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They had a lot of useless rooms, in her opinion

"Nice of you two to finally jointo think you ditched me"

"We would never do that" Lucian held the door open for her

Julia walked in, and yep, the "rec roorew up in First off, the room was about half the size of the entire downstairs floor of her parents’ hoe sectional couch in the center of the roo a TV that was about the size of a Hummer There was an air hockey table, a pool table--one of those fancy, slate-looking ones--video arcade games, a fully stocked bar--and oha pool cue "Do you play pool, Julia?"

She laughed "Not if I don’t want to make a fool of myself"

He inclined his head "Smart"

Unsure if that was a compliment or not, she sipped her wine as Lucian brushed past her "I’ll play you a round"

"Pro, Lucian walked over to the rack and grabbed a cue "Now, Dev, how can one cheat at pool?"

His brother snorted "If there’s a way, you’ll find it"

Julia laughed as she sat on one of the tall bar stools "That sounds about right"

"I like her" Devlin racked the balls, dragging them into position "She’s smart"

Lucian looked affronted "You’re supposed to be on hes"

She raised her brows as she sipped her wine

"And proving that she is as s she is, she remains quiet" He lifted the rack as he slid a look in Lucian’s direction "Unlike some"

And that was pretty much how the next hour or so went Lucian would push what she assule button of Devlin’s while the older brother re, conore just about every comment of Lucian’s was truly an impressive talent

Which probably explained why he inning the ga attention When he wasn’t annoying his brother, he was focused on Julia She knew this because it was in every casual brush of his hand over her arm when he passed her by And in the way he always came to where she sat when it was Devlin’s turn and how he held eye contact with her whenever he took the shot he called

As the night progressed, it was easy to forget who they were--who she was and why she was here It was easy to pretend that thisthis was her life

"I think he’s going to beat ainst the bar beside her as Devlin prowled around the pool table Only the eight ball was left "Ilater"

Julia rolled her eyes "I think you need a lot of stuff"

Interest sparked in his eyes "Name a few?" he asked, but before she could answer, his phone rang Setting the cue aside, he reached into his pocket "Hold that thought--hey, Troy, what’s up?" Lucian’s grin faded "What?" There was a pause "Are you fucking kidding lanced over to Devlin He didn’t appear to be paying attention

Pivoting around, Lucian walked over to the bar and picked up a ree TV mounted on the wall above the air hockey table A moh the channels, stopping on what appeared to be a news report "Yeah, I have it on now I’ll call you back"

Julia focused on the TV It was obviously a local channel on a split screen, reporters behind a desk and one outside, on a dark road Blue-and-red lights flashed behind a pretty dark-skinned woman who stared earnestly into the calanced over at the TV

"The single vehicle accident happened shortly after 9:00 pm Froency and lost control of the vehicle The vehicle then collided hat appears to be a telephone pole, igniting on impact It is believed that Lyon died on iain, it has been confirmed that the driver was Chief JB Lyon, a thirty-three-year veteran of the"

Chief Lyon? She’d heard that na about their father’s death He was opening up an investigation, and Devlin had said