The Russian banged his meaty fist into his tree trunk of a thigh. “I will break his balls.”
“What are you proposing we do?” Del asked.
“I’m not sure yet. But if he’s one of those guys, we have to stop him.”
Malcolm nodded. “I’m in.”
Derek agreed. “Me too.”
One after another, the guys nodded around the table. Only Gavin held back. He shook his head, removed his baseball cap, and ran his hands over his flattened hair. “I don’t like this. I don’t want Liv to get hurt.”
“I won’t let her get hurt. I’ll protect her.”
Gavin snorted. “I’d love to see her reaction if you said that to her. She has a way of doing things on her own.”
Yeah. He knew. And it was sort of growing on him.
Liv raced through a shower, doing the hair and makeup thing, and got dressed before heading out to do her morning chores. A cold, misty rain dampened the grass and immediately undid the small amount of effort she’d put into her hair. Her boots sank into the soggy grass as she crossed the yard to the chicken coops. Goats bleated from inside the barn, but they’d have to wait their turn. Randy had already flown over the fence and was now perched on his favorite branch, waiting for the hens to be let out so he could reach his daily sex quota. He greeted Liv with a threatening flap of his wings.
“I’m in no mood for you today.”
Randy let out an angry crow. She lunged at him but then felt guilty. It wasn’t his fault that Royce was a disgusting asshole who was apparently telling everyone that she’d slept with him. A cold chill stole over her skin that had nothing to do with the weather. Just the thought of being anywhere near that man . . . she gagged.
Randy threatened her again, and this time she swung her arm out to warn him back. “I mean it, Randy. I have had it with cock-swinging fuckboys.”
“Good to know.”
Liv jumped and looked over her shoulder. Mack was twenty feet away and drawing closer, all smooth swagger and confidence in a pair of golf shorts and a thin athletic pullover. The misty rain that had turned her hair into a stringy mess against her neck made his own hair dance with little dots of dew. He was a goddamned Nike ad.
“What are you doing here?”
Randy flew from his perch and ran straight for Mack, feathers fluffed and wings flapping. Mack hopped on one foot and then the other to avoid the attack. “What is wrong with this thing?”
“Roosters are assholes.”
Mack kicked his leg out. Randy leaped into the air and kicked with both feet. Mack stumbled back with a curse. Liv grabbed a wire basket hanging from a hook by the door of the pen and swung it. Randy finally got the message and ran off in search of a hen to molest.
Liv handed the basket to Mack. “Make yourself useful.”
“What’re we doing?”
“You are going to collect the eggs while I throw down some chicken feed.”
“Collect eggs from where?”
Liv pointed to the nesting box. “Lift the lid. Look in each box to see if there are any eggs. If there are, put them in the basket. Carefully.”
Mack looked at the box like death itself waited inside. “Are there chickens in there?”
“There might be. They’ll move for you. Just reach under them and be gentle.”
“You want me to reach under a chicken?”
“They’ll move.”
“But under the chicken? Like where the vagina is?”
“First of all, chickens don’t have vaginas. Second of all, if they did, it’s a chicken. She won’t mind.”
“But—”
“For God’s sake, Mack, be a man.”
“Hey,” he said, pointing at her. “Just because I’m a man doesn’t mean I should have no fears or—Wait. Chickens don’t have vaginas?”
“Oh my God. Just get the stupid eggs.”
Liv opened the door to the pen as Mack gingerly lifted the wooden hatch to the nesting box. He all but deflated in relief to see just one hen waiting inside. The rest had run out in search of freedom and wet dirt when Liv opened the pen.
Hazel didn’t get very far, though. Randy leaped on her back and did his business. It was over in three seconds.
“Christ, Randy,” Mack said, voice dripping with disgust. “Pace yourself.”
Liv tossed some feed on the ground to cover her smile.
Mack lowered three eggs into the basket. “Hey, does a chicken know when it’s about to squeeze out an egg, or does it just plop out?”
“I have no idea.”
“How about the first time they lay an egg? They must be like, What the fuck is happening right now? What the hell just came out of me? Maybe I’ll sit on it and see what happens.”
A puff of laugher escaped before she could reel it in. His satisfied grin said he’d heard it. Damn him.
