Brayden walked up the stairs to his sister's room. He was almost dreading talking to her. He felt sorry for Griffin. His sister could be mean when she wanted, but that slap had been uncalled for. She didn't even know Griffin, so why did she slap him? His mind was reeling with questions. He had hoped that she would like his friend, at the very least accept him. Brayden knew Cassy hated most men. He and their father had been the exception. Though, Brayden knew that when their father died, Cassy had spiraled downward. However, he blamed their step-mother for most of it. He needed to be careful with this conversation. No matter what, he loved and adored his sister, yet he wasn't about to just let the fact that she had slapped his best friend go.

Reaching the feisty woman's room, he knocked and waited for an answer.

"Go away!" He heard her shout.

He sighed and knocked again.

"Leave me alone!" Cassy shouted from the other side.

"Caz open this door right now!" Brayden said.

"I don't want to talk to you Bray." He heard her say.

With a sigh Bray tried the door only to find it locked. He grumbled and reached into the pocket of his mobster jacket. He pulled out a lock pick and smirked. With one quick motion he had the door open. Brayden entered and shut the door behind him. Leaning against the wall, the tall man crossed his arms over his chest with an unhappy look on his face.

"You know Bray, I should kick your ass out. I told you to leave me alone."

"Since when do I listen to you?"

"Since I saved your life... multiple times too, I might add." Cassy told him coldly.

Brayden frowned and stared at his sister. She didn't look at him. In any other situation this would have been amusing, but Brayden was not in the least bit amused now. He was angry with his sister for treating his friend so badly.

"Caz..."

She didn't answer.

"Caz..."

Again, no answer.

"Cassy..."

This time she turned her head away from him.

His frown deepened and his sea-green eyes appeared to turn cold. "Cassandra Rose Lambert!"

This time Cassy turned to him and he noticed the fire in her green eyes. The eyes that were so much like their mothers.

"What do you want Brayden?" Cass asked with a frown of her own.

"I want to know why you treated my friend so horribly. You were rude to him Caz, and you slapped him damn it! How could you do that? You don't even know him." Brayden began letting his temper get the better of him. He began to pace the floor in anger before stopping and looking at her with a sigh to rein in his temper. The Lamberts were famous for their loss of temper, but he had to learn early on that he needed to restrain it. And sadly, his sister whose temper was ten times worse than his, had to step in once to save him from ruining his life. In turn, she was the one that willingly took the blame. He would never forget it. So, now, he needed to calm down, for her sake.  "I want to know why..."

The biker clad woman frowned at her brother and then averted her gaze. "I didn't know he was a Morgan..."

"What the hell does that have to do with anything? So, what if he's a Morgan... he's not like..."

Cassy interrupted him, "You know how I feel about the Morgan's, Bray. I can't stand the whole idiotic family. They're all the same."

Brayden sighed, pulled off his fedora and ran a hand through his sandy blond hair. "Griffin isn't like the other's Caz. If you get to know him..."

"Save it Bray... I'm sure you think he's not like the others... but he deceived me. He didn't even mention who he was, and I was dancing with him. I danced with him until, Cruella came over and tried to lecture me about not being with a Morgan." At his look of confusion, she sighed. "Apparently that's my punishment for being late to Joel's party. I have to have a date and it must be a Morgan.

"Ah! So that's what this is about... You were seen dancing with a Morgan?! Get over it Cassy. He's not like Sterling..."

Once again Cassy interrupted her brother, "Not like Sterling?! Devon's turning out to be just like Sterling, why wouldn't he? And don't tell me to get over it... He's a Morgan. I will never trust a Morgan, Bray. You can be friends with him all you want, just like Joel's friends with Sterling and Devon." Cassy stopped here and sighed before sitting down on her bed. The look on Brayden's face was downcast and she really did hate upsetting her brother. "Where the hell did, he come from Brayden? How come I didn't know about him? I never knew Sterling and Devon had another brother."

Brayden sighed as well and leaned up against the wall once again. "He was pretty much kicked out when he was a kid because he didn't agree with what his family did for a living and he's been friends with me. They never liked the idea of him being friends with a Lambert. Griffin never listened, always snuck out so we could hang out and get into trouble. Father didn't like it, but he never forbade me to have him as a friend. His family sent him to a boarding school in England when he didn't conform to their ways. He lived there until he turned eighteen and then went on to college. He's brilliant Cassy, and funny."

"Good for him." Cassy said coldly understanding now why he had that English lilt. He was still a Morgan and she felt she still couldn't trust him. That wasn't the only thing that bugged her. There was something else too, but she just couldn't place it. It was a strange feeling whatever it was, and she took it as contempt. "As long as I don't have to see him again, we'll be good."

"Well that's going to be a problem Caz, because he's going to be working with us. He offered to help me. Since our families have been longtime rivals, he figured he'd help us with some of our problems that have to do with them. Kind of the good against the bad sort of thing. His family won't let him come back home, and he kinda has no place to go."

"Good? Bray we're thieves... and I can't believe you're letting a... a Morgan join us! Have you completely lost your mind?!" Cassy nearly shouted. "Father has to be rolling over in his grave!"

"Calm down Caz. I trust him and we may be thieves, but we're kind of like a modern-day Robin Hood. We really aren't stealing... we're stealing what someone else stole to give it back to the original owner... for a profit of course." Said Bray with a cool smile.

Cassy rolled her eyes and frowned, "That makes it all the better, Bray." Her tone was even more sarcastic than normal. "I suppose it is better than when father did it... He stole for keeps we steal for others... what a wonderful way to put it." Her husky voice continued to ooze sarcasm. She really did love her line of work. She loved the thrill and excitement of sneaking into other people's homes and stealing what didn't belong to them in the first place.

Brayden sighed again and moved over to his sister's side. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he smiled slightly. "Give him a chance Caz. He's my best friend and I trust him with my life."

"Just because you do Bray, doesn't mean I have to. I'm warning you though. If he's going to work with us, then you better keep him away from me. I won't give him a chance, Bray, I'm sorry... He's a Morgan and I can't trust a Morgan."

"CASSANDRA!!!! Get your ass out here! I told you to stay with Mr. Morgan and you deserted him!"

Cassy cringed, hearing the witch of a step-mother yelling at her through her door. She glanced at Bray with a look of annoyance and defeat. Once again, he placed his hand on her shoulder, this time to stop her and headed for the door to take care of his sister's problem.

Opening the door, Brayden stared down at the shorter woman with a smile. "You're right. She did desert Mr. Morgan, but only to talk to me. Now I'll make sure she goes back down to Mr. Morgan and she will stay by his side for the rest of the night."

The plastic looking woman looked satisfied with that and turned away from Brayden not about to argue with the man. Once the woman was gone though, Cassy hit her brother in the shoulder as she approached.

"How could you do that Bray? If there's one Morgan I can't stand the most it's Sterling." Cassy said feeling sick to her stomach.

"Stop, Caz. Now, come down stairs so you can be with your date." Brayden said with a sly smile.

"I hate you sometimes... you know that?" Cassy growled at him before heading downstairs her brother at her side.