I took the stairs halfway down, stopping on a dramatic landing. There on the wall was the most stunning painting. Larger than life and most definitely an artist I knew well. A portrait created by none other than the hand of Sir Tristan Mallerton hanging on the wall in a private home. Wow. I’m so out of my league with this family.

I pulled out my phone and dialed Gaby. “You won’t believe what I’m staring at,” I spoke to a thick sounding “hello” that could only be my roommate but didn’t sound at all like her usual confident self.

“Oh? What would that be? And it’s a little early, isn’t it?”

“Sorry, Gab, but I couldn’t resist. You would be drooling if you could see this . . . oh . . . midcentury Mallerton looming not a foot from me. I could rub my hands all over it if I wanted to.”

“Better not do that, Bree. Tell me,” she demanded, sounding a bit more like herself.

“Well, it’s probably about seven feet by four, and gorgeous as hell. A family portrait of a blonde woman and her husband, and their two children, a boy and a girl. She’s wearing a pink gown and pearls that look like they belong in the Tower’s crown jewels collection. He looks like he’s in love with his wife. God, it’s beautiful.”

“Hmmm, I can’t place it offhand. Can you ask if it’s all right to take a photo so I can see?”

“I will, as soon as I meet someone I can ask.”

“Can you make out his signature?”

“Of course. It was the first thing I looked for. Bottom right, T. Mallerton in those distinctive block letters of his. It is, without a doubt, the real deal.”

“Wow,” Gaby said, in a very unwowed voice.

“Is everything okay with you? Last night was insane and I never saw you after that alarm went off. I wasn’t feeling well and Ethan was in high stress mode from some other stuff that happened.”

“Like what?”

“Umm, not really sure yet. Some weird message on my old phone came through and Ethan had it on him. The person sent a crazy text and the song from . . . ah . . . that video they made of me.”

“Shit, are you serious?”

“Yep. I am afraid so.” Just telling her made my stomach flip a little. I just didn’t want to deal with it right now. Avoidance had worked well in the past for me, and would again I was certain.

“No wonder Ethan was stressed, Bree. Why aren’t you?”

“I don’t know. I just want to believe that nobody is after me and that this is just some kind of blip on the radar that will go away when the election is over. Trust me, Ethan is all over it.”

“Yeah, well, it’s good that someone is,” she grumbled. I decided right then that I wouldn’t share Ethan’s “proposal” of the previous night. I needed some coffee before I tackled anything of that magnitude. Better wait about telling her of Ethan’s ultimatum to move in with him too. Gaby had no trouble giving her opinion on things. And at the moment I didn’t need to hear the resulting noise it would bring.

“Hey,” I asked her, “you didn’t answer my question. Are you okay? Last night was so messed up. I know we exchanged texts and no damage done, but still . . .”

Silence.

“Gabrielle?” I asked again, notching up the intensity by using her full name.

“I’m fine.” Her voice sounded flat and I knew she was holding back.

“Where did you go? I wanted to introduce you to Ethan’s cousin, but that obviously never happened.”

“I got distracted . . . and then that alarm went off and I had to get out just like everyone else. I waited outside on the street for a while until I got your text. Once I knew you were safe, I found a cab and went home. I just wanted a shower and a bed. It was a weird night.” She sounded more like herself, but I had to wonder if she was feeding me a line. “Benny called too. He saw it on the news and was worried about us. I talked to him for a long time.”

“Okay . . . if you say so.” Gaby was stubborn and if she wasn’t in the mood to talk about stuff, then over the phone would not cut it. I’d have to get her in person.

“I do want to meet Ethan’s cousin with the houseful of Mallertons someday, though. Maybe you can arrange it,” she said in what seemed like a peace offering.

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll work on that with Ethan.”

As soon as I said the words, I sensed I was not alone anymore. I turned and met the solemn face of the most beautiful little girl, her blue eyes reminding me so very much of another pair I knew well. “I gotta go, Gab. I’ll talk to you later and I’ll see what I can do about sending a pic of the painting. Love ya.”

I hung up and slipped my phone back in my pocket. My serious companion just kept staring. I smiled at her. She smiled back, her long dark curls framing a face that I predicted would someday evolve into a great beauty. I couldn’t wait to see Ethan with her.

“I’m Brynne.” I stuck out my hand. “What’s your name?” I asked, although I had a pretty good idea.

“Zara.” She took my hand with hers and tugged. “I know who you are. Uncle Ethan loves you and drinks Mexican beers now because of you. I heard Mummy tell Daddy that.”

I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. “I know about you too, Zara. Ethan told me how much he admires your smarts in handling your brothers.”

“He did?”

“Uh-huh.” I nodded as she looked up in wonder. “Where are we going?”

Zara did not share that information, but I let her pull me along anyway, weaving through rooms and corridors until the lights of a warm kitchen became clear and what was most certainly the smell of heavenly coffee found my nose.

“Mummy, I have her,” Zara announced as she pulled me into the room.

“Ahh, I see that, love,” said the dark beauty who could only be Ethan’s sister, Hannah. She smiled at me as she answered her daughter, and I got an impression of Ethan for just a moment in her expression. There was a resemblance for sure, but she favored their father more, I thought, than Ethan did. Hannah had the same dark hair and coloring, but her eyes weren’t blue like Ethan’s eyes. Her eyes were gray. And she was petite, whereas Ethan was muscular and tall. Genetics were interesting in the way that they managed to mix the genes of male and female to create combinations that made perfect sense.