Nobody can write Forbidden Fantasies like Cara Summers…

Led into Temptation

“Sensationally sensual… this tale of a forbidden, guilt-ridden love is a delight. Brimming with diverse, compelling characters, scorching hot love scenes, romance and even a ghost, this story is unforgettable.”

—Romancejunkies.com

“This deliciously naughty fantasy takes its time heating up, but it’s worth the wait! 4½ stars.”

—RT Book Reviews

Taken Beyond Temptation

“Great characters with explosive chemistry, a fun intrigue-flavored plot and a high degree of sensuality add up to an excellent read! 4½ stars.”

—RT Book Reviews

“Filled with intrigue, mystery, humor, sizzling hot love scenes, a well-matched couple, a surprise ending and a ghost, this story is unforgettable and definitely a winner.”

—Romancejunkies.com

Twice the Temptation

“Well written! Fans will be delighted to see their favorites return for brief appearances. 4 stars.”

—RT Book Reviews

“Cara Summers has penned two tales in Twice the Temptation which will not be forgotten, but will live on in the reader’s fantasies.” —Cataromance.com

No Desire Denied

Cara Summers

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Was CARA SUMMERS born with the dream of becoming a published romance novelist? No. But now that she is, she still feels her dream has come true. And she owes it all to her mother, who handed her a Mills & Boon® romance novel years ago and said, “Try it. You’ll love it.” Mum was right! Cara has written over forty stories for the Blaze® line, and she has won numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award for Series Storyteller of the Year from RT Book Reviews. When she isn’t working on new books, she teaches in the writing program at Syracuse University.

MILLS & BOON

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To my three sons, Kevin, Brian and Brendan. As you have grown into fine young men, I have watched you cherish and protect the ones you love. You have inspired my heroes for over forty books. My wish is that you continue to care for each other and for your families, and I know that it will come true.

To the best editor in the world, Brenda Chin. Thanks for everything, especially your unwavering belief in me.

To Dr Tucker Harris. Thanks for everything.

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Prologue

Glen Loch, New York, summer 1812

ELEANOR CAMPBELL MACPHERSON sat in the gazebo that her late husband, Angus, had built for her and frowned at the sketch on her easel. This had always been her favorite place on the castle grounds to draw and to think. But today neither was going well. The story she was telling in the picture wasn’t completed and neither was her mission.

Since his death a year ago, Angus had been visiting her in dreams and sending her visions that were helping her to right an old wrong. But for the last two months, the dreams hadn’t been so clear. And she was anxious to finish. Wasn’t she?

Or was she afraid that, once she buried the last of the Stuart sapphires, Angus would be lost to her forever?

When the pain around her heart tightened at the thought, she set down her pencils and walked over to sit on the stone steps that led into the garden. She missed him so much, and there wasn’t anyplace on the castle grounds she could go that didn’t bring back memories.

The gazebo had originally been her idea. She and Angus had chosen the spot for it together, because it offered views of the lake, as well as the castle and the stone arch, both of which he’d built to fulfill his promises to her. Of course, Angus, impulsive as always, had designed the gazebo and started construction immediately. He’d used stones for the foundation and chosen the sturdiest of woods for the benches, the railing and the roof. It had been his gift to her on their first anniversary.

Looking out on everything that Angus had built for her and everything that they’d created together, she recalled that long-ago day when the castle had still been under construction and the gardens had been in their infancy. It was their anniversary, and they’d placed the last stones in the arch together, stones that Angus had brought with him to the New World when he’d stolen her away from her home in Scotland.

He’d built the arch in a clearing at the far end of the gardens, just before the land sloped sharply upward into the mountains. It was almost an exact replica of the stone arch that had stood for hundreds of years in the gardens of the Campbell estate in Scotland. According to the legend that her mother and two older sisters had told her, the stone arch had the power from ancient times to unite true lovers. All you had to do was kiss your lover beneath the arch, and that was it. A happy ever after was guaranteed.

Well, she’d certainly kissed Angus many times beneath it. And she’d never forget the night she’d met him there for the last time. Having been promised to another man, she’d snuck out of the ball celebrating the engagement. She had been wearing her fiancé’s gift to her—a sapphire necklace and earring set that had been bequeathed to his family for service to the Scottish court. Mary Stuart had worn the jewels at her coronation, and Eleanor’s husband-to-be had insisted that she wear them at the ball as a display of his love for her.

With a smile, Eleanor recalled how fast her heart had been beating when she’d raced through the gardens to say a final goodbye to Angus. There could be no future for them, because she had to honor the arrangement her parents had made. Plus Angus’s family and hers had been blood enemies for years. But before she could say a word, Angus had kissed her.

Even when she’d tried to say no, he hadn’t listened. Impatient, impetuous and irresistible, Angus had simply swept her away.

Exactly what she’d wanted him to do.

Just the memory had her heart beating fast again.

That had only been the beginning of their story. Eleanor swept her gaze from the stone arch over the lush gardens to the castle and then back again. Angus had delivered on all of his promises. Her husband and lover of fifty years believed in building things that lasted—a marriage, a home, a family. Because of Angus’s story-spinning talent, the legendary power of the replicated stone arch had taken root and spread. Their own three sons had married beneath the stones. Angus invited anyone to tap into the power of the legend, and many Glen Loch locals had taken advantage of his generosity.

Leaning back against a pillar, Eleanor closed her eyes, and let the scent of the flowers and hum of the insects help her find the inner peace the garden always brought her. She’d never once regretted her decision to leave everything behind in Scotland and come here to New York with Angus. In fact, it was the best decision she’d ever made. She had only one regret—on the night she’d run away with Angus, she’d taken the Stuart sapphires with her.

With her eyes still closed, she slipped a hand into her pocket and closed her fingers around the soft leather pouch that held the sapphire necklace that Mary Stuart wore at her coronation. Everything had happened so fast that long-ago night; once Angus had kissed her, she’d forgotten all about the sapphires. Only when it was too late had her conscience begun to trouble her. Any attempt to contact her family or return the jewels would have increased the chances that she and Angus would be found.

