Free To Have a Wilde (Wilde in Wyoming) by Kimberly Kaye Terry

warily over the neck of the bottle, but otherwise ignored his presence.
    “Looks like the crew is doing a good job of fulfilling their end of the bargain, don’t you think, bro?”
    “Man, don’t even go there,” Key replied tightly. “And don’t think I don’t know you’re responsible for that little setup this morning,” he finished.
    Nick threw up his hands in feigned defeat. “I don’t know what bug crawled up your ass, but I’m sure Mahi has something that’ll fix you right up, bro,” he said, and laughed at the single-digit salute his comment garnered. But when Key continued to ignore him, his face set, the smile slipped from his twin’s face.
    “Hey, seriously, I don’t know what you’re talking about, Key!” Nick exclaimed, his thick brows pulling down into a frown once he realized Key wasn’t exactly laughing back.
    “Aw, come on. You’re not even going to give me a clue?” he cajoled, shoving his body away from the column he’d been leaning against and making his way toward his brother.
    When Nick reached out to grab the beer on the counter, Key ignored him, opening the refrigerator door again to replace the one Nick had filched.
    Key didn’t give his brother a glance, simply popped open the bottle and threw back his head, allowing the dark amber to slip down his throat. What use was it, anyway, he thought—it wasn’t as if Nick would admit he’d been the one to throw him to the wolves.
    “Family first, Nick. Always. Setting me up like that? That was bullshit.”
    “Okay, seriously, what the hell are you talking about?” Nick asked, all signs of humor completely gone from his blue-eyed gaze as he stared, frown in place, at his brother.
    “Dinner will be ready soon, boys, make sure you’re washed up!” When their housekeeper, Mahi, bustled inside the room, he broke the tension and Key leaned back against the counter, his eyes closed, and polished off the beer.
    “What is going on in my kitchen, boys? You know I do not tolerate any foolishness. You two had better not be fighting again!” the old man admonished. His words brought a ghost of a smile to Key’s face. Although both he and his brother were long past the age of being “boys,” Mahi was as much like family as their own father, as neither twin remembered a time the elderly man hadn’t been around.
    He’d begun as a stable hand but, after realizing he wasn’t able to keep up with the job, their parents had invited him to come and help take care of the boys. He still referred to them as “boys” whenever he was irritated with them.
    “So, you want to tell me what the hell is wrong with you?” Nick asked, coming to stand less than two feet away, not wanting Mahi to overhear them.
    “You’re seriously telling me you don’t know?”
    “Hell no. What gives?”
    Key sighed, his gaze going over his brother’s, looking for signs of humor.
    He’d been wrestling with the contents of the note he’d been given earlier. After he’d read the contents, he’d at first been amused, before realization dawned on him. He’d tracked down which stable hand had given Bane the note, and from there it hadn’t taken long for him to find out who’d given the boy the note. Assuming it had been Sonia, he’d been surprised to find the note had come from his brother.
    But why would his brother play messenger? Had Sonia spoken to him about their encounter?
    Without further ado, he opened the note and showed it to Nick. Nick’s glance fell over the crumpled piece of paper and, after scanning the contents, a grin split his face.
    “Oh-oh-oh, brother, looks like you and the pretty producer—”
    “Stop right there. First off, why the hell would you play messenger? What did she tell you?”
    “Messenger? Tell me what?” The look of confusion was so real Key knew that, as talented a prankster as his brother was, he was telling the truth.
    “You really don’t know about this?”
    “’Fraid not, bro, I had nothing to do with this.