He moved on to the next empty nest. “But seriously, what do chickens have if they don’t have vaginas?”
Liv replaced the scoop in the bucket of feed. “I don’t want to talk about chicken vaginas with you anymore. Like, ever.”
“I’ll just google it if you don’t tell me, and then imagine what my pop-up ads will be like.”
She sighed. “They have a vent called a cloaca. It’s, like, a universal hole for everything.”
“Everything?” He shuddered. “Why do you know so much about chicken vaginas?”
“One of the chickens had an egg stuck a few months ago. We had to help her pass it.”
“This is quite an interesting life you have. Tell me again why you live here?”
Liv walked away instead of answering. She got that question a lot from different people. She didn’t owe anyone an answer. Especially not Mack.
Mack followed her into the house, where she kicked off her muck boots and took the basket from him. “Wash your hands,” she said, with a nod to the bathroom.
Rosie was sitting at the island with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. It was one of the things Liv loved about her. Rosie still had a newspaper delivered every morning, just like her grandmother used to. The only times Liv ever truly felt secure as a child were the mornings she spent curled up on the couch next to her grandma as she read the morning paper.
Liv swiped her wet hair back and set the eggs on the counter. “Randy is already going after Hazel. She’s getting a bald spot on her neck. Maybe we should bring her in for a while.”
“Poor thing. I’ll go out and get her in a minute.”
The water turned off in the bathroom, and Mack strode in. Rosie let out a little sigh. “Look who’s back.”
Mack milked it. “Rosie, you’re looking beautiful this morning.”
“Oh God.” Liv gagged.
“Are you hungry?” Rosie asked. “I have muffins, and there’s a quiche in the oven.”
“I’d love one of your muffins.” He winked.
Liv looked at him and rolled her eyes. “Is there anyone you don’t flirt with?”
Rosie set a muffin on a plate and handed it to Mack. “So what do you two have planned for today?”
Mack took a quick bite before answering. “Cloak-and-dagger stuff.”
“You never did tell me why you’re here,” Liv said.
“I have some things to discuss with you.”
Before he could say more, though, the back door suddenly banged open and shut. The sound of twin voices filled the house. “Aunt Livvie!”
Amelia ran in, followed quickly by Ava, followed immediately by Thea.
The girls seemed happy to see Mack.
Thea did not.
“Interesting that you’re here, Mack,” Thea said.
Mack turned a paler shade of oh shit. “Hey, Thea—”
“I need to talk to my sister alone.”
Mack set down the muffin. “I’ll, um, I’ll take the girls outside to play.”
Rosie hovered nervously for a moment before deciding the safest bet was to go with them.
Liv faced her sister. “God, Thea, what the hell is wrong?”
Thea planted her hands on her hips. “When were you going to tell me the truth about why you got fired?”
Oh. Shit.
Ten minutes later, Thea paced the length of Rosie’s living room. “I can’t believe you lied to me.”
“Technically, I just left out some information,” Liv said.
Thea didn’t appreciate the distinction, judging by the red splotches on her cheeks and the wild anger in her eyes. Liv swallowed and shut up.
“I swear to God, I don’t understand you, Liv. Why do you keep things like this from me?”
“I didn’t want to drag you into this.”
“You’re my sister. Your problems are my problems.”
“Correction. Your problems are usually because of my problems.”
Thea threw her arms in the air with a frustrated noise. “Where the hell does that come from, Liv? I don’t understand you!”
“I have been a burden on people my entire life. Mom. Dad. Gran Gran. You.”
“That is not true. Why the hell do you believe that?”
Liv stood up and waved her hands to ward off further argument and before she revealed something she really didn’t want to. “It is what it is. You know the whole story now. And now you’re going to go home and worry and fret, as if you need one more thing on your plate.”
Thea gave her another one of those looks. “I’m your sister. It’s my job to worry about you.”
Liv pushed her hair off her face. “The fact that you think that is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“But did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out?”
“Eventually, I guess! I didn’t think that far out. I was trying to deal with it my way. Wait—how did you find out?”
“How do you think? Mack told Gavin and the rest of the guys this morning.”
Liv’s muscles spasmed. “He did what?”