Her sons and her daughters-in-law believed the jewels had been her dowry, no doubt because she’d worn them in the formal portrait that hung in the main parlor of the castle. But they hadn’t been her dowry. A man who’d loved her had given her the jewels, and she’d betrayed both his love and his trust. That made her worse than a thief.

Angus had always known about her troubled conscience, and he’d promised on his deathbed that he would help her right the old wrong. That was why he was visiting her now. The initial visions he’d sent to her had been so clear. In one, she’d seen a young woman with reddish-gold curls discovering a single earring in the stone arch. Eleanor had taken it as a sign to hide the first earring there. In the dreams that had followed, she’d seen a woman with long dark hair finding an earring in the old caves in the cliff face. So that’s where Eleanor had hidden the second one.

But in her latest dreams, all she could see for sure were the blue stones of the necklace glowing so brightly that the features and surroundings of the young woman holding them were blurred. All Eleanor knew was that she had long blond hair, and she looked vaguely familiar.

A gull cried out over the lake, and squirrels chattered in nearby trees. Ignoring both, Eleanor kept her eyes closed and focused on bringing the girl’s image into her mind again. This time it wasn’t so blurry. She suddenly realized why the young woman had looked so familiar. She looked similar to how Eleanor herself had looked when she’d had that portrait painted.

As recognition slipped into her mind, she heard Angus’s voice.

Her name is Nell, and like her sisters, she believes in the legendary power of the stones enough to put all her dreams and goals in them. She’s a storyteller, like you. You’ll know where to bury the necklace, Ellie. And you’ll know how to make sure that she finds it. If you trust me, Ellie, the Stuart sapphires will at last find their way home.

He’d never left it up to her before. But he was trusting her, similar to how he’d asked her to trust him all those years ago, when they’d run away together.

Suddenly Eleanor knew exactly what to do so that the girl she was picturing would find the necklace and make everything right. Eleanor fetched her sketchbook from the easel and began to draw.

1

Washington, D.C., present day

“I LOVED YOUR BOOK.”

Those words were music to any writer’s ears, and Nell MacPherson never tired of hearing them. She beamed a smile at the little girl standing in front of her table. “I’m so glad you did.”

She took the copy of It’s All Good the little girl held out to her and opened it to the title page. Her reading and signing at Pages, the bookstore—down the street from her sister Piper’s Georgetown apartment—had run overtime. At one point, the line had spilled out into the street. The store’s manager was thrilled, but Piper—who’d taken an extended morning break to attend—had glanced at her watch twice in the past fifteen minutes. She probably needed to head back to the office.

“What’s your name?” Nell asked the little girl.

“Lissa. But I wish it was Ellie like the character in your book. Mommy says I look like her, but you do, too.”

Lissa was right on both counts, Nell thought. They both had Eleanor Campbell MacPherson’s long blond hair and blue eyes.

“Mommy and I did some research. You’re Ellie’s great-great-great...” Lissa trailed off to glance up at her mother. “I forgot how many greats.”

“Way too many,” Nell said as she autographed the book. “I always say I’m Ellie and Angus’s several-times-great-granddaughter.”

“Did Ellie really draw all the pretty pictures for your story?”

“Yes. She was a talented artist. Every one of the illustrations came from her sketchbooks.”

“And you live in her castle in New York,” Lissa said.

“I grew up there, and I’m going back for a while to finish up another book.” That hadn’t been her original plan. The federal grant had given her a taste of what it was like to be totally independent, allowing her to travel across the country giving writing workshops to young children in inner city schools. For someone who’d been hovered over by a loving and overprotective family all her life, the past year had been a heady experience—one that she intended to build on.

But her sisters’ recent adventures on the castle grounds—leading to the discovery of part of Eleanor Campbell’s long-missing dowry—had caused Nell to question her plan of finding an apartment in New York City and finishing her second book there. Each of her siblings had discovered one of Eleanor’s sapphire earrings. So wasn’t it Nell’s turn to find the necklace? Not that anyone in her family had suggested it. They had assumed she was returning home to settle in and take the teaching job that nearby Huntleigh College had offered her. But a week ago an anonymous letter had been delivered to her while she was teaching her last set of workshops in Louisville. The sender had used those exact words: It’s your turn. Nell had known then that she had to return to the castle and find the rest of Eleanor’s sapphires.

“Are you going to fall in love and kiss him beneath the stone arch that Angus built for Ellie?”

Nell reined in her thoughts.

“Lissa.” The pretty woman standing behind the little girl put a hand on her shoulder and sent Nell an apologetic smile. “Thank Ms. MacPherson for signing your book.”

“Thank you, Ms. MacPherson.”

“Thank you for coming today, Lissa.” Nell leaned a little closer. “Lots of people have kissed their true loves beneath that stone arch. My eldest sister, Adair, has recently become engaged to a man she kissed there. Cam Sutherland, a CIA agent. He’s very handsome. And my aunt Vi is going to marry Cam’s boss.” Then she pointed to Piper who was standing near the door. “See that pretty woman over there?”

Lissa nodded.

“That’s my other sister, Piper. She’s a defense attorney here in D.C., and she just kissed her true love, FBI agent Duncan Sutherland, beneath the stone arch two weeks ago.”

Lissa’s eyes went wide. “And now they’ll all live happily ever after, right?”

“That’s the plan. In the meantime, my sister Adair and my aunt Vi are turning Castle MacPherson into a very popular place to fall in love and then have a wedding.” She winked at the little girl. “When you’re older and you find your true love, you might want to bring him up there.”

“Can I, Mommy?” Lissa asked, a thrill in her voice. “Can I?”

“I don’t see why not. But I can’t see that happening for quite a while.”

Lissa turned back to Nell. “What about you? Aren’t you going to kiss your true love under the stones?”

