The phone woke me up at 2:31 a.m.

My body immediately went into alert mode. Middle of the night phone calls were never good news.

“Eduardo?”

“Yes?” I couldn’t quite place the voice.

Squinting, I tried to adjust my eyes to the dim light. Chloe lay next to me sleeping. She’d had a long day yesterday shooting some new episodes for her cooking show, Baking with the Barnes. Wanting her to get all the rest she could, I slid out of bed and padded into the living room of our new LA apartment. It was the nicest place I’d ever lived, and I was still trying to get used to it.

“Hey, it’s Ivy.”

This was unusual. Ivy and I had gotten to know each other better over the last few months, but I wouldn’t have thought we were on “call you at two-in-the-morning” terms. “What’s up?”

“I’m sorry to bother you. I realize it’s probably the middle of the night over there.”

“Two thirty.”

“Sorry. But Lucinda said to call you.”

My gut clenched.

“What is it, Ivy? Is everybody okay?” I asked, with more urgency in my voice than I’d intended.

“Yes, everyone is fine, in one piece, if that’s what you mean. But it’s Leo. He’s in a bit of trouble.”

“Trouble? What kind of trouble?” After his confession about his questioned parentage, I felt a special connection with Leo. We might not be related by blood, but I definitely considered him my brother.

A long sigh traveled across the miles. “It’s about a girl.”

Crap. “I’m not sure this is something I can help you with.”

“Oh, but you have to. Lucinda says we need a priest, and thank God, we’ve got one in the family. She’s booking you a ticket to Martinovia now. I’ll text you the details.”

“Why in the world do you need a priest, Ivy?”

“Because Leo has apparently de-flowered this country’s princess, and they need to be married right away or her father is going to turn this thing into an international incident.”

Holy crap. I had a million questions, the first of which was—does Leo even want to marry this princess? But those would have to wait. “All right. I’ll come.”

“Yay!” squealed Ivy. “Thank you! Eduardo, you’re the best. And Mom says to bring some of your finest vestments for the photos. What are vestments anyway?”

“Ask your mother. I’ve got to start packing.”

“Thanks, Eduardo.”

We hung up, and as I started going through my closet and adding things to my hanging bag, I thought about how much my life had changed. Less than a year ago I’d been a lonely man who thought his church was his family. That might have been the case for a while, but a family like that didn’t always remain loyal. My newly found blood family might betray me too, but for now I took a leap of faith and trusted that they would be there for me.

As much as I’d hated the idea at first, Lucinda had given Chloe’s career a boost she would never have had if it weren’t for the Barnes Media machine. Ultimately, I was grateful for that. My wife was happy, and that made me happy.

All of the Barneses had gotten involved in the family’s various philanthropies, but Dynassy had made sure I was in charge by convincing Lucinda that she already had enough on her plate managing all of their careers. Our first project well was under construction in an isolated part of Africa, and we had a benefit concert planned for the following summer.

As much as I wanted Chloe to come with me, I knew she’d need to stay and finish taping the new episodes of her show. I’d wait and wake her right before I had to leave. The prospect of seeing my beloved Chloe’s eyes flutter open each morning still filled my heart with joy, and I was going to miss her like crazy. Hopefully, this Leo crisis could be dealt with quickly and I’d be back in her bed as soon as possible.

Finding out I was a Barnes had shocked me, but I’d worked through my resentment, and now I was happy to be a part of the tightly-knit family. They might be rich and famous, but at their core they were human beings like everybody else.

And when things got tough, family had to stick together. That meant when they called me in the middle of the night, I’d be there to help.