Carefully studying his elder brother's face, Alex frowned; Nic still hadn't taken his eyes off the doorway where Samantha Hammett exited. Although he was a prankster and usually more interested in stirring up trouble than paying attention to deeper emotions, Alex had seen the flash of regret cross his eldest brother's usually stoic features. Nic never regretted anything. But then, Alex had never been around Nic and a female who generated such blistering heat. The air around the two had fairly sizzled with sexual attraction. Obviously his brother wanted her with an intensity that was shocking. Alex could even smell Nic's need, making guilt creep up on him again.
At first, sabotaging Paranormalbustin' Pest Pursuers Inc. had seemed like a fine prank, creating confusion among the enemy. Alex had even anticipated their retaliatory strikes. However, it had taken three sabotaging strikes before they'd retaliated, and Alex had been thrown off. When they struck, it had been with brutal efficiency, leaving Alex in a big, smelly mess. Literally. Nic had been gloriously furious, almost as furious as Alex at the time, since Alex had temporarily forgotten his part in the feud.
No, Nic would never have approved of his actions. He despised cheaters, liars and any who played dirty. Corruption and sabotage were words which brought out the fighting side of Alex's brother, and so after her retaliation, Samantha Hammett hadn't stood a chance.
Only now, after the damage was done to both parties, Alex recognized the intense attraction between the two. Which was unfortunate. Nic wasn't getting any younger, and he needed to take a mate and have kids. This female, as unlikely a choice as she was, was the only one who had managed to stir Nic's deepest emotions. Which meant that Alex had kicked his elder brother in the teeth by playing his stupid tricks.
Shaking his head at his folly, Alex knew his big brother was going to be very angry with him when his part in the war between their two pest-punting companies was revealed. And Alex valued his hide. Still, as a Strakhov, fraternal honor weighed heavy on his shoulders—along with a healthy dose of fear. Yes, Nic was formidable when irritated. When angered he was a great, bad beast. And yet, Alex had no choice: Strakhov honor was at stake. He was doomed, and he tapped his big brother on the shoulder.
"Nic, I need to speak with you."
Nic glanced at his youngest brother, noting the tightening of Alex's features, smelling the faint whiff of fear. "Yes?" he asked cautiously. Whenever Alex wore this look of contrition, he just knew he wasn't going to like what the kid had to say.
"Outside," Alex suggested.
The two brothers walked outside together. The eyes of most of the women in the room followed their progress with predatory interest, but the two Strakhovs were lost in their thoughts and remained unaware. Beneath a large maple they halted, and Alex began his rather reluctant admission.
"You know how I hate to lose… ? And you know how I always love a good practical joke, even sometimes when they aren't that practical?" he began.
Nic stared at his baby brother, his expression almost as shadowed as the outdoor lighting. No, Nic mused darkly, he wasn't going to like this at all.
"I thought it would be funny to sort of set up the competition for a fall or two—or three or four," Alex went on, feeling like a young pup who'd peed on the rug.
"What did you do?" Nic asked, getting an inkling of what his brother was about to say. Rage began pounding in his temples.
"Um, the Hammetts didn't start the Bustin' war. I did. I'm the one who sabotaged them first. And it took three incidents before they took action to get back at us," Alex explained, guilt written all over his attractive face. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. Funny, you know?"
"A good idea? Funny? Boiling you in oil is a good idea! Hanging you from the rafters by your thumbs is a good idea! Starting a war with another monster-removal company—that's contemptible! Where is your honor?" Nic shouted, wanting to knock his little brother into the dirt and stomp him to dust.
Nic felt horrible. The deception, his deeds, his words—he was suddenly regretting deeply all that had happened, and even sooner than Sam had expected. She hadn't been truly guilty of anything except trying to promote and protect her business against a competition that was unethical, ruthless and corrupt. No wonder she had used the tactics she had! No wonder she disliked Monsters-R-Us so thoroughly, and the Strakhov brothers. Some bad eggs had pushed the hard-boiled Buster into a corner, and she had fought back the only way she could.
Glaring at his brother, Nic felt his admiration for Sam grow again. She was truly a force with which to be reckoned. Her Beethoven, those trolls… Leaving him and his brothers in the shit… At the time Nic had been enraged beyond belief, but looking back he suddenly found her method of sabotage creative, intelligent and ingenious; he could only approve. Not to mention the way Sam made love: with all her heart and passion.
"Robho! How she must hate me," he muttered.
Alex was watching his brother carefully, feeling guilty and foolish and, he hated to admit, a bit fainthearted. After their parents had died in a fire, Nic had been the father figure. He was the presence always looking over the brothers' shoulders, the one to dole out praise or discipline. The discipline, Alex had often felt, was dished out unfairly, as he'd had an advanced sense of humor.
"You do know, Alex, that you're not some young pup anymore. Your actions have consequences. You need to grow up. What you did wasn't funny. It was unethical and cruel. You could have gotten Sam hurt or killed by sabotaging her efforts in pursuing and entrapping paranormal pests. You know how dangerous and deadly our job can be; all we deal with are creatures with long sharp claws and even sharper teeth! It must be even more dangerous for a short female, even if she does think she walks ten feet tall," Nic growled. He began issuing curses in every language he knew. Sam could have been killed!
"Where are your protective instincts? The female of any species is the weaker sex. You were raised better than that!" he continued furiously, his eyes smoldering. Of course, he had to admit Sam wasn't exactly weak.
"Look, Nic, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to go panting around after that Hammett woman." At Nic's black look, Alex added resentfully, "I mean, she's pretty, so I can see why you're in heat—"
"I'm not in heat!" Nic stated emphatically, his gray eyes in flames.
Alex was tired of being yelled at, and his own anger was starting to rise. "The hell you say! I can smell your lust from a mile away. And she's just as bad as you are. You know, we don't live in a glass menagerie here, Nic. You guys are like two cats on a hot tin roof—jumpy and snarling because you aren't in bed together. She wants you bad, brother."
The last comment made Nic's rage recede a little. He knew very well that Sam desired him, even if she would deny it until her face turned blue. Even his youngest, common-sense-lacking, practical-joke-playing brother could tell.
Who would have thought after that mortifying troll incident that Nic would be the one with bridges to mend. But then, Sam was his own personal streetcar of desire.
Grabbing Alex by the scruff of his neck, he explained roughly, "You and I have an apology to make."
Oh, boy! Alex realized. It was worse than he'd thought. The love bug had bitten Nic, and the world was ending. It had to be, because his eldest brother never apologized.