“Someday,” Nell said. But while her older sisters and her aunt might be ready for happy-ever-afters, Nell had much more she wanted to accomplish first. Finding Eleanor’s sapphire necklace and finishing her second book were at the top of her list.

The instant Lissa’s mother steered her daughter toward the checkout line, Piper crossed to Nell’s table. “The Bronwell trial starts on Monday, and my boss is holding a press conference at five o’clock.” Piper glanced at her watch. “I can treat you to a quick cup of coffee.”

“No problem.” Nell grabbed her purse and waved at the manager.

“You’re great with the kids,” Piper said. “They love talking to you about Eleanor and Angus.”

She and Piper had nearly reached the door of the shop when a man rode his bike up over the curb and jumped off. A sense of déjà vu gripped Nell even before he had entered the store and she had read Instant Delivery on the insignia over his shirt pocket. The anonymous letter she’d received in Louisville had also been hand delivered.

“I have a letter for Nell MacPherson. Is she still here?” He spoke in a loud voice, his gaze sweeping the room.

“I’m Nell MacPherson.”

The relief on his face was instantaneous. “Glad I didn’t miss you. I was supposed to get here half an hour ago. The traffic today is worse than usual. If you’ll just sign here.”

As she signed, Nell’s mind raced ahead. She hadn’t told anyone in her family about the first letter. They would have wanted her to come home to the castle immediately so they could protect her. Worse still, now that her two sisters were involved with agents from the CIA and the FBI, they would have sent someone to hover over her. And the number one person they would have in mind would be Reid Sutherland.

Nell intended to avoid that at all cost. She also intended to avert their expectation that she and Reid live happily ever after. Just because her two sisters would soon wed Reid’s two brothers didn’t mean she had to marry the last triplet. No way was she ready for that fairy-tale ending.

This whole year had been about demonstrating to them that she could take care of herself. She took a quick look at the envelope held out to her. It was one of those standard-letter-sized ones used for overnight deliveries. The only return address was for the Instant Delivery office. She accepted it and tucked it under her arm.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Piper asked as they moved out onto the street.

“It’s probably from my editor.”

“Why would she send something to the bookstore? She’d simply call you, right? I think you should open it.”

Curiosity and determination. Those were Piper’s most outstanding qualities, and they served her well in her career. She wouldn’t rest until she knew what was in the letter.

Nell pulled the tab. Inside was one page and the first four sentences matched the message in the first letter.

Your mission is to find the sapphire necklace that Eleanor Campbell stole from our family. Your sisters knew where to find the earrings. Now, it’s your turn. I’ll contact you and tell you how you can return the Stuart sapphires to their rightful owners.

Nell’s gaze dropped to the last sentence. It was new, and an icy sliver of fear shot up her spine.

If you choose again to ignore your mission, someone in your family will die.

* * *

“ONE FOR THE ROAD,” Lance Cabot said with a grin as he assumed the ancient fighting position, arms bent at the elbows and hands flexed.

Setting aside the file he was working on, Reid Sutherland stepped out from behind his desk and mirrored his adversary’s stance. For seconds they moved in a small circle like dancers, retaking each other’s measure.

“I can teach you the move,” Reid offered as he had countless times before. Growing up as the oldest of triplet boys, he’d taken up martial arts as soon as his mother had allowed it. And he’d created the move by using his brothers for practice.

“Where’s the fun in that? I think I’ve finally figured it out.”

Reid blocked the kick aimed at his groin. “Maybe not.”

They were evenly matched in height and weight, and Reid knew from experience that the baggy sweatshirt the man was wearing hid well-honed muscles. Reid was five years younger, so that gave him one advantage. And while four years at West Point and assignments in Bosnia and Iraq had kept his opponent fit, they hadn’t provided the training in hand-to-hand combat that the Secret Service required of its agents. Another advantage for Reid. Plus Cabot’s four-year stint in the United States Senate, not to mention a wife and two kids, could slow a man down.

A well-aimed foot grazed Reid’s hip bone, making it sing. He feinted to the right, but the move didn’t fool Cabot, and Reid had to dodge another kick. He blocked the next blow but felt it reverberate from his forearm to his shoulder. For two sweaty minutes, Cabot continued to attack, and Reid continued to defend himself.

Cabot had one major advantage. He was the vice president of the United States, and Reid’s job was to protect him. Therefore, Reid kept his moves defensive. His office was not designed for hand-to-hand combat, but over the past year, that had meant squat to the VP. Thank God.

Reid feinted, ducked low and for the first time completely avoided Cabot’s foot. The maneuver should have caused his opponent to stumble, but Lance Cabot merely shifted his weight and resumed his stance. “I like your moves.”

“Ditto,” Reid said as they continued their circular dance. He loved his job. Two things had drawn him to the Secret Service. First, the agency filled a need he’d had from an early age to protect those he cared about, and it allowed him to fulfill that need in a way that challenged him intellectually as well as physically.

Reid blocked a kick and danced to his right. Both of them liked a good fight, and neither wanted it to end yet. That was only one of the things that the two men shared. Like the VP, Reid knew what it was to balance family responsibility against that desire to push the envelope. He’d lived with it all of his life, and protecting the vice president had allowed him to push that envelope in ever new and exciting ways.

Keeping Cabot safe was first and foremost a mind game. It required the ability to foresee all possible scenarios in a given situation. Making sure that the VP could enjoy a Wednesday-night dinner with his wife in Georgetown posed almost as much of a challenge as his recent visit to the troops in Afghanistan. Plus the job offered the added bonus of protecting someone who was addicted to risk taking. Reid’s boss had handpicked him to head up Cabot’s Secret Service detail so that the VP’s daredevil streak could be indulged—safely.

To date, those indulgences had included race-car driving, rock climbing and most recently skydiving. For Reid, it was the job of his dreams. And he’d learned that indulging the VP’s danger addiction made him easier to manage when the threat might be all too real.

“We’ve been sparring like this for over a year. Are you ever going to show me your A game?” Cabot asked.

