The Marcelli Bride

He knew what she was going through-not the particulars but what it was like to be unable to come down after an assignment. “There are ways to handle post-traumatic stress-”

“Don’t you dare psychoanalyze me,” she told him. “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Actually I do. And while you’re already pissed off at me, I’m going to tell you to start eating better. And exercising. It will help you sleep.”

She headed for the house. “Go away,” she called over her shoulder as she ran up the stairs and ducked inside.

He wanted to, but there was nowhere to go. Like her, he was trapped here for the duration. Also like her, he had ghosts haunting his sleep and things he didn’t want to remember.

6

Two days later Joe heard a commotion in the driveway. As Darcy had stuck close to the house, he’d been trapped inside as well, and he was happy for an excuse to get outdoors. As he stepped outside, a familiar battered Jeep pulled up. Instantly several Secret Service agents appeared and surrounded the vehicle.

“Don’t shoot,” Mia said as she got out of the driver’s side and held up both hands. “We’re unarmed.”

Joe felt himself smile. When Mia was around, life was never boring.

She spotted him and squealed. “Joe! You’re here! Did you know about the Secret Service? They stopped us at the turn-off to the driveway and searched the car. Now I think they’re going to take Ian out back and shoot him.”

As she spoke a tall, lanky blond guy climbed out of the Jeep and also held up his hands.

“I don’t get it,” the kid said, looking both confused and scared. “What I do?”

Paige took Mia’s friend by the arm. “If you’ll come this way,” she said as she steered him toward the guesthouse.

Mia waited until the agents had walked away before lowering her arms and racing toward Joe.

“What gives?” she demanded as she launched herself toward him. He grabbed her and pulled her against him, then hugged her close.

“All these questions,” he said, putting her down. “How about starting with a greeting?”

She grinned up at him. Mia was barely five foot three, with big brown eyes and brown hair she always had streaked blond. Too much makeup stained her face, and she insisted on wearing trashy cropped shirts and too-short shorts. But she was pure energy, and she adored him with a devotion that never wavered.

Her full mouth swelled into a pout. “You should be greeting me. You never answer my e-mails. Why is that? I’m very faithful about writing.”

He patted her on the head, deliberately mussing her hair. “I don’t consider ‘hey, get any lately’ correspondence I want to respond to.”

“You’re such a stick-in-the-mud.” She glanced toward the guesthouse and then back at him. “What’s up with the police brutality?”

“They’re being careful.”

“Who’s they?”

Joe wasn’t sure what to say. Of all his family members, Mia was the biggest risk to blab. “You didn’t tell anyone you were coming to visit.”

“This is my home, Joseph,” Mia told him sternly. “I don’t need permission to show up. So what did I interrupt? An alien landing? Secret nuclear experiments? Although Brenna won’t like anything that messes with her precious wine. Why don’t you-”

The back door opened. Joe heard it, and he knew who had appeared by the expression of total stunned disbelief on Mia’s face.

“Holy shit,” she breathed. “That’s the president’s daughter.”

Joe glanced back at Darcy. “Meet Mia Marcelli, the youngest and least mannered of the four sisters.”

Mia slugged him in the arm, then walked over to Darcy. “Wow. What on earth are you doing here? Are you lost?”

Darcy smiled. “No. I’m hiding out for a few weeks.”

Mia turned on him. “That’s why those government types came and asked all those questions. I thought it was about something else. This is so incredibly cool.” She looked at the guesthouse and gasped. “Oh, no. Ian wasn’t cleared, was he? That’s the big deal. I brought an unknown enemy into sacred territory. Jeez. What will they do to him?”

Joe didn’t have the answer, so he shrugged.

“You’re no help,” Mia said as she took off at a run toward the guesthouse. “Wait!” she yelled. “He’s not a terrorist. We’re just sleeping together. Don’t hurt him!”

Joe watched her for a second, then turned to Darcy. “We’re all so proud.”

Darcy continued to watch as Mia entered the Secret Service headquarters. “She’s great. I can’t wait to meet your other two sisters.”

“They’re both a little more low-key. Although Francesca has a master’s in psychology, which makes her think she knows more than she does.”

“Then she must have a field day with you.”

Joe hadn’t seen much of Darcy in the past couple of days. He knew he’d pissed her off, and he’d half expected her to report him to Paige or Alex, complaining that he’d crossed the line between the hired help and those who were part of the inner circle. But neither of them had said anything to him.

Now he took in the shadows under her eyes-they were darker than before. There was a wariness in her expression, as if she expected him to attack.

He told himself he didn’t care if she never slept again, that his entire focus was on getting through this assignment and getting back to the base. Nothing else mattered. Not her, not his family, and especially not the awareness he felt whenever she was around.

“You’re looking fierce about something,” Darcy said. “I was teasing about your sister. You don’t have to be so sensitive.”

He stiffened as if she’d shot him. “I’m not sensitive.”

Darcy held in a smile. Men were so predictable. Violate their sense of manliness and they got all prickly and defensive.

“Of course not. How could I have thought such a thing?” He glared at her but didn’t speak. No doubt he wasn’t sure if she was kidding. The last time they’d been together, he’d pissed her off, and she’d reacted. Maybe overreacted. She suspected Joe had only been trying to help.

“I like your family,” she said as a change of subject. “Mia reminds me a lot of Brenna.”

“They’re alike,” he admitted. “Katie and Francesca are similar, too. Less volatile.”

She smiled. “Less interested in making you crazy?”

“Sometimes.”

“You’re a lucky man, Joe Larson,” she said. “You have a family most people would envy.”

His expression turned from wary to trapped. She sensed he did not want to be having this conversation with her. She also knew that he wasn’t comfortable walking away from her. After all, she was the person they were all trying to keep safe.

“Oh, I have to admit I like that,” she murmured.

His dark gaze lasered in on her face. “Like what?”

“Having power over an ex-SEAL.”

One eyebrow rose. “Not in this lifetime or the next.”

“Uh-huh. The thing is, you can’t go anywhere, can you?”

She moved closer, then circled around him. Was it possible to make him do tricks? She grinned. His eyes narrowed.