CHALLENGING THE INTRUDER

EXCERPT from CHALLENGING THE LEGACY

Between her overprotective adult children and the guests in her house, finding time alone with Tallie was going to be more of a challenge than Pierce initially thought. 

So be it. This wasn't the first time he had faced a challenge. 

...

However, Pierce wasn't practiced so much at physical challenges. He worked out at his personal gym regularly, but didn't engage in team sports like the O'Shea's traditional Sunday games. Rowdy, testosterone-loaded competitions that reminded him of the one and only time his mother had allowed him to play basketball with those of a "lower social class." 

He had received a black eye in that game too as a result of a carelessly thrown elbow. 

"Hey, man, sorry. That move never works with these guys." 

"Not a problem." Pierce forced a smile. "I'll just ice it." 

He tried to cover a limp as he left the basketball court, grateful for an excuse to bow out of the game early. He wasn't thirty any more and certainly not used to siblings as physical as the O'Shea brothers. 

Dinner passed with the usual good-natured conversation between the family and their guests, until Marly commented that Pierce's eye was turning purple and asked what happened. 

Silence fell among the O'Shea brothers and Tallie put on her stern mother look as her gaze traveled from one brother to another to another. "Don't start." 

Pierce realized he had stumbled onto an inside family story and pushed for details…

...

From his years as a businessman and shrewd negotiator, Pierce appreciated Marly's ability to work her brothers. Yet he also felt an unexpected envy. For the most part, these siblings weren't related by blood, but they stood united against any outside intruders. 

Right now, he was that intruder. 

(Excerpt from Challenging the Legacy, copyright Genene Valleau, writing as Genie Gabriel)