Sex, Lies and Valentines. Tawny Weber

a sigh.

      It was the same. A tiny part of him, a part he rarely let see the light of day, relaxed as the warmth of his childhood hometown enveloped him in a welcoming hug.

      Damn, he’d forgotten how simply lovely Black Oak was.

      Cobblestone walks and brick buildings. Antique lampposts and planter boxes just waiting for the warmth of spring. In the center of the square was a statue of town founder, Gabriel’s great-great-grandpa, Andrew Black. Curved iron benches surrounded the square, and in honor of the season, Valentine’s hearts decorated the flags waving from various buildings.

      A man who rarely allowed sentiment to take hold, he had to smile at the beauty of it all. It was as though he’d never left home.

      Before he could get too gooey and emotional, there was a quick rap of knuckles on metal. His gaze flashed to his side-view mirror. A grin, wicked and wide, spread as he swung out of the car.

      “Well, well,” he said as he leaned one arm on the door-jamb. “What have we here?”

      “Trouble, from the look of it,” the other man said. Besides an extra inch in height and the really lousy haircut, it was almost like looking in a mirror. That fact had bothered Gabriel growing up.

      It was damned hard to stand out within his family. Between his father’s rep, his brother’s looks and his sister’s brains, Gabriel had often wondered what was left for him. Part of why he’d run, he knew. He’d never felt he measured up. Away, he’d been able to find his own strengths, to choose his own priorities.

      “You’re still sneaking around pretending to be a bad guy?” Gabriel asked, trying to keep the grin from splitting his face at the sight of his brother. God, it’d been close to five years since he’d laid eyes on Caleb, and that’d been a quick, accidental meeting since his brother had been undercover at the time.

      “I quit the DEA,” Caleb said, leaning his hip against the ‘Vette and crossing his arms over his chest and offering one of his long, intense looks.

      “And you’re back home? The old man finally coaxed you into the fold, huh?”

      Caleb’s grin was just as wicked as Gabriel’s own. With nothing but a slight inclination of his head, he invited his younger brother to look over his shoulder.

      Glancing past his brother, it was all Gabriel could do not to cry. He actually felt the tears welling up behind his eyes.

      “Say it ain’t so,” he murmured with a pathetic shake of his head. “You’re trying to kill us, aren’t you?”

      Caleb laughed, following his gaze to look at the sheriff’s car parked behind the ‘Vette. “Once a rebel.”

      “Yeah, but at least before you had the decency to rebel elsewhere. Now you’ve brought it home? You hate Dad that much?”

      It’d been bad enough when Caleb had come home right after college graduation to announce that he was joining the DEA.

      At least that’d taken him away from California. But now he was back, rubbing his legal activities in Dad’s face day in and day out? And they thought Gabriel had issues?

      “Dad always said we all have to take our own path,” Caleb said with a shrug.

      “I don’t think he meant for those paths to cut his off at the pass.”

      “He can take care of himself.”

      Gabriel considered his brother’s face. Caleb had always had a very concrete sense of right and wrong, made all the more obvious since the rest of the family’s was so fluid. Given the problems Hunter said were facing their father, which path would Caleb choose? The one that defended family, no matter what the evidence? Or the one that locked the cell door?

      “Maybe Dad can take care of himself,” Gabriel acknowledged slowly. “But he’s got his blind spots. His kids being the main one.”

      The warning hovered for a long second. Then Caleb gave a shrug, as if batting it away. “You’re awfully defensive of a man you haven’t bothered to see for yourself in almost a decade,” he pointed out.

      It was like getting hit in the face with a bagful of guilt. It wasn’t as if he’d abandoned his old, decrepit father in a sewer somewhere. Yes, he’d left after an ugly fight, determined to prove himself. Sure, he’d been pissed that Tobias had let some trampy bitch horn her way into the family business. But that wasn’t a big deal, dammit. He wasn’t ashamed of the vow, or the drama of it. He was irked that he hadn’t kept it, though.

      “I swore I wouldn’t come back until I’d made my point,” Gabriel muttered.

      “Tough luck, little brother. We all vowed to stay away and we all blew it. Might as well prepare to take Dad’s gloating like a man.”

      “Like you took it?”

      “Yep.”

      Caleb’s angry vow had been to never return to Black Oak and look at him now, all spiffed up and in charge of the town’s law. Gabriel grinned, feeling a little better. Then the full impact of his brother’s words sank in.

      “All of us? Maya’s here, too?” As he mentally watched the stakes climb higher and higher, the tension returned to Gabriel’s shoulders in tight knots. Sure, Hunter had threatened him with trouble for his dad, his brother and sister. But he hadn’t realized they were all cozied up together here in Black Oak, easy targets to that trouble.

      For Hunter and the FBI.

      Or for whatever asshole was trying to ruin Tobias Black.

      “Maya’s in town for the wedding,” his brother stated, the hard line of his jaw softening.

      “I can’t believe you’re really getting married.” He didn’t quite know what he thought about the prospect of his badass older brother settling down. “And on Valentine’s, no less. Isn’t wrapping a noose around your neck enough? You have to do it with cupid aiming his arrow at your ass, too?”

      Unoffended, Caleb laughed and shrugged. “Pandora’s worth it.”

      “Pandora?” Gabriel prompted.

      “Pandora Easton.” With a slight inclination of his head, Caleb indicated one of the stores across the street.

      Gabriel’s gaze cut across the street to the clever display in the window of Moonspun Dreams. It, too, was all decked out for Valentine’s, although the hearts in that window were crystal and the signage shouted a sale on love potions. Shocked, he glanced back at his brother for confirmation. “The woo-woo queen’s daughter?”

      The bar on unbelievable just kept getting higher and higher.

      “Yep. That’s Pandora. You’ll like her,” Caleb decreed. “There’s a party at the store tonight. Something about welcoming spring or …” He shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever it is, you need to come. You can meet her. See Maya. Deal with Dad.”

      The twist of Gabriel’s lips was more grimace than smile.

      “As you yourself pointed out, I haven’t seen Dad in a while. With good reason, given that things are pretty ugly between us. I doubt you want to ruin your party with our reunion.”

      “Pandora’s used to bad behavior,” was all Caleb said.

      Gabriel debated. A part of him, the part that missed his family like crazy, wanted to go. Wanted nothing more than to relax, set the games aside and just be himself for a couple hours. But there was too much at stake.

      “We need to talk,” his brother said quietly.

      Gabriel frowned.

      Talk about what? How much did Caleb know about the crime ring playing house at the manor? Did he have a clue that Tobias was being set up for an ugly fall? And how much would he share?

      He could push. But his brother used to have the disposition of a granite wall and there