“Someday.” Reid gave the man points: he wasn’t even breathing heavily. “When it’s no longer my job to protect you from serious injury, I’ll be happy to oblige. Are you ever going to show me what you think my secret move is?”

“Soon,” Cabot promised.

Unfortunately the clock was ticking down. Last night Reid had officially gone on vacation. Jenna Stanwick, an up-and-coming agent he’d been personally training for the past month, was heading up the protection unit in his place. She would keep watch over the VP and his family for the next two weeks while they vacationed in Martha’s Vineyard. The Cabots were due to leave within the hour.

As if he too was aware that time was running out, Lance Cabot, quick as a cat, made his move, coming in low to grab Reid’s arm. Reid countered it by pivoting, before he snaked his other arm around Cabot’s neck and tossed him over his head. One of the chairs in front of his desk overturned and a paperweight clattered to the floor.

The door to the office shot open, and Jenna Stanwick strode into the room, gun drawn. With one sweeping glance she assessed the situation and reholstered her weapon. “Having fun, boys?”

“You didn’t see this,” Lance Cabot said as he got to his feet.

“See what?” Jenna asked.

Lance turned to Reid. “Maybe she will work out as your temporary replacement.”

Shooting Jenna a look of approval, Reid said, “She will. She has four brothers. Plus I taught her my secret move. She’ll teach it to you, if you want.”

“Not on your life.” But he studied Jenna with new interest. “How about if I practice on you, and you can tell me when I’m close?”

Jenna smiled at him. “I’d love to, but you’ll have to check the schedule your wife has mapped out. It looks pretty full to me.”

Once Jenna had stepped out and closed the door, Reid righted the overturned chair and offered it to Cabot. “You are going to have a good time with your wife and sons. Even if none of the planned activities offer much of an adrenaline rush.”

Cabot grinned at him. “Oh, there’ll be adrenaline rushes—they’ll just be different. Isn’t it time you explored the adventures you can have once you marry and have children?”

Reid raised both hands in mock surrender. “No thanks. I’m not cut out for family responsibilities.” He’d decided that a long time ago, during the slew of repercussions that had followed his father’s arrest for embezzlement.

With a grin, Cabot sank into the chair. “You just need the right woman to change your mind.” He waved a hand at the photos displayed on the credenza beside Reid’s desk. “Or maybe your brothers could do the job, seeing as they’ve both found that special woman in the past few months.” He dropped his gaze to the duffel bag at the foot of Reid’s desk. “For a man who’s dead set on avoiding the whole marriage-and-family thing, aren’t you running a huge risk spending your vacation up at that castle with those magic stones?”

Reid narrowed his eyes. “Who says I’m going to Castle MacPherson?”

Cabot’s grin widened. “Elementary. Really elementary. I don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out you’re headed there. Not with the publicity your brothers have received lately. Each of them has been involved in the discovery of part of the long-missing Stuart sapphires. But the necklace is still lost. My bet is that sibling rivalry alone is pulling at you. I’m surprised that some enterprising reporter hasn’t sought you out for an interview.”

Reid’s eyes narrowed. “My brothers have kept a very low profile. You only know the extent of their involvement because I told you.” So far, any publicity Cam and Duncan had garnered had centered on the romantic side of their adventures with Adair and Piper MacPherson, a slant that was encouraged because of the castle’s wedding business.

Cabot raised both hands, palms outward. “Just saying. Last night one of the cable news channels did a Cliffs Notes summary of pretty much everything you’ve told me about unearthing the first two earrings.”

Reid had caught the broadcast. The correspondent had laid out a coherent time line, starting with Adair finding the first earring after lightning had struck the stone arch, and ending with Piper and Duncan’s discovery of the second earring in one of the caves on the castle grounds. The reporter’s narrative had focused on the drama—the threats to the young women’s lives. The villain who’d tried to kill Adair was in jail, and Deanna Lewis—the woman who’d subdued Duncan with a Taser shot and then had abducted Piper—was in a coma in a hospital in Albany. So far the press hadn’t latched onto the fact that, for six months prior to finding the first earring, someone had been paying undetected nocturnal visits to the castle. Cam’s theory was that the visits had been triggered by a feature article in the New York Times linking Eleanor’s dowry to the sapphires that Mary Stuart had worn at her coronation. The piece had stirred up a whirlwind of interest in the missing jewels, and it had also enormously helped Adair and Viola MacPherson launch their wedding destination business at the castle.

“The anchor mentioned the fact that the youngest MacPherson sister had yet to pay a visit to the castle since the first earring was discovered,” Cabot said. “The implication was that, when she did, the necklace might be found. If her sisters’ experiences are any indication, she’ll need some protection, so it’s not a leap to think that the speculation might extend to you eventually.”

Reid said nothing. He wasn’t worried about the media getting around to him. But the cable newscast had certainly heightened the nagging worry he’d had about Nell. Cabot was thinking along the same lines that Reid was. Nell’s two sisters had been lucky enough to find Eleanor Campbell’s missing earrings. It definitely wasn’t a stretch that anyone who wanted to gain possession of the necklace would be keeping an eye on Nell.

He intended to do just that himself.

Lance Cabot laughed. “That deadpan look works well in a poker game. And it may work with the media. But I know you. You’re going to take a shot at finding that necklace. That’s the real reason why you’re sending me off with the very capable Jenna Stanwick.”

Cabot was right about that, too. Reid was going to take a shot at finding the necklace. That was the second reason why his duffel was packed and waiting. He’d learned that Nell was heading to the castle on Sunday after her book signing today in Georgetown and a few days with her sister Piper. By joining her, he could kill two birds with one stone. Make sure she was safe and find the necklace.

The damn thing had always fascinated him.

