After rinsing off with Sam, Kinsey dried her hair and slipped into the dress she’d borrowed from Mrs. D, all while moving in the afterglow of making love with a man who’d captured her heart.

She refused to think past the now of their relationship, or she’d fall into a blue funk of depression. And depression wasn’t her thing. The attitude accomplished little and left her feeling hopeless. She wasn’t hopeless. In fact, she’d failed several times and gotten right back up and moved on, proving to herself she could accomplish anything, even when the task seemed impossible.

Once she had her long hair dried in straight lengths, she twisted it up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. Never one to wear heavy makeup, she applied a light blush to her cheeks, eye shadow and liner to her eyelids. A dash of mascara and lipstick and she was ready.

She giggled, her heart pattering in her chest, a giddy feeling washing over her as she pulled the vintage, silver filigree, figure-hugging dress up over her hips and settled the straps on shoulders. She’d seen Michelle Pfeiffer wear a dress just like this one in one of her movies and had always dreamed of being as elegant as the beautiful movie star. Then she looked at herself in the full-length mirror and smiled. She wasn’t a fashion model, but she came pretty damn close in the dress.

A soft tap on the bathroom door reminded her of the time.

Sam called out, “A taxi’s waiting on the street above the B&B. Are you ready?”

She opened the door and stepped out in the matching silver strappy sandals Mrs. D loaned her along with the dress. They were a little tight, but not so much she’d be in pain the entire night. She could even dance in the low heels, if they decided to go anywhere after their dinner. The thought of waltzing again with Sam made her heart light and happy. She could almost forget that she had someone chasing her from the shadows.

Sam stood back, his brows rising up his forehead. Then he let out a long, low whistle. “Wow. Just wow.”

“It belonged to Mrs. D’s mother. She was much taller than Mrs. D. And she kept the matching shoes all these years.” She spun in front of him to give him the full effect. “You don’t think it’s too old-fashioned?”

“I don’t think that style will ever be considered old-fashioned.” He took her hands and held her at arm’s length. “You’re beautiful.”

She laughed. She couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of hearing his compliments “You said that when I was wearing my shorts.”

“And the statement was true then just as much as it is now. You’re beautiful no matter what you wear…” his voice lowered, “or don’t wear.” He winked. “Because you’re beautiful where it counts most…” He touched a hand to his chest.

Her eyes misted at his words. “Thank you.” Travis had never spoken like that. He’d never said anything as sweet and heartfelt. Being admired for her looks felt good, but to be recognized for what was inside meant more. She stretched up on her toes and kissed him. “I’m ready when you are.”

He led her out of the house, careful to look in all directions and to check the shadows before proceeding. The sun was slipping into the ocean when they climbed into the taxi to the restaurant. Mrs. D arranged the reservation, assuring him her cousin, who owned the place, made the best Greek food and would treat them like family, only better.

Sam texted his brothers the location of the restaurant. They didn’t need to be collected from their ports of entry, as they’d rented cars for their stays on the island. Sam suspected they wanted to spend their time touring alone with their ladies. Having spent time with Kinsey, he completely understood.

But, he was glad they all went out of their way to get together as family for a meal.

As the taxi pulled up to the curb, Sam couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. All three of his brothers stood outside the restaurant, waiting for him, the last one to arrive.

For once, he was glad he was a couple minutes late. He couldn’t wait for his brothers to meet Kinsey, and she’d make a great entrance in the borrowed dress. Sam paid the driver, got out of the taxi and reached in to help Kinsey to her feet.

When he turned back to his brothers, all three were staring, their mouths open.

Mack was first to speak. “Well, Sam. We see you finally learned how to follow orders. Your commander will be so proud. Who is your gorgeous date?” With one hand behind his date’s back, he extended the other. “Hi, I’m Mack, the best-looking brother of the four.”

Kinsey laughed and shook his hand.

“Guys, this is Kinsey Phillips, my…f—” He was about to say fiancée but caught himself before he started a firestorm of questions and ended up saying, “friend.”

“Uh-huh.” Mack winked and brought his woman forward. “This is Dierdre.”

“Dierdre Darcy?” Kinsey’s eyes widened, and she glanced over at Sam. “When Sam said his brother was dating a model, I never expected it to be Dierdre Darcy.” She shook Dierdre’s hand. “Wow, you’re as beautiful in person as you are on television. I’m sorry if I sound like a gushing fan. But…well…I am.”

