“Ready to enter the lions’ den?” Sophia asked Alistair, smiling.

“Are they going to eat me alive?”

“They might…” she joked. And rang the bell of her grandmother’s penthouse.

“Sophia!” A short, thin, old woman wearing an elegant black dress flung the double doors wide. She opened her arms, hugged Sophia and launched into a string of questions in Portuguese.

Sophia laughed and answered her, hugging her back.

“Alistair, may I have the honor to introduce you to my grandmother, Angelica Gonçalves,” she said in English, and lowered her voice to a mocking whisper, “be careful around her, she puts spells in her food.” Angelica and Sophia laughed. And again she lowered her voice to a whisper. “And you be careful too, he’s a powerful Highland warrior.”

He so loved the idea of being her Highlander. Alistair chuckled inward as he flashed her grandmother his most charming smile.

“Warrior or not, if you don’t treat my little Sophia well, you are going to have an appointment with my rolling pin,” Angelica eyed him, unabashedly taking full measure of him, struggling for a stern look that melted in a huge smile.

“Grandma makes the most delicious pastries you’ve ever tasted.” Sophia turned back to her grandmother and could see that she was captivated by Alistair. “Tell me you’ve made something delicious for tonight’s dessert.”

“It is an honor to meet you, Mrs. Gonçalves. Sophia talks about you a lot.”

“Oh, I hope she has told you only good things. Please, call me Angelica. Mrs. Gonçalves is too formal.” Sophia’s grandmother smiled at him, framed his face in her hands and kissed his cheeks, then hugged him. “Welcome.”

Alistair was startled and Angelica’s blue eyes twinkled.

Sophia laughed. “We are very informal, Alistair. Get used to being kissed, hugged, and slapped on the back by people you have just met. Carolina is the only reserved one of the family. She is our English side.”

“I am not. You all are savages.” A tall, young woman wearing glasses and a sleeveless light-blue dress, with her dark brown hair floating around her, appeared in the hallway they had just entered. She gracefully stood on her tiptoes and again Alistair received two kisses, but this time more contained. “Carolina, or just Carol.”

Gabriela came running, her blonde hair dancing around her and threw herself in Alistair’s arms, hugging and kissing him as he picked her up. “Alistair!”

“Hello, Fairy.” He returned the kisses and buried his nose on her neck, inhaling deep. Alistair loved Gabriela’s delicate baby smell.

“I missed you today. I went to the pool. Look how tanned I am.” She extended her arms, showing her supposedly tanned skin.

“I can see you enjoyed your day, Gabriela. You don’t even remember that you have a mother anymore.” Sophia said.

The little girl turned serious. “I’m sorry, Mamãe. Good evening,” she said, composed. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, love,” Sophia said with a smile, standing on her tiptoes to kiss her daughter. “So you had fun with your aunt?”

“Yes, she had. Almost drove Grandma crazy. Too much energy,” said Carol, seriously, as she pushed open the door to a huge, square room, all done in soft pastel colors with modern paintings hanging on the wall.

“Oh! She didn’t! She was just being a child. You are too protective.” Angelica huffed from behind. “Would you believe, Sophia, that Carol asked me to go rest, in the middle of the afternoon, with the false pretense that the beach had tired me? I’m sure that she wanted to have Gabriela for herself.”

“Oh, no, my little niece is in trouble again.” A mellifluous voice came from behind them.

Sophia spun around and threw herself in Felipe’s arms.

He was informally dressed, wearing a light pink shirt, with its long sleeves rolled up and navy slacks. Laughing, he kissed and hugged her, and extended his hand to Alistair. “Nice to see you again, Alistair. How are you?”

“Please, let’s sit. We are waiting for Carolina’s…” Angelica looked at Carolina.

“Fiancé,” Felipe snorted.

“You are engaged, Carol? Congratulations.” Sophia hugged her sister. “I didn’t know.”

“Seems they decided it last night,” Felipe explained, clearly annoyed. “He’s finished filming the scenes here and he wants Carolina to move with him to Hollywood.”

“You’re moving?” Sophia was astonished. “You?”

“Why not?” she asked defensively. “You, Valentina, and Victoria did. Why not me?”

“Yes, why not?” Felipe derided.

Angelica tactfully changed the subject, as she rose and took Alistair by the arm, commanding everyone to the veranda, asking Alistair about his family.

