anything to happen to him."
    I was starting to get emotional and no matter what I did, I
couldn't swallow passed the lump in my throat. My dad was one of the most
important people in my life. If anything happened to him…
    "Hey," Lucas grabbed my shoulders, bending down to
look straight into my eyes. "I don't want anything to happen to him
either, but you are our priority right now, Ash. If anything happened to you …"
He squeezed my shoulders and pulled me into a hug. "I wouldn't be able to
forgive myself."
    Before I could think too deeply about what he had just said
and before I could really soak up the warmth and strength of his arms, the
garage door swung open and Dad walked in with his arms full of paperwork.
    Lucas immediately released me and moved away.
    My dad grinned as he looked back and forth between us. Lucas
walked over to help him with the stack of files. "Thanks, Luke. Wow, it
smells good, Aislinn. Been a long time since I had a good meal."
    I didn't let him say anything more. The second Lucas had
taken the paperwork from him, I was running into my father's arms.
    "Whoa, my beauty. Everything is okay," he murmured
in my ear and held me tightly while the anxiety from the day started to melt
away.
    "No it's not. Someone has threatened my dad. Everything
is totally fucked up," I mumbled against his shoulder.
    "Language, young lady!" he snapped, but I could
feel the deep chuckle that he couldn't hide from me. I think he secretly
enjoyed my swearing. Probably reminded him of Mom.
    I pulled away so I could look at him. His dark blue eyes
looked tired and sad, but they still glimmered with humor. His dark hair was
salted with scattered grays and his smile was just as warm as