Read Online All or Nothing by Deborah Cooke - Free Book Online Page A

head. He glared at Zach. “You’ve changed, man. I thought I could count on you.”
    â€œYeah, well, ditto.” Zach raised a hand to his eye and winced that it was swelling fast. He never would have imagined that Snake-Eyes could have even thrown a punch. The guy’s usual tactic was begging. Maybe he’d gotten lucky. Or Zach had gotten unlucky. “I guess times have changed, Snake-Eyes.”
    Snake-Eyes smiled, suddenly contrite and about as trustworthy as a rattler. “I guess so, man. Hey, sorry about the eye.” He offered his hand as if shaking would make Zach’s injuries evaporate.
    This time it was Zach who stepped back. He saw his former customer more clearly now, saw how years of substance abuse had eroded Snake-Eyes to sinew, saw the future he’d evaded by leaving that life behind. Weed was the least of Snake-Eyes’ problems.
    He glanced at Snake-Eyes’ outstretched hand for only a moment, then decided to take a pass on touching the other man.
    â€œYeah. So am I.” Zach turned and walked away, grimacing at the ache in his gut. He hoped he hadn’t broken a rib.
    â€œHey, see you around, man,” Snake-Eyes called after him.
    â€œNot if I see you first,” Zach muttered. The way his eye was puffing up, he wasn’t going to be seeing much from that side for the foreseeable—ha ha—future.
    He was going to need some ice.
    Actually, he might need more than that. His eye was closing so rapidly that he was frightened. Should he go to the ER? He needed advice from someone who knew about such things.
    He and Roxie would have to inflict themselves on someone.
    Unfortunately, the one person Zach knew who was most likely to know what to do about his eye was married to the one person who disapproved most heartily of him. There was some kind of cosmic rule wrapped up in that, but Zach wasn’t in any shape to figure it out. His sister-in-law Maralys was street-savvy and would take the injury in stride, as well as know whether he should seek medical assistance. The price of her consultation would be not only her cutting commentary, but possibly a lecture from Zach’s oldest brother James.
    Fun wow. It said something that even knowing that, he’d go to their place ASAP.
    * * *
    Not thirty minutes later, Maralys opened the door and smiled at Zach. He blinked, because she was a redhead today and had been a brunette when last he’d seen her, but it was still his sister-in-law.
    The wicked smile gave her away.
    â€œNice, fresh shiner,” she said.
    Roxie, recognizing the house, darted past them both and headed for the kitchen with her tail wagging in anticipation. She’d be busy doing the perimeter sniff for a good twenty minutes.
    â€œGlad you’re amused,” he said.
    â€œShould I ask about the other guy?”
    â€œHis knuckles might be bruised.”
    â€œWere you being gallant, or were you completely trounced?”
    â€œHey, no need to build up my ego here.”
    â€œYou’re a Coxwell.” Maralys stood back to let him come in. “There’s no need to build up the egos of any of you.”
    â€œI heard that,” James called from further in the house.
    Zach stifled a groan. He’d hoped to talk to Maralys without seeing his oldest brother, but James was sauntering into the foyer. There was, he thought, no point in disguising his feelings. “Great. You would be home when I come begging for mercy.”
    â€œNobody said you had good luck.” James snagged his suit jacket from the chair in the hall. He was obviously heading back to work. “Just home for lunch. Hey, nice eye. Was she worth it?”
    â€œVery funny. You should be congratulating me.”
    â€œOn getting thumped? That’ll be the day.” James paused to give Maralys a kiss so thorough that Zach felt he should leave.
    Something had changed in his brother since he’d been with Maralys—although she was