* * *

When Drake entered the living room, carrying an enormous bouquet of red roses, Carolina really smiled for the first time that evening. She pushed from the rail of the balcony, where she had been eagerly watching the door and walked swiftly to receive him.

He dipped her over one arm and kissed her as if they were alone in the room. He gave her the flowers and she threw her arms around his neck. He hugged and kissed her again.

“See what I mean?” Felipe was scowling.

“Oh, Felipe,” Sophia, who was eyeing the scene raptly, sighed with longing. “We had our time too, remember?”

Had?! What does she mean by that? “Had?” Alistair murmured in her ear.

She explained, startled. “It’s Carol’s first real boyfriend,” she said, looking up at his face. “It’s…first love. I mean…it’s not the same.”

Oh. It’s not? How is it for you then? “Nae?” A hurt look appeared on his face and he stepped further back into the shadows.

Rainy clouds obscured the waning crescent moon and helped shadow even more the veranda.

Oh, Alistair Connor. “It’s not—” Sophia’s apology and explanation were interrupted by Drake’s presence on the balcony.

Thomas Drake Westwood was not what one would expect from a Hollywood movie director. He looked like an elegant Al Capone. He even had the cigars, which could be seen in a special leather pouch in his tweed jacket pocket. He was tall and lean but not handsome or muscular. His brown hair was receding and thinning. Nonetheless, all in all, Drake had flair and a commanding presence. His clothes were expensive but understated. However, what truly called one’s attention were his eagle-sharp brown eyes. Eyes that scanned a person and discovered their most private wishes. Eyes that offered fulfillment of these secrets.

He flashed a smile at Angelica, who stretched out her hand to him. He kissed it with a flourish.

“This is my great-granddaughter, Gabriela,” Angelica introduced the girl to him.

He picked Gabriela up in his arms with a flourish and exclaimed, “A fairy!”

Gabriela’s mouth formed a big O, before she tilted her head to the side and asked intrigued, “How do you know?”

“I am a magician. After dinner, I’m going to make you disappear!” He kissed the wide-eyed little girl and put her back on the floor, advancing purposely toward Felipe.

“Felipe, my friend, how are you?” Drake slapped him on the back.

Felipe grimaced at Sophia over the man’s shoulder, causing her to giggle.

At the lilting sound, Drake turned slowly to look at her, taking in her presence for the first time. His dark eyes sparkled when he saw her standing under the light, her one-shoulder red top hugging her figure and the black leather miniskirt revealing her long, beautiful legs. A wolfish smile appeared on his features and he appraised her from head to toe.

“Where have you been hiding?” He grinned at Sophia.

“This is my sister, Sophia. Sophia, this is Carol’s fiancé, Thomas Drake Westwood,” Felipe introduced.

“Drake to my friends.”

He leaned in to kiss her, but Alistair’s arm snatched her by the waist, pulling her back to his body.

Drake straightened up and craned his neck to look up at Alistair’s face.

How dare he look at Sophia like that? “This is the future Marchioness of Ells, my fiancée.” Let’s set boundaries here. Alistair towered over the much shorter man. “I’m Alistair Connor MacCraig, the Marquis of Ells and CEO of The City of London Bank, among other things.” He stretched out his hand, keeping Sophia out of Drake’s reach.

Felipe’s forehead furrowed and he looked at Sophia, who discreetly lifted a shoulder, smiling at Alistair’s immediate reaction.

Lord Caveman is staking his claim. Let him.

Drake didn’t even blink and put his hand in Alistair’s, letting it linger there. “A pleasure, milord. Congratulations on your engagement.” His stare moved from Alistair to Sophia as he inspected them both with the same boldness. In a hoarse, intimate voice, he said, “You make a breathtaking couple.”

Alistair’s countenance darkened. He squeezed hard Drake’s hand, before letting it go, and answered dryly, “Indeed.”

Carolina distracted him from his unpleasant thoughts as she exited the kitchen, carrying a huge crystal vase with roses and announcing dinner was served.

* * *

“So, Sophia, have you and Alistair set a date yet?” Angelica asked from the head of the table, after making a toast to them and to Carolina and Drake.

“Not yet, Grand—”

“August the seventh, at Airgead Caisteal,” Gabriela interrupted.

Sophia lost her breath. “What?”