There was something she was missing, and Eve knew it. It involved that dark-haired girl. She had to admit, the creature was quite stunning. She could see where men would be fawning over someone like her.

But Marcus wasn’t just any man. He was a great one, and destined to be even greater.

He couldn’t just marry anyone, not like he had before. Not now.

Carissa had been adequate for a man like Marcus had been when he’d been building his manufacturing empire, but she could have been greater.

There was no way this dark-eyed urchin would ever measure up to the needs Marcus had now.

For one thing, she was far too young. She looked barely old enough to vote. It couldn’t be said Marcus had robbed the cradle. For another, the name Avery did not have any of the right connections a man of Marcus’ political career needed.

No, she was just a simple girl. A fling. Eve didn’t even know how that girl or the blonde one wearing Eve’s mother’s ring were even connected to the Beck family.

Or to the tall man she recognized from the society papers. Davis Lucas—head of Lucas Tech and Lucas Industries, two companies now dominating the Texas economy, along with Barratt-Handley Industries—was even more dynamic in person. He was connected to Barratt-Handley, she believed.

Evelyn prided herself on keeping up with important people in Texas.

The heir to Barratt-Handley had just walked in that ridiculous back door of the Beck household. It should be a revolving door, apparently. Or have a doorman to direct the damned traffic.

There was another Beck daughter with him.

She remembered this one, too. Barratt’s wife had been all over the news sites and tabloids on a regular basis.

Chance was there, looking like a wilder version of his father, more like Eve’s own father than any of the other boys. Wild and untamed.

She’d always had a soft spot for her roguish nephew. Elliot was right behind him, his blonde wife and a thin orange-haired girl followed.

And an orange-haired baby.

Eve fought a smile at the child’s wide-eyed expression. She’d always had a fondness for infants. That this was her twin’s grandchild hadn’t been lost to her, either.

Elliot, Sr., would have been thrilled with this strange looking infant. Tears sprang to her eyes when she thought of what he would always miss.

Her own grandchildren were playing in the backyard. She’d heard their excited yells when that teenaged boy had joined them.

“Aunt Eve,” Elliot, Jr., said. He was the carbon image of his father and looking at him hurt for a moment. It probably always would.

And it made her open her arms for a quick hug. She rarely hugged anyone. But she had lost so much when her brother was murdered. With her twin, she’d been guaranteed someone who would listen. She missed him every single day.

“Elliot, Chance. I’m sorry I missed your weddings.”

“We missed having you there. Aunt Eve, this is my wife, Gabby. And Chance’s wife, Brynna. You may remember both of them from when they were children,” Elliot said. He looked at his wife with the same kind of love his father had given Anne.

The kind Eve had always envied.

Chance was looking at his own family the same way. The baby was quite young, but she stared at the world around her from eyes shaped just like Kevin Beck’s. Other than the odd coloring—which she’d obviously gotten from her mother—the baby was quite beautiful.

Eve’s hands itched to hold. But she wouldn’t ask. At all. She was the widow of Julius Deane, a shrewd businesswoman and not one who enjoyed cuddling infants. At least not publicly.

There was movement in the dining room and Eve looked toward her oldest son. Just as the dark-haired girl bolted out of the house.

Marcus was only steps behind her.

“What’s wrong with Ari?” Chance’s wife asked as everyone stopped talking for a moment.

“She’ll be ok. I just brought some family news we’ll have to deal with later,” Davis Lucas said. He shot a look at Rafe out of his dark eyes. Eyes that reminded her of her son’s.

What had Eve missed?

“Then let’s get dinner going, and figure things out,” the redhead in Rafe’s arms ordered. At her command, the rest of the room sprang into action.

But Marcus and that dark-haired girl were nowhere to be seen.