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“Did you know about the soldier?” Nick asked the question of Whitney as they sat together in the waiting area. Gabriella had arrived so Calla was huddled with her and the man who’d helped Connor.

“No. I knew he met Calla, fell in love with her and why she left him.”

“You went over to Syria.”

“I did. But she was gone by the time I got there. I’d finally talked to him on a sat-phone and he sounded terrible. So I flew over. He never told me about the man who saved him. He confessed he was despondent because Calla left. I tried to get him to come home with me, be with family, but he refused.” She sighed. “He’d probably felt so guilty he wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Or knowing Con, he wanted to take care of the soldier’s family.” This from Nick.

Gabe sighed. “How awful for him.”

Nick shook his head. “How do you ever get over something like that?”

“You work at it.” Whitney spoke in a grave tone. “You go through the pain of analyzing every aspect, so you aren’t overcome by it when the nightmare hits.”

Her cousins exchanged looks.

“Yes, it’s what I learned in therapy. What I’m still learning.”

Nick grasped her hand. “You only told us the therapy was going well.”

“It’s hard to talk about. But Connor never told another soul about the repercussions of his grief, even me, so he must have been suffocated by the secret.”

“What can we do for him, Whit?” Gabe asked.

“I’d say the first order of business is keeping him safe. Then we either get him to counseling or make him talk to us.”

“Connor was always the happy one. The peacemaker. He brought us all joy.” Nick shook his head. “Poor kid, no wonder he was leveled by all this.”

Whitney motioned to where Calla sat with her sister. “What about her?”

Tracking her gaze, Gabe frowned. “We’ll have to keep her safe, even after she gets asylum. Just last week the Russian government tried to kidnap a citizen who’d come to the U.S. for safety. If Bertocchi is a loose cannon, that’s what he could do.” He frowned. “Or already tried to do. Maybe that’s what he’s up to but had to get rid of Connor first.”

Whitney shivered at the thought of something happening to Connor. “That’s so extreme.”

“I can’t think of another reason why they’d go after our brother.”

“I—”

“Holy shit, who are they?” Nick was staring over her shoulder.

Whitney turned to see four women, all resembling Calla, one more beautiful than the next, enter the waiting area. Like proud Amazons, their carriage was erect, their heads held high. Each sported black hair of varying lengths, shining in the overhead lights.

“I think,” she said, “those are the Gentileschi sisters.”

Still stunned by Connor’s confession, Calla was barely holding it together when she caught sight of her sisters entering the waiting room. She turned to Brie. “I asked you not to let them know what was going on with Connor, that I might have been followed. I don’t want anyone else endangered by my situation.”

“Calm down, honey.” Brie seemed stronger now. “We saw a lot of them when you first got to the U.S. How do you think I kept them away from you in the last week?”

“They shouldn’t be—”

Her response was cut off with the arrival of the four girls. Francesca, the next oldest, spoke for them. “Come give us a hug before we read you the riot act.”

Calla surged out of the chair. Francesca took her into her arms. “I love you, Calla. I’m here to help. I can protect you.” She was a cop in Baltimore, which worried them all, but she had a right to choose her way of life.

Evangelina was next. “I’m so sorry, amata sorella .” She was the gentlest, and worked with babies in a neo-natal center.

“I love you, too, Evvie.”

The most emotional, Mariela, had been through a lot in her young life. She burst into tears in Calla’s arms.

“Shh, Mari, it will be all right.”

“Things don’t always turn out the way we expect, Calla.” Mari had married her boyfriend, who was also her betrothed, at seventeen, had one daughter, and then Marco died in a car accident when Mari was 20. She decided to come to the U.S. and get her law degree, and go back to Casarina to practice.

Last was Ravenna. Always the rebel, and against their father’s wishes, she’d eschewed college and went to France to train in art. She moved to the U.S. after she finished her schooling and got certified as an art therapist. “I know what it’s like to leave under a cloud, but mine was of my own making. I’m so sorry, sis.”

Calla hated that the girls could be dragged into this mess, too, hated that she’d done that to them, but so glad to see them, she let herself take pleasure in having at least six of them together during this awful afternoon. “Does Lexy know about what’s going on with me?”

“I’m sure she does, now that you called our parents,” Brie answered. “Mamá is keeping nothing from her.”

“At least she’s safe.”

“Calla,” her police-officer sister said, “you’re the one who’s not safe.”

Someone’s phone rang. Brie’s. “Hello.” She frowned. “It’s the king.” Brie always spoke of their father with obvious sarcasm. Gabriella harbored ill-will against Papá because of his rigid demands on Calla.

She took the phone. “Hello.”

“Callandra. I am afraid I have bad news.”

It was bad news, all right. After disconnecting, Calla said, only, “Come with me.” She crossed to Connor’s family with her own contingent behind her.

