They walked into the open hotel lobby. A small sign pointed the way to the cafe. The lush plant life and sound of a nearby fountain should have been soothing, but Francesca found herself fighting nerves. She placed a hand against her stomach.
Brenna squeezed her arm. “Me, too,” she admitted. “I’ve been trying to think of a funny opening line, but I can’t seem to get beyond ‘Hi.’ ”
“How about ‘Hi, I’m your sister.’ ”
Brenna rolled her eyes. “You’re the professional psychologist here. Wouldn’t you want me to be more subtle?”
“Maybe. But sometimes getting everything on the table is a better idea.”
They approached the cafe. The waiting area was empty. Brenna glanced at the chairs. “Want to sit down?”
“I can’t.”
“Me, either.”
They tried to make small talk. Francesca scanned the people in the lobby, looking for a dark-haired man with Marcelli features.
“Do you think we’ll recognize him from the picture? After all he could-”
Just then a man turned onto the path and approached the cafe. He was tall, dark-haired, and nearly the spitting image of their father. Francesca’s mouth went dry. Beside her Brenna sucked in a breath.
“I’d been hoping there was a mistake, but obviously there isn’t,” she murmured.
The man, well-built and handsome, wore jeans and a T-shirt. When he caught sight of them, he raised one eyebrow. His mouth curved up in a grin.
“Very nice,” he said when he was within earshot. “When that lawyer guy called and asked me to meet you here, I nearly blew him off. Glad I didn’t. Looks like my lucky day.”
Francesca blinked. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“You’re kidding, right?” Brenna told the man.
He grinned. “I’ve never done a threesome. But hey, I’m open to it.”
Francesca blanched.
Brenna simply smiled. “Joe Larson, in about two minutes you’re going to think that’s the most disgusting thing you’ve ever said.”
He didn’t look the least bit worried. “You two vice cops?”
“Worse. We’re your sisters.”
“But this is just an office,” Kelly said as she looked around the large open space of her father’s business. “I thought it would be…” She shrugged. “Different.”
Sam grinned. “Like the workshop in the James Bond movies?”
Kelly considered the question, then nodded. “Yeah. What about really cool machines and stuff? Things to help you take down the bad guys?”
“Sorry. These are just offices.”
“But you have to have, you know, like weapons and ray guns.”
His eyebrows rose. “Ray guns?”
“Didn’t you ever watch TV? There are a lot of secret weapons on the black market.”
“We try to keep our operations mostly legal.”
“Mostly, huh?” She smiled. “Want to tell me about the other parts?”
He pulled one of her curls. “Not even on a bet.”
At first Kelly had been kind of upset when Francesca had called to say she was going to San Diego to meet her brother. Sam had already let Doreen go and the new nanny wasn’t starting until next week. She’d been surprised when he’d told her he would bring her to work with him after her ballet lessons. Although she would never admit it, not even if she was tortured or threatened with a ray gun, she sort of liked hanging out with her dad. When he wasn’t being too domineering or stubborn. He could be nice.
But she wasn’t going to like it too much, she told herself. Because Sam could still get tired of her and send her away.
They rounded a corner just as a huge man stepped out of his office. He was tall, with massive shoulders and dark skin. His head was shaved. He was like old and everything, maybe even over thirty, but he was gorgeous.
“Hey, boss.”
“Jason.” Sam put his hand on Kelly’s shoulder. “This is my daughter. Kelly, Jason Carlton. He runs several special security operations for our most demanding clients.”
Jason grimaced. “What your dad means is he puts me in charge of the crabby rich people.”
Kelly giggled.
Jason winked. “So you’re giving her the grand tour, Sam? You show her the gadgets?”
Sam shook his head. “Kelly is already dangerous enough without her learning how to use a gun.”
Kelly was about to say she wasn’t sure she wanted to learn how to use a gun when Jason sighed.
“Not that kind of stuff. The other things. Infrared, night-vision goggles.”
Sam glanced at her. “Would you like to see that?”
Kelly wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but it sounded fun. She nodded eagerly.
Sam glanced at his watch. “I have a call coming in from Germany in a few minutes, but maybe after that-”
“Don’t sweat it, boss,” Jason said cheerfully. “I’ve got the Johnsons’ African safari all planned. I’ll take Kelly through the playground.”
Sam hesitated. “All right, but keep her away from anything dangerous. I don’t want her taking me out in my sleep.”
Kelly watched him walk away. She was pretty sure her dad had been kidding, but not a hundred percent. Didn’t Sam trust her? She sighed. Tanya never had.
Before she could think about that too much or get sad, Jason lead the way to the rear of the office. They stepped through a set of double doors and into a mock street with buildings on both sides. There was a huge locked cabinet against the wall by the door. Jason pressed his thumb against a small glass square, and the doors swung open. He dug around and came up with an assortment of goggles, head gear, weapon-looking devices, and small discs he tucked into his pocket.
“Just so you don’t get any ideas about breaking in on your own, kid,” he said as he closed the doors and motioned her forward. “Give it a try.”
She glanced at him, then at the small glass square. “Will it hurt?” she asked.
He grinned. “Not even a little. Suck it up, little girl.”
Hesitantly she pressed her thumb to the glass. A female computer voice announced, “You are not authorized to open this unit. If you attempt to gain access, an alarm will sound. Please return to the front office immediately for processing.”
“Cool,” Kelly breathed.
“Isn’t it? So don’t be thinking you can bring your friends over and impress them.”
“I won’t.”
“Good.” He set a pair of goggles on her head. “We’re going to night vision first, then we’ll do infrared.”
He handed her a long rifle-looking gun thing. It was big and really lightweight.
“These only work on targets,” he told her as he pulled on his own goggles. “We program them, depending on the training session.” He showed her a small pad in the butt of the weapon. “They fire a burst of light that’s picked up by the sensors on the target.” He grinned. “Ever play paint ball?”
She shook her head.
“After this game, you’ll be an expert.”
Francesca, Brenna, and their brother sat at a table, ignoring the food they’d ordered. Joe pushed around the French fries on his plate.
“My adopted parents died when I was twelve,” he said. “It was a car accident. I’d been spending the night with a friend, or I would have been with them. They didn’t have any relatives, so I got shoved into the foster-care system.”
His dark eyes no longer sparkled with humor. Francesca leaned toward him. “But if you knew you were adopted, why didn’t you tell someone? Wouldn’t they have tried to get in touch with your family?”