The image flashed into his mind of the first time he’d seen the painting of Eleanor wearing her sapphires. He and his brothers had been ten, and their newly divorced mother, Professor Beth Sutherland, had made arrangements with A. D. MacPherson to research Beth’s first historical novel in the castle’s library. Part of the arrangement she’d negotiated had allowed her to bring her triplet sons along to the castle every day. Thus had begun a long summer of playdates that he and Cam and Duncan had shared with the MacPherson sisters.

Of course the oil painting had only hinted at the beauty of the jewels, but he’d felt something as he’d stood beneath the portrait that day and had listened to the story of Angus and Eleanor’s flight from Scotland to the New World. The older girls had let little Nell do most of the talking, and all through the recital, Reid hadn’t been able to take his eyes off the jewels.

Tradition held that this artwork in the main parlor was Eleanor’s wedding portrait, and the priceless sapphires were her dowry. But after her death there was no proof of their existence. Reid imagined that her children and grandchildren had searched the castle thoroughly, but they’d never found the sapphires. The long-missing “treasure” had become the focus of many of the games he and his brothers had played with the MacPherson sisters that summer.

It was on that day, looking at the painting, that he’d made a promise to himself that one day he would find Eleanor’s dowry. Of course life had interrupted. When the summer had ended, their mother had taken them back to Chicago and resumed her teaching responsibilities. But Reid had never forgotten the jewels or the story that Nell had woven about her ancestors.

Seven years ago, he and his brothers had returned to the castle for a brief visit on the day that their mother had married A. D. MacPherson beneath the castle’s legendary stone arch. That had been the last time he had crossed the MacPherson girls’ paths. He and Cam and Duncan had been seniors in college and totally focused on their careers. Cam had already interviewed at the CIA. Duncan had his sights set on working in the behavioral science division of the FBI, and Reid’s own goal had been to land a job in the Secret Service. None of those careers left much time for family. So even though they were technically stepbrothers and stepsisters, it hadn’t been until this summer that their lives had intersected again.

A tap sounded on the door, and Lance Cabot rose from his chair. “My vacation adventure calls.” At the door, he turned back. “Good luck finding the sapphires. But in two weeks, I expect you back on the job. By then I will have figured out your secret move.”

“Not worried.”

“You should be.”

Reid could hear Cabot’s laughter even after he shut the door behind him. But he didn’t smile. His conversation with the VP had only increased what his instincts had been telling him ever since Piper and Duncan had found the second earring. Nell could be in serious danger.

The cable news correspondent hadn’t spent much time at all on Deanna Lewis. But Reid’s family had been digging into her background for the past ten days. She’d been born and raised in London, the only daughter of Mary and Douglas Lewis. Deanna’s mother had died when she was three, her father when she was a freshman in college. She’d been working as a freelance photographer when she’d sold the senior editor of Architectural Digest on the idea of doing a feature article on Castle MacPherson. In short, she was everything she’d represented herself to be when she’d appeared at the castle that day and abducted Piper.

And Deanna still had a partner out there. Someone who not only wanted the sapphires but who believed he had a right to them. Deanna Lewis had claimed that the sapphires had never been Eleanor’s dowry, that she’d stolen them when she’d fled Scotland with Angus. It all boiled down to a priceless fortune in jewels and someone who was willing to do anything to lay hands on them.

That put the MacPherson sisters in serious danger. Fortunately his brothers had been on the scene when the worst of the trouble had erupted, and they were each sticking like glue to the older sisters. Cam had Adair with him in Scotland working with A.D. and their mother to see if they could find out who might claim the sapphires on that end. His brother Duncan was keeping a close watch on Piper now that she was working on a high-profile defense case in D.C.

That left Nell. Frowning, Reid picked up his pen and drew it through his fingers. So far the danger had been focused on the castle. But that could change. The sense of urgency that had been plaguing him for over a week now bumped up a notch when his cell blasted out his brother Cam’s ringtone. His brother seldom called with good news. But he was in Scotland. It couldn’t be about Nell. Taking the call, he spoke the standard phrase he and his brothers always used.

“Problem or favor?” And he willed it to be the latter.

2

“NEITHER,” CAM SAID. “And this is a conference call. Duncan’s on the line, too. Mom asked me to call.”

Cam’s tone had most of Reid’s tension easing.

“Congratulations, Cam,” Duncan said. “Usually Mom calls Reid to pass on the messages. Clearly the pecking order has changed.”

Grinning now, Reid leaned back in his chair. The fact that their mom usually called him first was something that his brothers had razzed him about since they’d gone away to college. She’d been a very busy professor then, and since he’d been the firstborn of the triplets, she’d put him at the top of her phone tree. The habit had stuck. “Let me add my congratulations, too,” Reid said. “I’m perfectly willing to hand that particular torch over to you, Cam.”

“Of course, it could be a case of out of sight, out of mind,” Duncan said. “Cam’s over there with her in Scotland. You’re not.”

That was true enough. Their mother had gained access to the library at the old Campbell estate that Eleanor had fled from with Angus so long ago. Beth was interested in uncovering the story that had led up to their flight to the New World to use in her latest historical novel. With the added information Deanna Lewis had brought to the table, they were all interested. “How can either of you be sure that Mom hasn’t already called me?” Reid asked.

The beat of silence gave Reid great satisfaction. He leaned back in his chair.

“She hasn’t,” Cam said firmly.

Duncan laughed. “Keep thinking that, Cam.”

“I know she hasn’t called him yet because Adair and I were just with her when she discovered it in the library. Many of the books there were damaged or destroyed in a fire about six months ago, but leave it to Mom to dig up something.”

Reid set down his pen. “What did she find?”

“Yeah.” The teasing tone had disappeared from Duncan’s voice. “Is it something that will help us identify the person Deanna Lewis was working with when she attacked Piper?”

“I’m hoping it will give us a start,” Cam said. “Mom came across an old family Bible with part of the Campbell family tree sketched on the inside cover page. Eleanor’s name is right there. She had two older sisters, Gwendolen and Ainslee.” Cam spelled the names. “Both married and had children, and we can trace their descendants until around 1900. It’s giving us some names to look at. Adair and I are going to start checking them out.”

