Outside the precinct, I finally stopped to take a deep breath.

I’d spent nearly an hour talking to a desk sergeant, then a lieutenant as I tried to understand more about the issues between Ravenna and Gabriel Marks. I ended up having to tell the lieutenant why I needed to know, and I’d seen the growing fury in his eyes, but I hadn’t let it affect me.

I couldn’t.

Ravenna had crossed a line, bringing my sister into this mess.

If it caused her problems on the job, then she’d have to deal with that.

There wasn’t even any active cases involving Marks going on. The lieutenant had given me that much. I knew Ravenna wanted his head on a platter because of how he’d defrauded a friend’s family, but she couldn’t use that as justification to screw around with my family.

I had to go over to my mother’s and talk to Suria and Joelle.

Suria was furious.

I didn’t blame her. I was in the same mindset myself, and I hadn’t even been the one to come upon Joelle being questioned by a cop.

With one last look back at the precinct, I turned toward my office.

This day was shaping up to be one giant disaster.

Joelle saw me first, and she bounced up out of the chair where she was reading a book and came to hug me. “Hey!” She threw her arms around my neck, the strength of the gesture surprising. “I haven’t seen you all week!”

Hugging her to me, I rubbed my cheek against her soft hair and closed my eyes.

I wasn’t going to let anything screw up this new family I’d found. It didn’t matter what I had to do to protect it. To protect them. I’d do it.

“It’s been a busy week, kid,” I said, pulling back. I pinched her chin, surprised at how easily the affection between us had come, and smiled down at her. “How are you doing? You okay after what happened earlier?”

She blinked, a confused look on her face. “What do you mean, what happened?”

“The cop.” I almost said Ravenna’s name but held back. I couldn’t deny that part of it was out of reluctance to admit that Ravenna and I had gotten personal – very personal.

Joelle’s eyes widened, and she pulled away, laughing a little. “I’m fine. It’s not like she had me trapped in a dark little room and went at me with a rubber hose or anything, Nicco. She just asked a few questions. Well, really, she didn’t have much chance to ask anything because Suria showed up. We’d just barely had a chance to talk, really.”

“She shouldn’t have been talking to you at all. You’re sixteen.”

“I…” Joelle winced, her eyes darting away.

“You what?” I asked, narrowing my gaze on her. That was a guilty face. A very guilty face.

“Well, I might have told her that I was eighteen,” Joelle said, her voice stilted. She licked her lips, the expression on her face clearly anxious. Twisting her hands together in front of her, she stared at me. “Don’t be mad. I just…I wanted to help her. Dad has always told us that the cops were the bad guys, but he lied. I don’t want to be like him, and I thought if I could help…” She shrugged, not needing to finish.

“It’s okay, Joelle,” I said, catching her hands in mine. Untangling them, I squeezed her hands and waited until she finally met my gaze. “It’s okay. And trust me, I understand what you mean about not wanting to be like him. I spent more than a few years doing everything I could to prove that I was nothing like him myself.”

Joelle looked miserable. “Are you still doing that?”

“No.” Shaking my head, I tugged her in for a hug and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “That was giving him way more importance in my life than he deserved. I’m not a user like he is. He’s never cared about anybody other than himself. The very fact that I give a damn about somebody, like my mother…like you two…that’s all the proof I need to know I’m nothing like him. And Joelle? You’re as far from him as night is from day.”

“I get that. Normally.” Her lips tugged up in a weak smile, and she tapped her brow. “Up here. But the rest of me…I mean, you can’t imagine what it’s like growing up surrounded by the crap he throws at us. Well, maybe you can. You lived with him for seven years.”

“Seven years. And it was a long time ago. You put up with a lot more than I did.” I tugged on her hair. “Where’s Suria?”

“In the kitchen with your mom.” Joelle made a face. “Catherine talked her into making some cookies, thought it might help her relax. I bet she’s eating half the cookie dough.”

