Guarded by Mary Behre Page B

tear was the night she’d had a bit too much to drink and admitted that she’d had another family as a child. That she had two sisters lost in the foster care system. Sisters she was both desperate and afraid to find.
    That had been the same night she’d announced to Cam and him that she was getting a tattoo. Cam had thrown a fit and stormed out. Shells hadn’t caved. She knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to go get it.
    Dev, worried for her safety because she was headed to a seedy part of town, had gone with her.
    After it was over, Dev had asked about the three roses—one yellow, one red, and one purple—wrapped in a green banner with the name
Scott
on it. Each rose was artfully designed with the name of the sister it represented. Until recently, he’d thought that tattoo on her shoulder had been a one-of-a-kind piece. That is, until he learned from his partner that Jules had an identical one on her back. What were the odds they would pick the same design?
    Coming out of the tattoo parlor four years ago, he had asked about the artwork. She had mentioned the mingled feelings of desperation and fear when it came to searching for and possibly finding her sisters. The desperation he understood. People needed connection, a sense of belonging. And he had that in spades with his dozen cousins.
    But the anxiety, he didn’t get. She refused to elaborate on it. Still, he’d remembered how she trembled and changed the subject after her tears started to fall.
    It was why he had wanted to be the one to tell her that Jules had been found. Ease Shelley into the idea of reuniting with her first family. Give her an ally and maybe a chance to discuss her concerns before she saw Jules again.
    Shelley sniffed, and Dev glanced over at her. Her eyes were dry, but her hands were twisted together in her lap, her knuckles white.
    “Shells, Jules is go—”
    “I’m sorry, can you just give me a few more minutes?” She glanced at him and smiled again. This one was considerably less potent and more heartbreaking.
    “Sure.”
    Silence he could do. Very well. So he’d wait until she was in control of her emotions again. He focused on driving the four blocks to Shelley’s building. The tires spun and dipped along the cobblestone street, but the Lexus absorbed the shock.
    He was tempted to just drive past her apartment and take her straight to Tidewater. Perhaps delaying the trip wasn’t the best idea.
    As if she could read his mind, she said, “It’s a good thing we’re headed home now. I need to feed Lucy.”
    Her ferret. Right.
    Pulling into the parking lot behind her building, Dev struggled to find something to say. Cutting the engine, he racked his brain. He’d always been much better at listening than talking. “Shelley, it’s going to be okay.”
    And yes, ladies and gentleman, that is perhaps the stupidest statement of all time
.
    She’d just been fired, she was conflicted about seeing her sister again, and she was worried sick about two missing tiger cubs.
    She snorted, not quite smiling but definitely not doing the catatonic stare anymore. “Thanks, Dev.”
    She shoved open the passenger door and hurried across the gravelly lot for the building’s front door. She barely paused long enough for him to catch up before she took the steps, two at a time, to her second-floor apartment. She didn’t bother to close the door after unlocking it but left it open for Dev.
    He entered, locked the door behind him, and waited for her to return from her bedroom.
    Shelley left the bedroom door propped open when she came out less than a minute later. The ferret appeared to be sleeping in her cage, but the gate was ajar.
    “Is that a good idea?” Dev gestured to the unlatched kennel.
    Shelley shrugged. “Lucy’s fine. She tends to wander around the apartment when I’m home. I lock her up at night for safekeeping or when I’m not here.” She sank down on the couch beside Dev only to jump up again when her cell rang. She