JESSKA PULLED UP to Megan’s home on Alberta and parked on the street. She loved her sister’s little house that suited her and Sophia perfectly. It might be small, but Megan owned it, and had worked hard to afford it after paying for law school. Letting herself inside, Jesska didn’t have any warning before the energy shifted in the room and she realized she wasn’t alone. Spinning back toward the front door, she let out a squeak to find Kaspar filling the frame, blocking the light from the porch.

“What the hell do you want?” she demanded.

“I don’t mean to frighten you, little one.”

“Says the man standing inside my sister’s doorway, uninvited and threatening.”

“I apologize.” He stepped outside and smiled. “I’m now not in the doorway.”

“Smartass,” she said, and tried to close the door, but he laid his palm against it, and his strength far outweighed hers.

“I’m not here to hurt you, elskan. I am looking for my niece.”

“She’s not here.”

“Where is she?”

“None of your business,” she said.

Anger flashed in his eyes, and Jesska tried not to panic.

“I’m sorry, elskan.” He reached out and ran a finger down her cheek, and she immediately felt calmer, much to her amazement. “I will not hurt you. I would never hurt you.”

She believed him. To her core, she knew he’d protect her with his life. She just didn’t know how or why she knew that. She took a deep breath. “Maybe that’s true, but I don’t know you, and the fact that you’re stalking my niece makes me question your intentions.”

“Will you allow me to explain?” he asked. “I will tell you everything I know if you’ll just let me.”

Jesska stared up at him for several seconds. “Fine. I’ll give you five minutes, but not inside. This isn’t my home, and I don’t feel comfortable inviting you in.”

“On the porch, then.”

Jesska paused for a second before stepping outside, locking the door behind her, and sitting in one of the porch chairs.

Kaspar sat in the other and stared out to the street. “My brother has made a few unfortunate choices of late—”

Jesska snorted. “A few?”

“Já. More than a few, eh?” Kaspar sighed.

“Já,” she mimicked. “What’s his deal with my sister anyway? She obviously left him for a reason.”

Kaspar cocked his head. “What do you know of their story?”

“Probably less than you.”

“I doubt that,” he admitted. “Did she tell you how they met?”

“All I know is that Megan met him at some party, and ran off with him to Iceland. She came home when Sophia was one, but she never talked about your brother, and I never asked. I was only ten when they got back.” Jesska stared out to the street. “As I got older, I just assumed something bad had happened and respected Megan’s privacy enough not to ask her about it. She told us he died, and I remember thinking it was weird that she changed their last name to Bailey, but I was too young to really understand the reason behind it. I’ve only recently learned a few of the details around her story with your brother, so I’m sure it’s cloudy memories anyway.”

“I understand why she did it now.” Kaspar grimaced. “I just wish I’d known about it at the time.”

“Why?”

“Because I could have helped. I could have protected them.”

“From what?” Jesska demanded.

“From everything. Right now, we are unclear as to exactly what is going on, but if I’d known about Megan, I would have insisted she come to my residence during her pregnancies. It’s the safest place in Iceland, perhaps in the world.”

“What did your brother tell you?” Jesska asked.

“Not much,” he said. “I’m still ignorant of the entire truth, because Ari’s afraid. Of what, I’m also not entirely clear about. All I know, is that I have three nieces that no one in our family but he knew anything about until recently, and that someone wants these girls... for what purpose, I don’t know.”

Jesska frowned. “You don’t seem to know much, do you? Do you know why our nieces are in demand, so to speak?”

“They are special.”

Jesska pushed out of her chair and paced the small porch. “Special, how, exactly?”

“That you’re not ready to hear yet.”

“What? Why not?” she asked, leaning against the railing.

“There are things that you can’t believe, elskan, and until you’re open to believing, you won’t.”

“What does elskan mean? Why do you keep saying that?”

He chuckled. “Something else you’re not ready to hear.”

She pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll look it up then.”

Kaspar cocked his head and gave her a snarky smile, so she found an Icelandic translation site and typed in the word. She gasped. “Um, no. Did I spell it wrong? E-L-S-K-A-N, right?”

He nodded.

She stepped away from the railing and made her way to the front door again. “I am nobody’s sweetheart or baby,” she snapped, and unlocked her sister’s door.

Before she could open it, he took her hand gently and turned her to face him. “As I said, elskan, you are not ready to hear it.”

She felt the heat creep up her neck and dropped her gaze from his. “Stop calling me that.”

Kaspar smiled, raising her palm to his lips. As he pressed his lips to the middle of her hand, he frowned, pushing her sleeve up her arm. “What the hell is this?”

She tried to yank her hand from his, but he held firm. “Let me go.”

“Who did this to you?” he demanded.

“Nobody. Let me go.”

“Jesska, who did this to you?” he repeated, his eyes searching hers.

She shook her head, forcing back tears. “No one did it to me. I did it to myself.”

“Why?” She shook her head again, but he lifted her chin gently and stroked her cheek. “Why, elskan?”

She bit her lip. “It helps.”

“It helps what?”

“The guilt... and the pain.”

He sighed, kissing one of her scars gently and pulling her into his arms. She squeezed her eyes shut. She could hear the steady beat of his heart when she pressed her cheek against his chest. She felt like she was home. Like she was supposed to be there, standing on her sister’s porch in the twilight, in the arms of the best-looking man she’d ever seen. She didn’t know how or understand why, but Kaspar was someone she could trust with her life. But even more importantly, she could trust him with her heart. She slid her arms up his back, reveling in the warmth of his body as he held her.

When he pulled away and leaned down to kiss her, hesitating millimeters from her lips, asking without words if it was okay, she answered by closing the distance between them, and then she was truly lost.

She whimpered as emotions flooded her. Guilt, anger, sadness, despair... her heart ran the gamut as he deepened the kiss and seemed to wipe away the negative feelings with each passing second. Her grief was replaced with desire and then joy before he broke the kiss, stroking her cheek as they both tried to catch their breath.

“How did you do that?” she asked.

“We are connected, elskan. I will always protect you... even from your own feelings.”

She hissed, pushing away from him. “Is that what your brother did to Megan?”

“Elskan.”

He reached for her again, but she shook her head. “No. Don’t touch me. If you can do to me what he did to her, then that means I have no control.”

“That’s not true, sweetheart,” he countered. “You have all the control.”

“She didn’t.”

“Why do you think she was able to leave him?” he challenged.

“I don’t know.” Jesska dragged her hands down her face, shaking her head. “She told me he was able to stop her twice before she finally escaped.”

“I don’t believe that is accurate, little one. If what I think is true, then he would not have been able to stop her.”

“What does that mean?” she snapped. Before he could answer, she raised her hand. “No, don’t bother answering. I have a lot to do. Please leave.”

She pushed open the door and stepped inside, locking it behind her and leaning against it in an effort to catch her breath.