Marc instinctively wrapped his arms around the two who’d crashed into him. Katie was crying, Ari was rocking, the puppy was barking and growling at shadows, as fierce as a half-grown pup could be. Marc twisted, and shoved them back inside the house, including the dog. Isaac came running. Marc scooped his son up and carried him back toward Rafe’s office. It was near the center of the house and had no windows.

Ariella hadn’t yet taken her arms from around his daughter. She rocked and soothed constantly—telling his baby girl that she was safe. That no one would hurt her. Promising Katie that.

“What happened?” His guard Warner demanded, coming out of the guest bath. “Where’s Donovan?”

“No clue.” Marc didn’t give a damn in that moment. He wanted to know why his baby and Ariella looked so terrified.

“The bad guys tried to take me, Daddy! But Ari wouldn’t let them!”

Ariella had one skinny hand wrapped behind Katie’s blonde head and Katie was clinging. Close and protected. There was blood on Ariella’s lip and her cheek. His attention jerked back to his daughter. There wasn’t any blood on Katie anywhere. “Ariella, honey, you’re bleeding. How badly are you hurt? Both of you?”

“He hit me, knocked me down. But I’ll be ok. He wanted Katie, Marc. There were two of them and they were waiting. It’s like they knew she’d be outside.”

“Why was she outside, to begin with?”

“I took Horace out to potty, Daddy.”

It didn’t matter that she’d broken the rules. She was safe. His baby was safe. And this never should have happened. This was a gated community. Marc had his own guards at all times, on him and the kids. And Chance had at least three guards that patrolled the perimeter. He’d added an extra guard after Rafe and Jillian had nearly been killed in Rafe’s living room.

No one should have been able to get anywhere near his family. They were as isolated as Chance could get them here.

Warner came back, said something to Rafe that had Rafe running out the door. Marc sat Isaac on Rafe’s desk. Then he took Katie from Ariella.

Isaac wrapped one hand around Marc’s pants pocket. Marc inspected his daughter and then scooped her up with one arm. He just held her for a moment.

Then he slipped his arm around Ariella and pulled her to his chest. “Thank you.”

Every instinct he had was yelling at him to get out there, to fight, to see exactly what threat to his family existed. To not just sit back and let someone else fight his battles.

Katie dove at Ariella, and she caught his child and pulled her close.

Ariella just nodded at him. She rocked and soothed. He lifted Isaac. The little boy hadn’t understood what had happened, but he was extremely sensitive and he knew something major had happened. He clung.

Marc just stood there holding them until Kevin Beck rushed inside. “Rafe’s taking your bodyguard Donovan to FCGH. Most likely a concussion.”

“What in the hell happened out there?”

Marc looked at the one person who could tell them.

Ariella’s arm tightened around Katie. She looked at Marc. “Two men came at us. I think they were after Katie. I didn’t get a good look at them. They had on dark clothing, too. It happened fast. All I had time to do was grab Katie and scream.”

“We heard you inside,” Marc said. She’d yelled his name, over and over again. He hadn’t hesitated. He’d told Isaac to stay put and he’d run. He’d never forget the sight of Ariella wrapped around his daughter as two men came at them both.

Jillian rushed in a few moments later. She demanded to know what had happened. Ariella sat in the chair, Katie on her lap. Katie had barely let go of her. Kevin stood at the window, a handgun at his waist. Marc stood over his daughter and Ariella, his still ill son on his hip.

“Elliot’s on his way,” Chance said, from the door to the office.

Marc bit back the rage. He looked at his cousin, who was responsible for keeping this area safe. Marc sat Isaac down, and the boy curled up next to Katie. “How did they get in?”

“I’m working on finding that out.” He looked at the children and hesitated. “We found two of my guards knocked out. The third was clear at the back of the property. This was planned and someone had insider knowledge.”

Marc’s fury rose. He looked at his daughter and son, now both curled up on Ariella’s lap, and battled it back. The last thing the three of them needed to see was him losing control. She was singing a lullaby quietly, doing her best to soothe.

Elliot arrived fifteen minutes after they’d carried the children into the living room, with promises of ice cream. Marc’s cousin called him away from the children. He held out his phone, showing Marc the image quickly. It was of a piece of plain paper with a message scrawled on it in thick black handwriting.

We can get to you at any time. Don’t forget that. Back off Opal Joy or pay the price.

“I found it at the guardhouse when I drove up. I think you’ve pissed people off with this one.”

It was not the first time he and his family had received threats because of his position. Nor did he think it would be the last. But this was the first time anyone had ever gotten that close to one of his children. It would be the last time.

He hadn’t even known Katie was outside.

It was going to take him a long while to get past that.

Thank God Ariella had arrived when she had.

Marc looked back into the kitchen. Jillian was finally tending the cut on Ariella’s cheek. Marc headed to her side, as guilt filled him. They should have seen to it earlier. “How bad is it?”

“Just a scratch. But she’s going to have one hell of a black eye for a week or so,” Jillian said. “And we’ll get Rafe or Lacy to take a look at the wrist again. Just to be on the safe side. How many times have you landed on it?”

“More than a few.”

Marc took another look at her cheek—it was swelling—and the rage returned. “I’m sorry, honey. I’ll find the men responsible, I promise you I will.”

She nodded. “The guards? Are they ok?”

“I think they will be.” Marc would have some of Elliot’s men question all the guards involved. Because no one should have known where he or his family were today. The only answer he had was that someone somewhere had leaked that information. “I’m sorry you got involved.”

“I’m not. I was there to stop them from taking her. They were out there, waiting. We all know that.”

“We’ll find the answers,” Elliot promised.

Marc leaned closer and kissed Ariella across the forehead. “Thank you. If I had lost her…she and her brother are my world. There’s no other way to put it.”

“That’s because you’re a good father. Anyone can see that.”

Marc just stood where he was and watched her for a long moment. They were damned lucky the men hadn’t just shot her and taken Katie. They could have done that far too easily.

Marc wouldn’t take that threat lightly.

But there was no way in hell he was backing off Opal Joy.