“Is there anything wrong with that?” I asked mildly.

“Only that I’m not getting any since I’m not in there helping.” Joelle sighed dramatically. “My skills in the kitchen are subpar at best.”

I offered her my elbow. “Come on. We’ll go steal some cookie dough.”

She giggled and accepted my arm, and the two of us made our way through the house, finding my mother and Suria at the kitchen island. Suria was licking a spoon.

“Told you,” Joelle said, edging her way over to the bowl.

“You didn’t do any of the work,” Suria said.

“You want the cookies to be edible, right?” Joelle swiped a bit of dough from the edge.

Suria didn’t say anything, her eyes locked on me.

My mother put two sheets of cookie dough into the oven and turned to greet me, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. She picked up on the subtle tension in the air easily, and I wondered if Suria had told her anything. “Joelle, why don’t you help me clean up? You can earn your cookie dough by doing that. I get the feeling your brother and sister want to talk.”

It was a weird thing to hear, your brother and sister. Normally, it would have made me smile, but Suria’s nod toward my mother was curt, and she approached me without even a hint of a smile.

“Why don’t we step outside?” I suggested, gesturing to the door.

Suria nodded, and the two of us slipped out the sliding glass door onto the patio.

Suria wasted no time spinning around to face me, her eyes snapping. “It was that cop we saw in the café, Nicco! That redhead. She was questioning Joelle. Do you know her?”

“I do.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I met her eyes. I had to choose my words carefully here. “We only met a few days ago, and up front, I want you to know that I didn’t give her Joelle’s number. I was over at her place when Joelle called, and she saw my phone, noticed the number. I guess she took it upon herself to reach out and talk to Joelle. I knew nothing about it until you called me earlier.”

“What is so important that she had to hassle a kid over it?” she demanded.

“I don’t know.” I spread my hands wide as I answered. “She mentioned that the family of a friend of hers had been conned out of some money by Gabriel, but that’s all I know. And I had no idea she’d go so far as to talk to Joelle.”

Suria’s eyes narrowed on me. “But she was talking…to you. Wasn’t she?”

“She was.” Shoving a hand through my hair, I cut around Suria to pace to the edge of the square making up most of the patio. Frustration boiled inside me, but I fought to keep it from showing in my voice as I turned to look at her. “We’d had dinner the other day. I told her I’d help her track down Gabriel. But I won’t be talking to her again. You and Joelle matter more.”

Suria’s eyes widened a little, and for the first time, a faint smile bloomed on her lips.

“Really?” She looked almost reluctant to speak.

“Yeah.” Hitching up a shoulder in a shrug, I held out a hand.

After a few seconds, she took it, and I pulled her in for a hug. She didn’t linger like Joelle had, but I wasn’t surprised. “We’re family. Family comes first,” I told her.

As she pulled away, I said, “I’ll probably see her when I go to the police department…can’t avoid that. It’s part of my job. But I won’t be seeing her personally again.”

Suria just nodded. “I understand.” She drew in a deep breath, then blew it out. “She didn’t really have much chance to talk to Joelle before I showed up, so there wasn’t much damage done. Hopefully, she’s figured out that pressing a kid for information just isn’t done.”

I thought of the way she’d looked as I turned away from her, and the fact that her lieutenant was going to be having a talk with her. I had no doubt that Ravenna had regrets about talking to my little sister. Too bad she hadn’t thought about her actions and considered the consequences beforehand.

Joelle’s words came back to haunt. I might have told her that I was eighteen…

“You do know that Joelle lied to her about her age, right?”

Suria’s mouth firmed out. “I know, but it still doesn’t excuse her.” She huffed out a breath. “Joelle is going to lie about her age to a cop – she doesn’t want to risk somebody trying to make her go back to him. We’ve still got to figure out the guardianship thing. Now…come on.” She held out her hand. “Let’s get inside and hover around the oven. I know my sister – she’ll try to pig out on those cookies.”