Or had found a new lady you—”
“No,” Xav said, interrupting to head off that train of thought. Crap, why would they imagine he was looking at anyone besides their sister? He hadn’t since the moment he first saw her. If he counted the years he’d been in love with Ash and waited to have her, he’d certainly put in enough time to grow a beard to his boots. “I did not go off on a bender or with a woman. I went to bring Ash home, as Fiona asked.”
There was general nodding from the brothers. Fiona’s wish was typically her command, and when she gave one everyone jumped. Xav swallowed the whiskey, realizing the atmosphere was tense. Perhaps best to change the subject. “Maybe you’ve heard through the grapevine that I shot Wolf. And Rhein.”
Falcon nodded. “We did hear about that from Ash.”
The room was very still; no one moved. Xav swallowed uncomfortably. He didn’t know if they’d thank him or tell him he’d crossed some huge Callahan boundary. “I know the rule that governs you where Wolf was concerned, but I had no choice. They were kidnapping Ash.” His blood still boiled at the memory.
The Callahans wore grave expressions, displeased by the threat to their beloved sister. He heard a few muttered curse words, some dire venting of temper soaked up by whiskey sipping.
“The problem is, they disappeared,” Xav said. “Wolf and Rhein were dead, as far as I could tell. But when the sheriff went to find them, he said he couldn’t locate the bodies.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” Dante said. “It worries me.”
“You got off clean shots?” Galen asked.
“They were taking Ash,” Xav said, his jaw tensing. “I wasn’t going to let that happen. The shots were clean.”
“Ash says they definitely looked dead.” Tighe shrugged. “Ash would know.”
He’d aimed to kill. “They were as dead as I could make them,” Xav said flatly. “Unless they’re immortal.”
“Then you did your job well,” Jace said. “For that we thank you.”
“Do we?” Sloan asked. “Besides the fact that he didn’t let our sister get kidnapped—which I have no doubt would have ended very badly for all—we were told by Grandfather not to kill his son.”
“Xav’s only a Callahan in spirit,” Falcon said. “Whatever Running Bear is worried about should not apply to Xav.”
“Okay,” Galen said, “so why have you returned?”
The question surprised Xav. “Why wouldn’t Ash want to return to Rancho Diablo? It’s the Christmas season. She’s been gone almost a year.”
“Yes,” Galen said, “but it’s still not safe here.”
“Tell your sister that,” Xav said. “I went to go get her, true, but she wanted to come home after Wolf—” He stopped, not really sure how to proceed. “Why did Ash tell you she wanted to come home?”
“She said you found her, asked her to marry you,” Sloan said. “She says she doesn’t want to marry you.”
They looked quite defensive of their sister, and not impressed with his offer of marriage. If he hadn’t expected some blowback, he might have wilted a bit in the face of this lack of enthusiasm for his marriage suit.
But one expected tricky curves in the road from the Callahans. They were totally unpredictable—and proud of it.
“Look, your sister’s in a difficult spot right now.”
“But you do want to marry her?” Falcon asked.
“Of course I do!” Xav glared at the men who would be his brothers-in-law. “Didn’t you want to marry the mother of your offspring?”
They all looked at him curiously.
“Offspring?” Dante asked. “Has something sprung?”
“What is an offspring, anyway?” Tighe asked his twin. “Offspring. That word makes no sense. It has nothing to do with babies, or children, or anything else.” He looked at Xav. “Ash has no offspring, if you clumsily mean children.”
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