The Marinos all appeared a bit stunned, as most people did when the girls were together. “These are my sisters. I’ll introduce you in a minute, but I’ve gotten some news. My father and his guards went to see Lorenzo, but found he had disappeared from his estate two days ago.”

Connor awoke. After his confession, he’d fallen back to sleep for an hour and felt better now. His thoughts this time turned to Calla. He was still angered by the notion that she was considering going back to Casarina. But his heart hurt at the stricken look on her face when he confessed what happened to him after she left. Contradictory feelings ricocheted back and forth within him, making him dizzy.

The door opened. Calla stood there, hesitantly. “Are you up for some company?”

“Yes, we need to talk.”

He wasn’t prepared for the entourage that followed her inside. What on earth? These must be her sisters. “Wow!” he said, forgetting his pique.

“They’re lovely, aren’t they?” Calla’s smile was so broad, it cut to his core. She used to smile at him like that. “Shall I introduce them to you?”

“Of course.” He eased up on the pillows. He could at least be gracious to her family, as she’d been to his.

So Connor met the Gentileschi sisters. Francesca, Ravenna, Evangelina and Mariela. For a minute, Brie’s blond blue-eyed looks amidst all the raven haired beauties startled him.

“I wish meeting you was under better circumstances.” Evangelina, fourth in family birth order, spoke softly, sincerely. Her long dark locks flowed down her back just like Calla’s, though they were wavy. She was also more slender.

“Hello, Connor. I’m Mariela. “I’m sorry you were hurt.” This sister was petite and wore a braid down her back. She seemed very young.

Ravenna was the feisty one, Calla had told him. Her hair had been cut very short and spiked. She didn’t speak, just nodded; she’d reserve judgment on him.

But Francesca, closest in age to Calla, wore an expression of Nick’s when he got mad, and moved closest to the bed. “I’m not as polite as the others. I’m pissed as hell at you. You’ve hurt my sister badly.”

“I can’t say how sorry I am for that.”

“Francesca, I hurt him more.”

“Bullshit.”

Gabe stepped forward. Connor hadn’t noticed his family and Max had entered the room, too. “Let’s avoid any family drama. Calla, tell Con what you just found out.”

“Lorenzo disappeared from his estate two days ago.”

“Shit, so he could be here. Would he have come after me?” Connor said.

“Eddie told us about the perpetrator,” Nick put in. “He wore a mask, but he had blond hair, some of which had escaped the cap. Bertocchi is swarthy and has dark hair.”

Instinctively Connor took Calla’s hand. There wasn’t a chance of having her in his life, but he loved her.  “That doesn’t mean he wasn’t behind it. He could be after Calla.”

“And you.” Her voice quavered on the last words.

“We’ll have to set up some protection.” This from Gabe.

Nick said, “We can talk to the president.”

“Wait just a minute.” Francesca’s voice rose. “I’m a member of the Baltimore PD. Calla’s family has some say in this.”

“This is too big for the police.” Nick brushed her concerns off. “We need the Secret Service.”

Her sister fumed at being ignored.

Max stepped forward. “Whitney and I can guard them.”

“Isn’t anybody listening to me?” Francesca put in. 

“Yes, we are.” Gabe, the mediator. “We simply don’t agree with you.” He turned to their cousin. “Whit, do you think you two could guard them?”

“No.” Whitney’s quietly uttered word silenced all of them.

“Why not, love?” This from Max.

She scanned the room. “Well, I didn’t plan to have an audience for this, but I haven’t gotten my period in six weeks.”

“Are you pregnant?” This from Max.

“I don’t know. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner, honey. But I was working on this with Eve.”

“I’m confused,” Brie said.

“Join the club.” This from Francesca. “Your family is as complicated as ours.”

James Manwaring once again sat across from his brother-in-law in the Oval Office.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Nick said.

“Miss it?”

“I do. But I’m happy. The little ones could come any day now.”

“Isabelle’s well, though, right?”

“You’d know since you call her every day.”

“Yeah. I guess. I understand they often put expectant mothers of twins on bed rest.”

“The doc said not now. He put her on standby for that. Lord knows how she’ll stand that.”

“She’ll do what she has to.” Jim sat back into the cushions. “So, I hear there was an incident with your brother.”

“You already know?”

“Nick, I have resources reporting to me every day. Max Blackwell was on the scene. I was told Connor was involved.”

“Yes. He’s in the hospital.”

“How is he?”

“Battered. Under observation. Gabe’s staying with him right now.”

“I had the FBI check into this. I understand one of Alessio Gentileschi’s daughters resides at the house Connor was heading to, which is the property of one of her sisters. Why don’t you fill me in on the rest?”

“The Gentileschi woman is my brother’s girlfriend, I guess you could call her, and is staying with her sister Gabriella on that street.”