“Did one of them marry a Lewis?” Duncan asked.

“No,” Cam said.

“Any more information on how the Stuart sapphires came into the Campbells’ possession?” Reid asked. “If we knew that, we might have some idea why someone else believes to have a claim on them.”

“Nothing yet,” Cam said. “We’re thinking that you might have a better chance of nailing down that part on your end.”

“How do you figure?” Reid asked.

“I was here right after Adair found the first earring. Duncan and Piper found the second earring together. It’s up to you to find the necklace. Along with Nell, of course. That should smoke out Deanna Lewis’s partner, and you can get the story from him. Or her.”

“Got to say, I’m siding with Cam on that one,” Duncan said.

That was a new wrinkle, Reid thought. From the time they were very young, Duncan had made it a habit to stay silent and not side with either of them. The fact that his brothers’ scenario matched up with the one presented on cable news only increased his worry that whoever was behind the attack on Piper and Duncan was thinking along the same lines. Nell might very well become their next target.

“Unless you are too afraid of those stones—and of falling for Nell,” Cam said. “Oh, right. I forgot. You and Nell have been a done deal since you were ten.”

Reid grimaced but said nothing. His brothers had teased him mercilessly that summer because he’d made it his priority to protect her.

“Afraid?” Duncan chuckled. “Not our brother. But our fearless leader is really going to hate following in our footsteps. Nell’s visiting Piper right now in Georgetown. They’re at Nell’s book signing. But she’s planning on going up to the castle Sunday afternoon. Daryl assigned himself to be there for the wedding Vi’s handling this weekend and all next week. Cam has beefed up the security system on the castle, and Sheriff Skinner is using local volunteers to patrol the grounds. But Nell needs more protection once she gets to the castle.”

That was the real reason behind the phone call from his brothers, Reid thought. They’d double-teamed him, and they’d known what buttons to push. Find the treasure and protect the youngest sister.

“I’ll think about it.” No need to tell them that he’d already decided to spend his time off at the castle.

“You have to do more than think about it. This person is dangerous,” Cam said.

Duncan laughed. “He’s pulling your leg, Cam. He’s not just thinking about it. He’s already got his bags packed. And I’m signing off. I’m getting another call.”

There was a beat of silence before Cam said, “Duncan’s right, isn’t he? You do have your bags packed. Did A.D. already call you and tell you to get up there?”

“I’ll never tell.” Reid thoroughly enjoyed the annoyance he was hearing in Cam’s voice. “That’s why they call us Secret Service agents,” he said and ended the call.

Reaching into the top drawer of his desk, he brought out the copy of Nell’s book, It’s All Good. Curious, he’d bought it a year ago when it had first been published, and when he read it, he’d thoroughly enjoyed it. She’d been six when he had stood beneath the portrait, and he had been as transfixed by the story she’d woven as by the sapphires. Even then she had had a gift for narrative, and in her book, she managed to bring Angus and Eleanor’s story vividly to life. Despite the fact that it was a children’s story, it had gripped his interest and his imagination right to the end.

Of course he’d known the ending ahead of time. The standard fairy-tale myth. True love would triumph over all and last forever.

Right.

In Reid’s experience, nothing lasted forever, and true love was a rare commodity, if it existed at all. His mother’s first marriage was testimony to that because it had nearly destroyed her. It might have destroyed them all.

Reid set down Nell’s well-crafted fairy tale and let his mind drift back to the night when the police and the FBI had come to their home and arrested their father, David Fedderman. Reid and his brothers had been nine. Gradually they had learned the details behind the arrest. For several years, their father had been running a very successful Ponzi scheme in the investment firm that his grandfather had founded. Being born to wealth and privilege hadn’t been enough for David Fedderman. He’d used his charm and intelligence to build a financial house of cards that had tripled the worth of Fedderman Investments.

At least on paper.

Duncan, the behavioral analyst in the family, believed their father was addicted to the thrill of running a con, and living on the edge had been worth more to him than wealth or family. Reid glanced down at Nell’s book and wondered if David Fedderman had ever loved his mother at all. What he did know was that she had loved him, and he had broken her heart.

The image of his father being handcuffed and dragged from their home was indelibly imprinted on Reid’s mind. He and his brothers had stood in a protective line in front of their mother, and that was symbolically where they’d remained during the turbulent years that had followed.

The Feddermans had sued for the triplets’ custody, and what had begun with their father’s arrest had changed all of their lives.

On the advice of her attorney, their mother had continued to pursue her doctoral studies. She landed a job teaching at a small college on the outskirts of Chicago, while Reid and his brothers had pitched in to help. Reid had been the idea man and organizer, and he’d been able to turn to Duncan for analysis and Cam to carry out any missions. Together they’d made sure that their mother had time for her academic pursuits.

In the preteen years that followed, Reid and his brothers had been as prone to mischief and getting into scrapes as most boys their age. More so. If two heads were better than one, three active and imaginative minds could hatch some adventures that, at the very least, might have distracted their mother. When they’d gotten into some of their worst scrapes, he’d run interference in an effort to protect them all. Perhaps because of that, she’d come to confide in him. The saddest thing she had ever told him was that she’d not only loved their father very much but believed that he’d loved her, too.

But their “true” love hadn’t been enough.

One thing he knew for sure. What had happened had made his mother gun-shy with men. In fact, it was a key reason behind her love of research and choice to steep herself in scholarships and writing.

The triplets all believed that their mother and A. D. MacPherson initially fell in love during the summer that she’d first visited Castle MacPherson, but she’d waited over a decade to trust in the idea of true love again.

And though Reid had recently seen his two brothers take that risky fall and wished them well, Reid didn’t have the time or the inclination to follow in their footsteps. He loved his career, and he was fully capable of allowing his work to consume him.

In that sense he believed that he was like both his father and his mother. He liked it that way, even though he’d seen up close what total focus on a career had done to his father, and the price his family had paid. He was determined not to risk boxing himself into the same position.

