Free Beautiful Bounty (The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros. Book 1) by MJ Nightingale Page B

little tidbit of information to himself.
    Andreas looked at his brother hard.  “The phone?”
    “The car doesn’t have a phone charger. The heat at lunch, outside, must have drained the battery.  By that time, we were only MIA an hour and half.  How the hell was I supposed to know I’d pick up a nail, and get a flat?  Come on bro, you really going to rake me over the coals for this.  I was doing my job.  We called as soon as we got the Cutlass to the garage. Ronnie offered to help me put the bubble on, but then a tow truck came by. I didn’t want to drive her on the bubble, and knew we needed to call so I figured getting the new tire would give me more of a chance to get Ronnie to open up.”
    Again Andreas looked at his brother hard.  It all made sense.  It did seem Nikko had been doing the job, circumstances had just gotten in the way. “So, what did you find out?” he asked abruptly.
    “I got names of some friends.  I got places she hangs out.  A cabin her granddad has.  That sounded like a likely place. She mentioned loving it there.”
    “Okay, good.  That’s good.”  Andreas nodded. Maybe Nikko had listened to him last week about taking on more responsibility.  He nodded at his brother.  He’d let him off the hook this time. But, there better not be any more screw ups.
    Nikko held up his hands in surrender. “We good?”
    “Yeah, we’re good. Let’s get back in there.  Since I’m here, I still need to go over some things with Louisa and . . . Ronnie, is it?” He arched one eyebrow up gauging Nikko’s reaction to the girl’s nickname.
    “Yeah, she likes to be called Ronnie. Only her mom calls her Veronica, I guess.”
    “Okay, Ronnie it is.”  Andreas turned on his heel, and Nikko followed him back into the house clapping his hand on his big brother’s shoulder.
    Just maybe, Andreas thought, his brother was maturing.  He liked that thought. After moving here two years ago from New York, he had been partying a little too hard. But maybe things were changing now that he had settled down in his own place, and now that he was working more. Maybe the responsibility of the job was just what he needed. His brother was twenty-seven now, maybe he had been treating him like the kid brother for too long, he thought, as the door shut behind him and all eyes turned towards him.
    “All is good,” he rumbled.
    Ronnie let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. The man was a taller, stronger looking, older version of Nikko.  Very handsome. But very intimidating too. In fact, these two brothers looked the most alike.
    “But, we do have some things to discuss, that we didn’t get around to Louisa, when you called. So, if you don’t mind.” He indicated the sofa next to Ronnie.
    Lou made her way towards it and sat at the edge closest to her daughter. She took Ronnie’s hand in hers. Jay, her husband, came around behind her. A former soldier, tatted up, he looked menacing, but everyone knew what a softy at heart he was.
    “Yes, go on,” Lou stated, once she was comfortable.  She gave Ronnie’s hand a reassuring squeeze for good measure. Perhaps to bolster her own confidence, Ronnie wasn’t sure.
    Andreas didn’t sit, but when all was quiet he began. “Okay, so Ana and Monica came up with the twenty-five thousand for the bond.  That, of course, is our fee for insuring the bond.  We work with a few insurance companies to secure the bond.  It was paid, and you will make arrangements, I assume, to pay your friends back because that is forfeited to us. Our fee for arranging the remainder.”
    “Yes. I understand. I will do what I can to pay them back.” Lou’s face was grim. Having to borrow this much money from her friends terrified her. She and Jay, newly married, were just starting out, and with what they had going on, what no one else knew yet, not even Jay, well, it would complicate matters even further.  But this was her daughter, and she would do whatever it took