“So two of the king’s daughters are involved?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Give me the whole story.”

“Apparently, Gentileschi...” Nick proceeded to tell Jim what had happened.

“I’m shocked about Gentileschi.” Jim remembered the confident, brilliant young man that he’d crossed paths with.

“He was a visiting student for a year at Yale when I was there, and we had several political science classes in common. We talked at length about making the world a better place. He used to be so progressive.”

“That’s hard to imagine from what I’ve heard.”

“Since then, we’ve kept in touch. When I was a senator, I spearheaded an educational agreement with Casarina. My daughter studied for a summer at the prep school. My wife went to Casarina with her. While they were there, they were treated like royalty themselves at the palace. Sasha spent time with the Gentileschi girls, so she probably met these two. When they got back, they described the place as idyllic.”

“Seems like there was a snake in the garden.”

“To a degree, I understand his dictate; not his actions, though. Foreign countries are concerned with lineage much more than we are. Alessio needs an heir and since they don’t have male children, he’ll want their daughters to give him some. But to deny your daughter protection? How can she ever forgive him?”

“I don’t know. Since I’m about to have girl twins, I can’t image it.”

“What protection have you arranged for Connor and Calla?”

“We’re working with Director Paul to get some agents assigned to them until Lorenzo Bertocchi is caught. The situation is twofold. Connor and Calla aren’t safe. And we need your help to investigate this.”

“I can facilitate the asylum and put the Threat Assessment Center on the investigation. But that doesn’t seem to be enough if she fears someone is actually coming after her now.”

“And my family can’t guard them.”

“Not you and Gabe. You just got out of the line of fire. But what about Max and Whitney?”

With a chuckle, he explained their situation.

“Good news, I take it?”

“It would be.”

“Then they can do the work at Threat Assessment. Meanwhile I can assign government protection for them.”

“That would be helpful. Now we have to find a place where they’ll go. We have safe houses—”

Jim held up his hand. “I have a better idea. We’ll send them to Camp David. It’s set up for maximum protection.”

“I thought the camp was only for you and foreign dignitaries and their families?”

“Well, the compound was originally built in the thirties as a vacation house for government officials. Now it’s reserved for the leader of the free world. But because this involves the daughter of one of our allies, sending them there would be akin to housing foreign dignitaries.” He shrugged. “Even if it wasn’t kosher, I owe your family a lot and Isabelle adores Connor.”

“I hadn’t even considered the compound. With its 125 acre security fence, they wouldn’t even be cooped up.”

“Not to mention the variety of activities available.” Nick had spent time there guarding Jim on many occasions and the place had two pools, walking trails and other sports activities.

“I’ll offer it, then. For my buck, it’s the best answer.”

“Mine, too.” He smiled. “Thank you, Mr. President.”

Connor was packing to go home. Or wherever they decided would be the best place for his safety. Maybe he could stay with Whitney and Max. His brothers wouldn’t approach him about his protection, though. Instead, they’d send Whitney in. Tired, he sat on the bed and thought about her. Took comfort in their closeness and the times they’d turned to each other. Even to navigate the murky waters of adolescence...

“You’re all mussed,” Connor said one night when Whitney came to the doorway of his room. Her hair was askew and her blouse was buttoned wrong. “What have you been doing?”

She blushed. He threw down the book he’d been studying. “Go on, you didn’t!”

A goofy smile spread across her face.

“Come in and tell me.”

Flying to the bed, she flopped on her back and spread her arms. “Actually there’s not much to say. It was over so fast. We were in the backseat of a car, and he couldn’t even get the condom on. I had to do it.”

Connor laughed.

“It hurt a little.”

“You were a virgin, so I’m not surprised.”

“But it was kind of nice to be that close to Gary.”

“When I tell Nick what you did, Gary better watch out.”

“Oh, my God, Connor.” She came up on her knees and jumped him, pinning him to the bed. “Say you’re kidding.”

“Of course I’m kidding. We never share our secrets.”

“Whew.”

 When she rolled off, she sat cross-legged. “What about you, Con? When are you going to do the deed?”

“Marci says after the prom. But now I don’t know. I’ll fumble for sure.”

“It’s got to be with somebody.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Gabe told us some things when we turned sixteen. About, you know, making it fun for the girl.”

“That didn’t do you any good.”

“Yeah, but you’re the guy. If you can take your time, you might get it right.”

“I suppose. But Jesus, how do you take your time?”

“You should jerk off before the prom. Maybe once during the night in the bathroom.”

He threw a pillow at her and laughed again...

He was distracted from the memory by the door opening. Of course, it was her. “I thought they’d send you in.”

“Yep, I drew the short straw. Con, I—”

“Wait a sec.” He crossed to her and took her hands. “You might be pregnant.”