Still he had to hand it to Nell: in her book, she’d done an excellent job of making the myth seem real. As he flipped through the pages again, he noted the illustrations—the stone arch and other landmarks that surrounded the castle. He’d read in an article that the illustrations had been drawn by Eleanor herself. Nell’s ancestor had the same talent Nell had for capturing significant details on the page. Studying them brought vividly to mind the little fairy-tale princess of a girl that he’d done his best to protect that long-ago summer.

He fervently wished that was the only image of Nell that lingered in his mind. But there was another one that he couldn’t quite shake loose. At their parents’ wedding, she’d still looked a bit like a fairy-tale princess with her long blond hair. But she hadn’t been a little girl anymore. She’d been eighteen, just on the brink of womanhood, and she’d been beautiful.

Stunning actually. Her resemblance to Eleanor Campbell MacPherson had been striking. He’d caught himself looking at her more than once during the brief wedding ceremony, and when he’d met her gaze, for a moment he hadn’t been able to see anyone or anything else. And he’d felt...well, the only way he could describe it was a kind of recognition—a knowledge that she was the one for him. It was as if they stood alone beneath the stone arch, and he’d wanted her with an intensity that he’d never felt before or since.

Later when he returned to college and the demands of finishing his senior year, he’d convinced himself that what he’d felt was a fluke, a onetime thing that had been triggered by the emotions of the day and his twenty-two-year-old hormones. Still he’d been careful to avoid Nell. A pretty easy task given the demands of his career.

But once the sapphires started popping up, he’d known that he would see Nell again—and he was enough of a Scot to believe that perhaps it was destined.

And if what he’d felt beneath the stones hadn’t been a fluke?

Well, he wasn’t twenty-two anymore, and he’d always been able to handle Nell. As he recalled, she’d been eager to please and meticulous about following orders, so he didn’t expect any problems in that regard.

Rising from his desk, he tucked the book into his duffel bag. But the ringtone on his cell had him crossing back to his desk quickly. It was Duncan. Why was he calling again when his earlier mission had been accomplished?

Unless...

“Problem or favor?” Reid asked.

“A big problem,” Duncan replied, his tone grim.

3

AS A FICTION WRITER, Nell knew that a good story always began on the day the trouble started. There was no mistaking that the letter with the threat to her family meant trouble.

If you choose to ignore your mission, someone in your family will die.

The numbing chill that had streaked through her when she’d first read the words hadn’t surprised her. Neither had the fear she felt, fluttering like a trapped bird in her throat. Those were standard reactions any of her fictional characters might have felt. But the spurts of anger and excitement had been both unexpected and helpful. Because of those feelings, she’d been able to keep her smile in place, and get herself and her sister Piper halfway down the block and seated in the little sidewalk café before she handed over the letter.

Now, Piper, ever the lawyer, was reading it for at least the third time. Nell suppressed an urge to pinch herself to see if she was just imagining it all.

The setting couldn’t have been more perfect if she’d been writing it. The morning sun was already high in the cloudless blue sky, the temperature was in the low eighties and the humidity tolerable. The sidewalks were bustling with happy shoppers and tourists. The whole lovely scene offered a stark contrast to the threat in the letter.

“I don’t like this,” Piper said. Then she read the message again, this time out loud.

Nell didn’t like it, either. Hearing the threat helped her to focus on the fact that this wasn’t some story she was making up. No need to pinch herself; this was real. And it was up to her to do something about it.

Excitement sparked again. She’d spent her entire life reading, imagining and writing stories, and now she was going to live one of her own. Wasn’t that just what she wanted? Where would the adventure take her? Would she have the courage and the know-how to do what any one of her fictional heroines would?

One thing she knew for certain. No one was going to hurt anyone in her family—not if she could prevent it.

The waiter set down two chocolate and caramel Frappuccino drinks. Nell took a long sip of hers. She’d learned a long time ago that chocolate helped smooth over life’s rough patches. Not that she’d had very many. As the youngest of three sisters, her life had always run pretty smoothly. She’d been a baby when her mother had died, and their father had turned into a recluse. So she hadn’t known either of them long enough to really miss them. Then their aunt Vi had moved in with them, and Nell had always thought of Viola MacPherson as her mother.

People had always taken care of Nell. Adair had been the idea person, and based on her inspirations, Nell would invent stories that the three of them could act out during playtime. When Nell’s plotlines had landed the MacPherson girls in trouble, Adair landed on her feet and thought of a way out. Or Piper, always the negotiator, would find a way to fix things with their aunt.

It wasn’t until Nell went to college that she’d had to solve problems entirely on her own. Her goal from the time she was little had been to become a published writer and tell the stories she was always spinning in her mind. On the surface, the fact that she’d signed a publishing contract for her first book within a year of graduation might look like pretty smooth sailing. But she’d worked hard to achieve it.

The federal grant she had landed had allowed her to visit cities across the United States, offering writing classes to children and promoting her book at the same time. Several of the schools she’d visited had added It’s All Good to their required reading lists, and they were passing the word on to other schools and libraries. Adair called what she was doing “networking.”

The signing at Pages bookstore earlier today had been the last stop. It had only stalled her return to the castle by a few days. How could she have known that the delay could put those she loved in jeopardy?

“My best guess is that whoever sent this is the person Deanna Lewis was working with. Or at least someone who shares her belief that Eleanor did not have a right to the sapphires.” Piper glanced up and met Nell’s eyes. “Agreed?”

“Yes.”

“One thing I don’t get,” Piper said. “Why did they send this letter to you? You’ve been traveling the country. And Adair and I have a proven track record. We each found one of the earrings.”

They think it’s my turn, Nell thought. What she said was, “The two of you stirred up quite a bit of publicity. Anyone paying attention knows that Adair is now engaged to a CIA agent, and you’ve hooked up with an FBI profiler. I don’t come with that kind of baggage.”

