He was asking her if she would punish him for bringing up Beck’s name. “I would love it if you would come with me. You know they’re always nicer when I bring a priest in.”
He nodded. “Then let’s enjoy tea. I’m sure Brother Francis brought back some treats from his trip. I heard from Anna that we have a shipment coming in soon. Let me know when and I’ll try to make sure I can be there to help.”
It was what he did. He helped, and he was only trying to do that now. But she wasn’t ready. “Thank you. I will think about what you said.”
She started down the path that led from the gardens to home at the top of the fort. They walked through the arched doors that once would have kept potential invaders from the inner sanctum, a gentle breeze caressing her skin as she heard her son laughing in the courtyard at something her uncle had said.
Life was peaceful. It was good. She couldn’t risk that.
“And don’t forget to check the CCTV,” Ezra reminded her. “I know it’s probably nothing, but I would like to make sure. I think you still have very good instincts about people.”
She forced herself to smile as they started toward the big covered patio. It was one of her favorite spaces because almost no one was allowed behind those gates. The gardens were open from time to time for special tourist groups, but the residence was private. Occasionally they would have guests from the Vatican, but she’d found they mostly ignored her.
“Of course.”
“Kim, I’m sorry if I upset you. I genuinely thought you were in a place where we could talk about him,” Ezra said as they approached the shaded space where her uncle and son were already enjoying tea and snacks.
Her son ran out, speaking in rapid Italian about the science kit his great uncle had found for him in Rome.
She let him lead her under the shade and tried to forget that the minute she’d found out his father was still single, something in her heart had leapt at the thought.
She squashed it ruthlessly and joined her family because she was over Beckett Kent.
She really was.
Chapter Eight
Beck forced himself to walk when all he wanted to do was run in like a crazy person, force Tag to tell him where Kim was, and go get her.
It was more complicated than that. He had to think about what was best for Kim. Levi was still out there, and that fucker played a long game. Beck didn’t care that Levi was engaged. He knew the man would still want Kim. They had to be careful.
He strode to the office and stopped at the door because he realized he’d left his keycard in his truck. He glanced through the heavy glass doors and frowned because the normal receptionist was not at the desk. It was Yasmin’s lunch hour. Normally that meant one of the guys took over. Instead there was a thirteen-year-old girl sitting at the front desk, staring at her overly bedazzled phone. The Taggart kids had been coming into the office all week because it was summer break and their camps hadn’t started yet. Tag believed in his kids learning the business. Or he believed in free labor. She grinned at something and he realized which Tag twin he was dealing with. At least it was the reasonable one.
He knocked on the door. “Kenz, buzz me in.”
Kenzie Taggart looked up and waved. “Sure thing, Mr. Kent.”
“Hold that.” Kala Taggart came into view, staring at him with her blue eyes. The shape resembled her mother’s eyes, but that stare was all Ian. She was dressed in black, from her T-shirt down to a pair of combat boots. “How do I know you’re the real Beckett Kent?”
He did not need this. “Kala, let me in this office right now. Your father called me in.”
“Which is exactly what you would say if you were some bad guy who wanted in the office,” Kala replied.
He wasn’t sure how her parents were going to survive her teen years. “You know what I look like.”
She shrugged. “Surgery is a real thing. You wouldn’t be the first dude to have a whole bunch of surgery done so he could pass for someone else. You think I haven’t read those files Dad thinks are secure? Uncle Li’s own brother did it and then nearly killed him and Aunt Avery. It’s not happening to me. I learn from ancient history. I’m going to need DNA.”
He was going to have such a talk with Tag about putting his barely teenaged menaces in charge of the reception desk.
Kenzie stepped up beside her sister. She was dressed in bright colors, her strawberry blonde hair in a high ponytail. She was the lighter of the two, like she’d gotten all of her mother’s joy. “He looks like Mr. Kent and he’s wearing the same clothes he was earlier today. But then he had his keycard this morning.”
Kala was her sister’s mirror, but she was all her dad. “His clothes are super basic. I don’t think I would even notice if they changed. Like how hard is it to get khakis and a collared shirt?”
“I am going to talk to your dad if you don’t let me in,” he said, his patience running out.
The door buzzed open and Tasha Taggart was shaking her head from behind the receptionist desk. “Dad told me to make sure Mr. Kent got in all right. Sorry, Mr. Kent. Kala takes things way too seriously, and Kenz not at all. Come with me. Did you lose your badge? I know how to make a new one.”
Tasha Taggart had recently turned fourteen and had only the barest hint of her former accent, though it was thick when she spoke her native language. The girls liked to go into Russian when they didn’t want anyone to know what