Dierdre smiled. “Thank you. And I think I have more than a little competition with you and your dress tonight. Where did you find that gem?”

Sam introduced Kinsey to his brother, Wyatt, and his new wife, Fiona, and then turned to Ronin and his lady friend. “I’d love to introduce your date, but I haven’t had the pleasure myself.”

Ronin slipped an arm around the dark-haired beauty’s waist. “Sam, meet Isabella Pisano, my fiancée.”

“You’re serious?” Sam hugged his brother, clapping a hand hard on his back. “How did this happen, and we didn’t know a thing about it?” He let go of his brother and hugged his future sister-in-law. “I don’t know what you see in this jerk, but welcome to the family.”

She laughed and smiled up at Ronin. “He’s special. The man saved my life, and my father’s. I guess I’ll have to keep him around.”

“The Pisanos need keepers.” Ronin winked at Isabella. “They attract trouble.”

“I imagine, with your father’s wealth, you do,” Dierdre commented. “I get crazy stalkers on occasion because of my work. Your family must be plagued by them.”

Isabella nodded. “Sometimes, I wish I could move to America and fade into obscurity.”

“Sweetheart, you’re too beautiful to fade into obscurity.” Ronin kissed his soon-to-be bride. “The maître d’ said our table was ready when we were. Would you like to step inside?” He curved a protective arm around his fiancée and escorted her inside.

Sam smiled and nudged his brother Mack in the side. “Isabella seems to make him happy. I’m glad for him.”

Mack nodded toward Kinsey, who was talking to Fiona about San Antonio. “You, too, old man. You, too.”

Sam opened his mouth to set the record straight about him and Kinsey, but Mack grabbed Dierdre’s hand and led her into the restaurant.

Why should he bother to tell his brothers Kinsey was a paid companion? When they parted ways, his brothers would assume their relationship didn’t work out. He preferred they thought that as the reason, than if they knew the truth.

Sam grasped Kinsey’s hand in his and followed Wyatt and Fiona into the restaurant. When they reached the table to be seated, he didn’t want to let go. The fact was, he didn’t ever want to let go. And that was what made his stomach clench and his pulse pound against his temples.

Kinsey had managed to slip past the defenses he’d erected around his heart. Her smile and optimism washed over the mortar of the wall, eroding it away with every moment he spent with her. He didn’t want their parting to be forever.

Their lives were continents apart. What other choice did he have?

Kinsey enjoyed visiting with Sam’s brothers and their ladies. Being with them was how she’d imagined having siblings should be and what she’d always dreamed of finding—a partner in life who had the extended family she’d always wanted.

They laughed, poked fun at each other and shared information about the parents they obviously loved dearly. The women were as lively as the men and fun to be with.

A sad little knot formed in Kinsey’s belly. One she would have a hard time loosening when she and Sam parted ways. She’d never again see these men, who were such a big part of Sam’s life. Nor would she have the opportunity to get to know their women better.

Kinsey could imagine how they would continue to get together as an extended family whenever they could. Eventually, they’d bring their children together to play with their cousins.

And Kinsey wouldn’t be a part of the happy family as it grew even bigger. She tried not to let the realization bother her. These people were his family. He was her boss, not her real fiancé. This gathering was a job, even if he’d called it a date.

Still, she laughed and smiled. How could she not? They were funny and charming, like the man she was quickly falling in love with.

As soon as the thought emerged, she sucked in a sharp breath and fought the stinging in her eyes. She looked at her hands in her lap to keep the others from seeing the shock on her face.

She was falling in love with Sam. How stupid could she be? He’d specifically said he was not into long-term relationships. She was to keep other women from chasing him, women wanting him to commit to more than he was willing to. His life was in the military, flying helicopters, not coming home to one woman for the rest of his days.

Not that she’d had to deflect any female attention. Kinsey suspected his justification to keeping her around might have been a ruse.

Still, she’d failed at the one job he’d asked her to do—be a companion with no strings. She wanted those strings so badly she ached with the need.

Sam leaned close and laid his hand over hers. “Are you feeling all right?”

