Read Online Nightfire by Lisa Marie Rice - Free Book Online Page B

front of her body felt cold, missing something vital. She stood still and looked in his eyes, those bright blue eyes, wondering if he had a clue that something momentous had happened inside her.
    He was looking serious. She had no idea what his normal expression was but right then he had looked deeply into her eyes, as if he could walk around inside her head. His face had been tight, a slight tic fluttered in his right eyelid. Chloe simply couldn’t look away.
    Time stretched . . .
    “All right!” Harry clapped his hands and Chloe jumped, the entire room zooming back into focus. Harry and Sam were closing up shop, shutting down computers, putting paper files away. Her brother smiled at her. “Chloe, we’ll swing by the Del, get your stuff, and get on home. Your room will be ready by the time we get there, but we’ll be eating up at Sam and Nicole’s.” He stopped, looked at her with a frown. “You’re looking shell-shocked,” he said gently, picking up her hands. “Is all this too much for you?”
    His hands were so warm. Chloe smiled up at him. “It is a little overwhelming. But in a good way.” She tried to still the trembling in her throat. “I’m still finding it hard to believe that I found you. That I have a brother.”
    He bent and kissed her forehead. “I know what you mean. At least you had some time to get used to the idea before you came here. I was blindsided.” He pulled back to look down at her. “But now, you know what? I feel like you’ve been there all along, it’s just that I didn’t know.” He swallowed heavily. “And now I do. It changes everything.”
    “Yes, it does.” Tears prickled. She gave a hollow laugh and swiped at her eyes. “At some point I’m going to stop crying, I promise.”
    “I’m not, not for a while, anyway.” Ellen came up and kissed her cheek again. “I don’t have a family, either, outside Harry and Grace. So for me it’s like finding a sister. We’re all so happy.” She spun around in the room, hands up in the air. “And now we’re going to party ! Let’s get out of here and get home!”
    “Here.” Behind her, Mike’s bass voice. Chloe turned, startled. He was holding her coat up. She slipped into it. His heavy hands rested, briefly, on her shoulders. It felt good, really good. Events were swirling around her, almost too fast to follow, making her dizzy. His big hands grounded her, slowed everything down, made everything real.
    “We’ll be there in about half an hour, forty minutes.” Nicole was talking into her cell, and snapped it shut. “Manuela’s still crying, but she’s also cooking up a storm and she is going to be very angry if everything gets cold. You do not want to make Manuela angry.”
    “No, ma’am,” Sam said fervently, and winked at Chloe. “Without Manuela I’d never eat. Ouch,” he said mildly when Nicole elbowed him in the ribs.
    She smiled sweetly at her husband, narrowing her eyes until only a cobalt blue slit gleamed. “Another crack like that and I know what else you’ll never do again.”
    Sam mimed horror and zipped his lips.
    Chloe laughed and then barely refrained from clasping her hand over her mouth. Old habits. Her mother—her adoptive mother—had frowned on laughing in public. But she wasn’t here, would never be here again. Everyone smiled when she laughed and Sam winked at her again.
    “Okay!” Harry twirled his finger in the air. “Heading on out. Chloe, you’re coming with us.”
    “I’ll come with you, too, Harry,” Mike said. “Barney is picking up my SUV. I left it in Logan Heights last night.”
    For some reason, Harry and Sam shared sharp glances. Before she could puzzle out what it meant, a strong hand closed over her elbow. Mike, at her side.
    They moved out en masse, crossing that enormous lobby. The clients had all departed. Several of the secretaries were standing, putting on their coats. They filed out, calling out cheerful good-byes.
    There was a happy atmosphere in