Easton's Claim (Colebrook Siblings Trilogy Book 3) by Kaylea Cross Page A

beautiful contrast to her light brown skin. She was tall, the same height as Easton, and solid muscle, a former firefighter and talented carpenter. She was awesome, and he was beyond thrilled that his brother had found her.
    Truth was, he’d been worried as hell about Wyatt before Austen had shown up. They all had. That IED blast in Afghanistan had changed him into a completely different person, and not just because it had taken one eye and his lower leg. Wyatt had lost his military working dog as well as his men, and that kind of loss never went away.
    Easton wasn’t worried about him anymore though. That girl had Wyatt wrapped so hard around her diamond engagement ring-studded finger it wasn’t even funny. Easton would have loved her forever for that alone, so it was just a bonus that he liked her anyway.
    “Hey, handsome,” she said to him.
    “Hey.” He grinned back at her. “Thanks for coming.”
    “Wouldn’t miss it.” She glanced around, her tight, dark curls bouncing around her shoulders as her head moved. “Wow.”
    “Pretty much, yeah.”
    “Where’s the pie chest?”
    He’d already explained to her over the phone last night how important it was to Piper. He hoped she’d be able to fix it. “Through there.” He pointed toward the sound of broken glass being swept up.
    Austen walked through the kitchen and headed for where he’d indicated, but Wyatt hung back, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his massive chest. “She okay?” he murmured, staring at him with intense hazel eyes just like their father’s.
    “Not sure. You know how she is. Strong, stubborn. Suffers in silence.” He hated that so much.
    Wyatt nodded and clenched his jaw, making the scars twitch. “I knew that fucker wasn’t finished screwing with her yet.”
    The show of protectiveness didn’t stir any jealousy in Easton. There was zero attraction between his brother and Piper. She was a Colebrook, plain and simple. Easton hoped to make that official someday, hopefully sooner rather than later. A ring on her finger, and not long after that, giving her his name. “Well, looks like he’s paying for it now.”
    “Still no word on what happened to him?”
    “Not yet. Hoping for an update sometime today. Come on, let’s go see how we want to tackle this.”
    “Is the glass all cleaned up?”
    “Think so.”
    “Hang on, I’m gonna get Grits. Piper would like that.”
    Yeah, she would. But as big and tough as Wyatt was, he wasn’t fooling anyone with that excuse. He was almost as attached to that dog as he was to Austen. Another miracle, considering Wyatt had vowed never to own another dog after Raider had been killed.
    The start of the transformation had been all Piper’s doing. She’d known Wyatt since they were eighteen and had seen right through his miserable recluse act. Somehow she’d known the dog would force him to feel again, and had dropped Grits off on his doorstep without warning. She’d not only rescued Grits, but Wyatt too, and Easton would always be grateful to her for that.
    Out in the family room the girls had cleaned up all the broken pictures and stacked them onto the now-righted coffee table. “The TV’s a loss,” Piper said in a discouraged voice.
    “I can definitely do something with this pie chest though,” Austen said, running her hand over the split in the rear of the now-righted chest, and the broken doors. “No guarantees I can make it as good as new, but it’ll be close.”
    The sound of little paws on the hardwood made Piper turn her head. Her entire face lit up when she saw the dog trotting toward her, feathery white tail swishing, long brown ears flopping. “Grits!”
    The Cavalier King Charles spaniel rushed over, tail wagging, his prosthetic right rear leg thumping on the floor. The asshole who had tried to kill Austen and Wyatt a few months ago had shot Grits. Little guy had lost a leg, but it hadn’t slowed him down any.
    Piper scooped him up and buried her