She pasted a smile on her face and looked up, hoping he would mistake the shine in her eyes for the glare off the chandelier hanging over them and not for the tears pooling, ready to fall. “I’m fine. Your family is wonderful. You are fortunate to have each other.”

His lips twisted in a wry grin. “Yeah. They’re all right. I can’t imagine what life would have been like if we hadn’t all grown up together.”

“Like I told you. It’s a bit lonely.” She kept that smile planted firmly on her lips, refusing to let him think she was feeling sorry for herself.

Mack tossed his napkin on his plate. “The meal was excellent, but I’d like to find my hotel and call it a night.” He glanced around the table. “I think I can actually fit everyone into my rental vehicle if you need a ride back.”

“What did you rent?”

“I asked for an SUV, but they only had a full-sized van left on the lot. I can seat nine people.” He laughed and shrugged. “I know, it’s sexy, right?”

They laughed.

“If you don’t mind, that would save us waiting for a taxi to show up,” Sam said.

“We took a taxi rather than searching for the place. Our vehicle is parked at the hotel,” Wyatt said. “So, yes, we’d love a ride.”

Ronin raised his hand. “Count us in. We rode with Wyatt and Fiona.”

The men paid their bill and left the restaurant, still talking and laughing among themselves.

Kinsey liked the easy camaraderie, and loved seeing Sam happy. When she returned to the States, she would miss his smile.

The thought made her depressed and ready to call it a night. She wanted to spend her last few days with the man all to herself.

Sam had watched Kinsey go from cheerful and openly laughing and talking with his family, to reserved and sad.

He slipped an arm around Kinsey’s waist and pulled her close while they waited for Mack to bring the van to the curb.

Kinsey and Sam were first in, claiming the backseat. The others filled the seats ahead of them.

Mack drove away from the restaurant and through the crooked roads, following the GPS device directions to the address of Sam and Kinsey’s B&B.

They were several streets from their destination when a full-sized black SUV passed them on the narrow street and slammed into the side of the van.

Sam wrapped his arm around Kinsey to keep her from being flung against the windows.

“What the hell?” Mack swerved, ran up on a sidewalk and almost hit the side of a building.

The vehicle that side-swiped them slowed, backed up and raced toward them.

“Hold on!” Mack shouted, shifted into reverse and backed away as fast as he could, but the other vehicle was gaining on them.

Mack turned onto a side street.

Sam pivoted, looking behind them. “This is a dead end.”

“Damn.” Mack shifted into Drive and would have eased forward, but a bright red Mercedes convertible passed their side street and crashed into the vehicle that had initiated the attack.

The black SUV lurched forward, but its bumper had twisted into the bumper of the Mercedes. When the SUV drove away, it took the Mercedes with it, dragging it down the street and around the next corner.

“Follow them!” Sam shouted from the rear.

Mack raced after the wrecked vehicles. When the van rounded the blind corner, they almost rammed into the back of the red convertible stalled in the middle of the street.

The driver, an older man with a shock of white hair, leaned across the console, talking with a woman with equally white hair.

All eight of the passengers in the van climbed out.

The black SUV was nowhere in sight.

“Everyone okay?” Sam asked.

“I’m okay,” Kinsey said.

Deirdre rubbed her elbow. “Bruised, but alive.”

Wyatt touched Fiona’s temple. “We banged heads.” He stared into her eyes. “Are you all right?”

She pressed a hand to her head. “Yes.” Her gaze shifted to the convertible. “I’m more worried about them.”

Mack and Sam assisted the elderly couple out of the convertible and called for an ambulance and a wrecker. The police came, and Detective Demopolis arrived with them.

An hour later, they were finally able to continue their journey, more subdued than the evening started.

Mack parked on the street above the B&B, and all the passengers disembarked again.

“I can’t get over that driver. What possessed him to deliberately target our van?” Mack asked.

Sam glanced at Kinsey and then back toward his brothers. “I think I know why he did it.”

Wyatt’s lips thinned and his jaw hardened. “Explain.”

“I’d like to get Kinsey out of the street. If you want to come to the B&B where I’m staying I’ll tell you everything.”

Kinsey’s fists clenched. Once again, someone had come after her, impacting others.

Sam took her hand and led her down the steps to the B&B.

Mrs. D came out of her room as soon as she heard the crowd entering her home. “Let me get you all something to drink.” She hurried to the kitchen to fetch tea and biscuits and ouzo for those who wanted something a little stronger.

