“Damn it, Rachel—” Alex’s eyes went flat and cold when Zack stepped forward again. “Pal, you mess with me, or my sister, you’ll be wearing your teeth in a glass by your bedside.”

“Sister?” Thoughtfully Zack examined one face, then the other. Oh, yes, the family resemblance was strong enough when you took a minute to study them. They both had those wild good looks that came through the blood. His anger cooled instantly. That changed things. He gave Rachel another speculative look. It changed a lot of things.

“Sorry. I didn’t realize it was a family argument. You go ahead and yell at her all you want.”

Alex had to fight to keep his lips from twitching. “All right, Rachel, you’re going to listen to me.”

She had to sigh. Then she had to take his face in her hands and kiss him. “Since when have I ever listened to you? Go away, Alexi. Chase some bad guys. And I’ll have to take a rain check on that movie tonight.”

There was no arguing with her. There never was. Changing tactics, Alex stared down Zack. “You watch out for her, Muldoon, and watch good. Because while you’re at it, I’m going to be watching you.”

“Sounds fair. Come by the bar anytime, Officer. First one’s on the house.”

Muttering under his breath, Alex stalked away. He turned once when Rachel called something out to him in Ukrainian. With a reluctant smile, he shook his head and kept walking.

“Translation?” Zack asked.

“Just that I would see him Sunday. Did you pay the bond?”

“Yeah, they’re going to release him in a minute.” Zack took a moment to reevaluate now that he realized she’d been kissing her brother that morning, not a lover. “I take it your brother isn’t too thrilled to see you tangled up with me and Nick.”

She gave Zack a long, bland look. “Who is, Muldoon? But since that’s the court ruling, let’s go get started.”

“Get started?”

“We’re going to pick up our charge, and you’re going to move him into your apartment.”

After spending the better part of a decade sharing close quarters with a couple hundred sailors, Zack gave one last wistful thought to the dissolution of his privacy. “Right.” He took Rachel by the arm—a gesture she tried not to resent. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any rope in that briefcase of yours.”

It wasn’t necessary to tie Nick up to gain his cooperation. But it was close. He sulked. He argued. He swore. By the time they’d walked out of the courthouse to hail a cab, Zack was biting down on fury and Nick had switched his resentment to Rachel.

“If this is the best deal you could cut, you’d better go back to law school. I’ve got rights, and the first one is to fire you.”