Not sure what to respond to first, her second persona or her safety, he turned his attention to the fire. Flames licked the top of the fireplace, the crackle of the logs soothing in their destruction. A shaft of light fell on the mantel, and his body, his heart, his mind…everythingabout him jerked in surprise when Daphne squealed and leaped from her chair, the legs grating against the floor as she rose.
“You’re here,” she said, flying across the room toward Callie, who’d walked in. Fatigue lined the former FBI agent’s eyes, but they still lit up at the sight of her sister. Daphne wrapped her arms around Callie, pulling her close. Only something weird happened. If he hadn’t been watching, he would have missedhow Daphne froze. Not dramatically and not for long, no more than three seconds. But for those three seconds, her body locked, and she stilled.
He leaned forward.
Daphne leaned back and looked at her sister. He couldn’t see her face, but he suspected she was looking for something in Callie’s expression. Callie’s lips tipped up into a small smile, and she gave an even more subtle nod. Whatever she said-not-said had Daphne giving her sister an extra squeeze and issuing another squeal—quieter this time, but no less surprising coming from a woman who was probably born elegant and refined.
Lovell shifted his gaze to Philly. Maybe his brother would enlighten him, but Philly wasn’t paying any attention to anyone but Callie. Lovell didn’t blame him; not only were the two deeply in love, but they were a good match for each other, too—Callie’s steady personality gave Philly an anchor none of them had realized he’d needed, while Philly gave Callie a reason to laugh, to build snowmen because they could, and, most importantly, a reason to leave work at the end of the day.
“I can’t believe you’ve been here for days and didn’t bother telling me,” Callie reprimanded, walking toward the group, her arm looped through Daphne’s. Philly rose and held his seat out for his wife. She paused, giving him a kiss and a lingering hug, before sitting.
“I didn’t want to bother you while you were working,” Daphne said. “If you’d known I was here when you weren’t, you would have worried and tried to make all sorts of plans to entertain me while also doing your job. As it was, I explored the town, got some writing done, ate some delicious pancakes, had a good cocktail or two.” Scipio rose and offered her his seat. She flashed him a grateful smile and sat between Lovell and Callie, this time on his left rather than his right.
“Saved Lovell’s life,” Callie added with a wry smile. “Don’t forget that.”
“That, too,” Daphne conceded.
“What did I walk in on?” Callie asked the group.
“Daphne telling us she rents cars under fake names,” Lovell said. He didn’t much like not knowing why she felt the need to do that, and Callie arched a brow at his blunt delivery. Daphne either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
Callie shrugged, looking even more like her older sister. “Not new news. What was the context it came up in, though?”
“They’re worried the shooters might be able to track me through the license plate of my rental. I was explaining to them why that won’t happen,” Daphne answered.
“Are those the guys?” Callie asked, picking up the picture he’d set on the coffee table. Daphne nodded. “You were close enough to them to see a mole on this guy’s right cheek?” Callie asked, pointing to the white man.
“He’d need a pound of makeup to hide that mole,” Daphne replied.
“Still, if you saw them, they saw you,” Callie said.
Daphne bobbed her head. “If they were paying attention, they saw me at Maggie’s and then again in the car when I pretended to nearly pull out in front of them. But like I said, they won’t connect me to the car, and they have no other way of putting a name to a face.”
He snorted at that. Everyone, including Daphne, stared at him. Although she was the only one not wearing a look of surprise. Fine, the snort was out of character, but screw it. “You were one of the most recognizable faces in the world when you were modeling,” he said. “You’re deluding yourself if you think people won’t recognize you.”
“I haven’t been on a magazine cover in nearly ten years. Your faith in people’s memory and attention span is astounding,” she shot back.
Callie made a small sound, drawing Daphne’s attention back to her. “Cuernavaca, Bangkok, Nice, New York…and that’s just the places we traveled together in the past two years.”
The sisters’ gazes locked. Nothing but the sound of the fire filled the air, then Daphne huffed. “All big cities,” she said. “It’s rare I’m recognized in smaller cities or towns.”
Philly emerged from the kitchen where he’d disappeared after greeting Callie, a cup of coffee in hand. He passed it to his wife before grabbing another chair and taking a seat on her other side. The smell of mint wafted toward Lovell—tea, not coffee.
Daphne’s gaze lingered on the drink, although Lovell thought she was more lost in thought than contemplating the content of the mug.
“Do you think I need protection?” Daphne finally asked her sister. Lovell wanted to answer but held his tongue. The two women were far closer than he’d initially thought, and if Callie could make the case better than anyone else in the room, then he’d leave it to her.
“I think it couldn’t hurt,” Callie replied. Daphne grumbled, but the lines bracketing Callie’s eyes eased, telling Lovell that meant she’d agree. The band around his chest loosened.
“I’ll take care of it,” Daphne said, pulling out her phone.
“We’ll take care of it,” Lovell said.
She flickered a glance his direction but kept typing. “I got it,” she said. “Believe me, I’ve got personal protection people on speed dial.”
His stomach turned.
Callie snapped a picture of the drawing and details about the car. “Did you already send this to Sabina?” Philly nodded. “Good. I already brought her up to speed on the situation,and she’s going to have Ava look into it,” she said, then turning to Lovell, she added, “Gabriel sent me updates on your conversation. I hear you’ve decided to stay in town.”