A kind of glow came over her face. “Yeah. Max and I decided not to use any birth control. Figured this would take a while, if it happened at all. But I’m not certain. I skip periods all the time.”

“What is this aversion you have to pregnancy tests?”

“My counselor says I don’t want to know. Maybe I’m not ready. But I’m going to give it a little more time.”

“In any case, I’m glad you and Max are out of protective duty.”

“All of us are. Who would have thought?”

Connor turned back to the bag he was stuffing his clothes in. “Life doesn’t always turn out like we planned, honey.” His certainly hadn’t.

She sat on the bed so he couldn’t ignore her. “Why didn’t you tell me about the solider?”

Connor took in a deep breath, remembering the young face of the man who gave his life for him. “Maybe because I had to suppress it to deal with it.”

“The exact opposite of what you told me to do.”

“Yeah, I know. And I felt like a hypocrite. But sometimes you can forget the horror.” He stopped and sat down next to her. “I will tell you being with Calla is killing me. I love her, but my fears about her always come true.”

“What do you mean?”

“In Syria, she was conflicted about going back to Casarina to marry Bertocchi. After we got together, we talked about her staying with me. She said she wanted to. That she might not return to Casarina. But I always feared she’d leave me. And she did. She married the bastard.”

“And now?”

“When she came to D.C. while you were dealing with all your troubles, she asked for a second chance. I was afraid again that if I allowed her into my life, her family might convince her to go back some day. And, just a few days ago, during this whole ordeal, they suggested that very thing. She considered it. Hell, Whit, what if we had kids, a boy, and her father tried to lure her there again permanently. He’d want the future king there. That would kill me.”

Whitney was thoughtful. “I’m guessing that the issue is compounded by the fact that someone else was hurt, killed.”

“In a very convoluted way, I know. But that’s how it shook out in my mind.”

“I’m sorry your worst fears seem to be materializing.”

“You’d know the feeling.”

“Connor, my issues weren’t life and death.”

“They were important, honey. Your happiness depended on them.”

She looked away. He watched her. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“They did send me in. And I do have bad news for you, especially after you told me about how hard it is being with Calla.”

“What?”

“All of us and even the president want you to go to Camp David until we find Lorenzo or his henchmen.”

“Me and Calla?” Whitney nodded. “No, absolutely not. Send her there alone.”

“You’re in danger, too. You have to be protected.” She took his hand and brought it to her heart. “Please, Con, do this for me. I can’t guard you. And if I lost you, I’d want to die, too.”

While Whitney was up in Connor’s room, Calla met Gabe in the hospital cafeteria at his request. The big, but often gentle man, sat before her with a clarity in his eyes that was comforting. He’d already purchased coffee. “Hello, Gabe.”

“Thanks for coming.” After she sat, he nodded to the brew. “That’s for you.”

She sipped it.

“I’ll cut right to the chase. We have a place for you to go to keep you safe.”

“Where?”

“Camp David, a retreat compound for the president of the United States. He goes there for vacations and also brings dignitaries and their families there for meetings.”

“Ah, we have one of those in Casarina on the Mediterranean Sea.” Before, the memory of romping with her father and the girls in the pool at Masuria, their nights outside gazing up at the stars and how happy her mother had seemed there, were comforting memories. No longer.

“I don’t know about the one in Casarina, but Camp David is a secure facility.” He told her some of the safety precautions of the place.

“So I would go there and be protected by strangers?”

“Trained agents, yes, but also by the location itself. It’s isolated and has an electrified perimeter. The Secret Service would be less intrusive than they would be at an ordinary safe house. You’d see them, of course, but you’d have a lot of privacy.”

“All right.” She drew in a breath. “Since it’s so safe, can one of my sisters come with me?”

Briefly, Gabe glanced away. “I’m afraid you don’t understand, Calla. You’ll be going with Connor.”

Her heartbeat speeded up. “Oh, no, Gabe. I can’t. First of all he won’t want to be with me.”

“I agree. He’s probably telling Whitney the same thing right now. But, quite frankly, you both have to sacrifice your wishes to stay safe.”

The thought of being in such close proximity with Connor devastated her. He’d be within touching distance but would never touch her again. Would he even talk with her? Spend time with her? But Gabe was right. She didn’t have a choice. “For how long?”

“The president is assigning the investigation into who attacked Connor, who might be after you to the Threat Assessment Center. Max and Whitney will work on that end.”

“So this sequester will be short?”

“Hopefully.”

“I can’t believe Connor will agree. And after what I heard about the soldier who was killed, I don’t blame him.” He still hadn’t spoken to her about it as her sisters had shown up. “He hates me.”

“You know that’s not true, Calla. He loves you. And that, above anything else, is one of the reasons he won’t object.”

“What is the other?”

“Because my cousin will make him an offer he can’t refuse.”