When all of Sam’s brothers and their ladies were seated at a table in the dining room, Kinsey excused herself, claiming she wanted to get out of the shoes that were killing her feet. She left the group, feeling like the black cloud had spread around Mack’s family and was increasing in size with each passing day.

Back in their room, she stripped out of the shoes and borrowed dress and pulled on a pair of jeans, sneakers and the Santorini T-shirt Sam purchased their first day together.

She stared at the suitcase she’d brought with her to Greece, containing everything she owned. If she were smart, she’d pack up and leave before anyone else got hurt.

As the idea took hold, she knew what she had to do. While Sam filled in his brothers on what had happened over the past few days, she could pack her things and sneak out the door. She wouldn’t have to walk past the dining room and they wouldn’t know she’d gone until she was too far away for them to catch up to her.

And then what? She didn’t have any money, and she hadn’t earned her flight back to the US.

What about the bad guys?

She’d have to be vigilant and careful not to give anyone an opportunity to nab her. She’d have to rely on her self-defense skills and avoid being drugged.

Her lips tightened. It didn’t really matter what happened to her, as long as Sam and his family remained safe. With her out of the picture, the people targeting her would have no reason to bother Sam.

She jerked her suitcase out of the closet, threw it onto the bed and jammed her clothing inside, leaving out the things Sam purchased. Other than the Santorini T-shirt, she wouldn’t take those items. She hadn’t earned them

Kinsey hung up the dress she’d borrowed from Mrs. D in the garment bag and sat at the little table to write two quick notes. One thanking Mrs. D for her hospitality and the loan of her beautiful dress. The other to Sam.

A tear slipped down her cheek onto the paper as she folded it. She placed it on his pillow, grabbed her suitcase and left the room she’d shared with Sam, her chest so tight she could barely breathe.

She was doing the right thing. Leaving was the only way to keep Mrs. D, Sam and his family safe. She should have done it much sooner. Sam wouldn’t have almost been run over by a car or bruised his ribs and knuckles fighting off the bad guys. Mrs. D’s home wouldn’t have been broken into, and Mack’s rental van wouldn’t have been side-swiped, almost killing everyone Sam loved so much.

Kinsey slipped into the hallway and paused, listening to Sam’s warm, rich tones as he shared the details of her disastrous hours in Greece. He owed it to his brothers to let them know why they’d been targeted. But Kinsey still hurt to know she was responsible for all their problems.

If she had been more aware of her surroundings in Athens and held onto her purse…If she hadn’t agreed to work for the Martins and allowed them to bring her to Santorini, none of this would have happened. And she wouldn’t have been kidnapped, nor would she have met Sam.

Even if she tried, she couldn’t begin to regret meeting Sam. He’d shown her that she wasn’t done living. That she still had a lot of love in her heart to give and that honorable men existed in the world. She just had to find one who believed in falling in love and living happily ever after.

But she’d never find another man just like Sam. When he’d loosened up, he’d demonstrated a happier, more adventurous man, and his smile had been well worth waiting for. She’d miss him.

A chair scraped across the tile floor, reminding Kinsey she had to leave before she was discovered. Sam would try to stop her, claiming she wasn’t the one at fault.

But by staying, she knew she brought bad luck and bad men to this wonderful family. As quietly as she could, she tiptoed down the hallway toward the back and exited the building, closing the door behind her.

With a plan in mind and the determination to see it through, she set off.

She just had to find a place to hide near the port until morning when she would search for someone who could take her back to the mainland. From there, she’d contact the U.S. Embassy and beg them to help her get home. If she had to take out a loan to purchase a ticket, she’d pay it all back as soon as she got a job.

Kinsey zigzagged through the narrow passages leading across the side of the hill to the road that would ultimately lead to the port. She had gone past several buildings, moving quickly when the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. A shadow shifted and moved before the shape of a person emerged.

No way. She wouldn’t be the victim again. Not when Sam had done so much to keep her safe. She turned to face her attacker, holding her suitcase in front of her like a shield.

“Kinsey?” a feminine voice said from the darkness. “Oh, thank God you’re okay.” Lois Martin stepped into the starlight, her hands pressed to her chest, her eyes red-rimmed from crying. “They took my children. Help me, please.”