Deadly Secrets Read Online Free

options.” Ian frowned at him.
    “Yeah. You keep telling yourself that.” He leaned over and punched Ian in the arm. “So thanks.”
    Aiden grinned. “Bet that hurt.”
    “Not as much as I thought it might. So again,” he said, “where are we going for our overly extended time of brotherly bonding?”
    No one said anything for a moment. Then Brayden looked at him. “You know, I don’t remember you being such a smart-ass before.”
    “Side effect of the meds I take.”
    Several of his brothers laughed. He only smiled.
    “Well, I for one am damned glad,” Brody Kinncaid said.
    They had a few cousins. Brody and Conner were the only two they’d claim. Brody came, but Conner was in Taiwan.
    “Were you also threatened?”
    “Hell, no,” Brody said, plopping down beside him. “I figured it would be like those summer trips we were forced to take as kids when our parents met at the Vineyard.” He sighed. “Miss those times, truth be told. Now we work all the time.”
    “If you didn’t defend scumbags, you might enjoy life better,” Ian told him, grinning.
    “Yes, but since I’ve gotten so much practice, cousin, you’ll know I can adequately represent you if any of your sins ever come to light.”
    Ian snorted and took a drink. “Johnno said he’d try to make it and Gabe is flying down tomorrow.”
    John Brasher, Ian’s business partner, and Gabe Morris, one of D.C.’s finest brothers in blue.
    “Fun time had by all.”
    “And if we get arrested in New Orleans, then our dear cousin will be able to get us out.”
    Brody flipped Ian off and settled back against his seat.
    New Orleans? Huh. Quin wouldn’t have guessed Ian would pick New Orleans for a trip, but Quin had always loved the city.
    “New Orleans?” he asked his brother.
    Ian shrugged. “If you don’t like the destination, too damned bad. You pick the location and plan the trip next year.”
    Next year. Another trip with his brothers . . . He grinned.
    Quin looked around at them all. Yeah, this trip should prove interesting. He’d just go with the flow. He was good at that, after all. He tended to forget things more now than he had before, he knew that—more from people’s expressions than having to look at a schedule or something and see that he’d missed something else. He couldn’t run anymore and damned if he didn’t miss his morning runs. Or skiing. He really missed skiing this winter with Aiden and his gang. For the last couple of years they would invite him to go out to Colorado and hit the slopes with them. He loved to ski and he damned well missed it.
    So he’d go along with whatever his brothers had lined up, at least as long as it suited him. Going along with it, just taking what came his way. It was about all he was good at anymore.
     
    * * *
     
    New Orleans
     
    The boys were all settling into their rental. Someone, probably Aiden, had rented a house in the Quarter with plenty of rooms and enough genuine antiques to make Brayden see dollar signs. The rest were well on their way to enjoying the day in an inebriated state.
    He took a deep breath and sighed as he walked down the sidewalk.
    He’d always enjoyed the French Quarter here in New Orleans. It was almost like a work of art in and of itself. Music wafted on the air, several different pieces. Someone was practicing a violin, a guitar also rode through a window.
    The houses here had ahold of him, always had. He’d thought about purchasing one once upon a time, but then . . .
    Hell, why hadn’t he? ’Course, if he had, it now would not be worth what he would have paid for it after the housing market crashed. Still, though, he’d have his own place.
    Now?
    Now he was the only sibling that still lived in the hotel. Aiden had, once upon a time, and even Brayden and Gav had spent their time in their own suites on the upper floor of the family hotel in D.C.
    But now they all had their own homes, their own families to fill them.
    And he had what?
    A limp?
    A job he