We'd found that although the blood tie didn't come with built-in sexual attraction, it did ramp up whatever attraction already existed. Now that we were on familiar footing again, ft didn't surprise me that he was suddenly in a randy mood.

"I don't doubt that. But we've got bigger things to worry about than your libido." I pushed him toward the door.

He went, grudgingly. "Fine. But you are in such trouble in the morning."

I don't doubt that, I thought, grim reality intruding unpleasantly. I'm sure by morning, we'll all have jumped feet first into trouble.

We found Bella upstairs, stretched out on the leather sofa in the foyer with a book in her hands. Though I now knew the truth of what had transpired between her and Nathan, her treatment of Max still kept me from warming to her.

She sat up, her eyes moving from me to Nathan and back again. "Max is in the kitchen."

Nathan seemed to sense the reason for her trepidation, and, because it's the kind of person he is, he snarled, "I'm going to kill him," before tearing toward the kitchen.

Bella didn't look nearly as alarmed as Nathan had probably expected. She lifted one elegant eyebrow and glanced back to her book. "Is he really going to kill him?"

"No. I banned him from teasing Max. I never thought to forbid him from teasing you." I slid my hands into the pockets of my jeans. "Listen, I'm sorry."

She looked up, mild surprise registering on her face. "For what?"

I thought for sure she knew, the way she'd been hesitant to tell Nathan where to find Max. I jerked my thumb toward the kitchen door. "Be-because I almost slept with Max."

"Ah, I understand. You would be more sorry if you had completed the act." Her mention once again drifted to her book.

"That's not what I meant. He's kind of your… territory." I winced at the dog terminology. "That didn't come out quite right."

"Max does not belong to me, and I do not wish him to." Bella closed the volume with a frustrated sigh. "I do not wish to continue this conversation, either. There is much we need to do. Tell the men we will all meet in the dining room in fifteen minutes."

She left without another word.

I knew Max was in full-blown denial about his feelings for Bella, but I hadn't realized the reverse was true. According to Max, she'd ended their fling, but in typical Max fashion, he was sure she still wanted a relationship with him, while he, on the other hand, couldn't care less about her.

Maybe he was right. A definite angry vibe had radiated from Bella, the same type I'd projected to her when I thought she was competition for Nathan.