Piper studied her for a moment, before she nodded. “Okay. Makes sense. But another thing puzzles me.” She tapped a finger on the last sentence. “Why do they say ‘if you refuse your mission again’?”

Guilt stabbed at Nell, and she felt heat rise to her cheeks. She hadn’t told Piper about the first letter. Whatever excuses she’d come up with in Louisville for keeping it a secret vaporized the instant she’d read that last sentence. She took a deep breath. “I received a letter very similar to that one a week ago.”

Piper stared at her for two beats. “You what?”

Nell dug into her purse, pulled out the letter and laid it next to the other one so that Piper could read it. “I put it in a plastic bag, like the evidence bags they use on TV shows. Any fingerprints, including mine, are preserved. You can see it’s the same message—except for the last line.”

And the last line in the second letter was the kicker.

Piper frowned down at the first letter. “Why didn’t you tell me or Aunt Vi immediately? We could have arranged for someone to protect you.”

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell anyone,” Nell said, lifting her chin. “The last thing I wanted was for everyone to descend on Louisville. I’m not a child who needs to be rescued anymore. Besides, it could have been just a prank.”

Piper took her hand and spoke in a tone that Nell remembered too well from her childhood. “Pranks have to be taken seriously when a fortune in sapphires is involved. Adair and I were both nearly killed.”

Nell raised her free hand, palm out. “Point taken.” The best way to handle Piper was to pretend to go along. But there was no way she was going to miss this chance to prove to them that she no longer needed to be sheltered and protected. They’d always taken care of her. Now she’d take care of them.

“It’s going to be all right,” Piper said.

Nell barely kept herself from rolling her eyes. How many times had she heard that sentence while she was growing up? She took a second sip of icy chocolate-flavored coffee and mimicked Piper’s tone. “Yes, it is. I’ll leave for the castle by noon.”

Piper’s gaze narrowed. “No, you won’t. It’s too dangerous. You’ll stay here with me until we figure out what to do.”

“I’ll put all of us in even more danger if I don’t go. I have to find the necklace, and we’re not going to find it across the street in your apartment. Everyone agrees that Eleanor must have hidden the necklace somewhere on the grounds of Castle MacPherson.”

“That’s the problem. Everyone does agree it’s there. Since the word leaked out that Duncan and I found a second sapphire earring in the caves, the treasure seekers are coming out of the woodwork, and the castle is getting more visitors and trespassers than usual. It’s too dangerous up there.”

Nell’s eyes narrowed. “But it’s not too dangerous for Aunt Vi or for Adair, who’s coming back from Scotland soon. Or for you. I don’t suppose it’s too dangerous for Duncan or Cam Sutherland, either.”

“Cam is CIA. Duncan is FBI. They’re professionals. You’re not.”

Biting her tongue, Nell reminded herself of her strategy. Pretend to go along.

Piper released her hand and gave it a pat. “I’m calling Duncan. I wrote down the name of the delivery service that brought this to the bookstore. He’ll know how to trace it, and he has a friend who works for the D.C. police, a Detective Nelson. He can check for fingerprints. Then Duncan can let both his brothers know about this, while I call Aunt Vi at the castle. She’ll make sure the word gets passed on to Adair and Dad over in Scotland. We’ll handle it. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

Don’t you worry about a thing. Another familiar sentence from her childhood. In fact, the whole scenario, with her family sidelining her and solving her problems, had been the story of her life.

Until now.

Nell squared her shoulders and met her sister’s eyes. “You can’t handle this for me. I know that’s what everyone has done all my life, but whoever wrote that letter wants me to find Eleanor’s necklace. I was planning on looking for it anyway. Adair and Aunt Vi found the first earring in the stone arch. You and Duncan found the second one in those caves we used to play in. So it’s my turn to find the rest of Eleanor’s dowry. That’s the way the story is supposed to go.”

She paused to beam a smile at Piper. “Once I have the necklace, this person will contact me, and we’ll find out just what he or she wants. I’m personally interested in discovering why they think they have a claim on the sapphires. Aren’t you?”

Piper had retrieved her phone and now scowled at her. “This isn’t one of your stories where you can plan out the happy ending. The person who wrote this could be very dangerous, and he planned this meticulously. He knew you had that book signing today. He’s probably watching us even now.”

Nell ignored the chill that shot up her spine. “I know.” That would be exactly the way she would write it. “There’s this scene in an old Clint Eastwood movie, Absolute Power, where his daughter asks him to meet her at this sidewalk café right here in D.C. The FBI wants to arrest him, and two snipers are waiting to take him out. He escapes, of course.”

“Of course he does. He’s Clint Eastwood. And at the risk of repeating myself, you’re not.” Then Piper narrowed her eyes. “And what do you know about snipers? You write children’s stories.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t read grown-up ones. My point is that it’s not any more dangerous at the castle than it might be right here. There could be a sniper taking aim at us right now.”

“All the more reason why you need protection. Ever since that article brought the missing sapphires to the public’s attention, there are a lot of people, including some professional thieves, who want to get their hands on those jewels.” Piper tapped a finger on the last line of the second letter. “This is a clear death threat.”

“Yes.” The chill Nell experienced was colder than it had been before. She firmly ignored it as she leaned closer and tapped her finger on the same line. “Piper, the writer is not threatening me. He’s threatening all of you, if I don’t find the necklace. So I’m going up to the castle, and I will find it. You’re not going to talk me out of it.”

“I’m calling Duncan.” Piper punched in numbers.

While Piper relayed the situation to Duncan Sutherland, Nell studied her sister’s face and delighted in the way it softened and then began to glow as she spoke to him. No one believed in the power of the stones more than Nell did. But as a writer, she also knew that the power of the legend didn’t cover all scenarios. Her parents were a prime example of that. They had found true love, but her mother’s death had cut their time short and had devastated her father. Life gave no guarantees.

That meant that she had to be very careful about the way she handled Reid Sutherland.

She reached for her drink and took a long swallow. She and Reid went back a very long time to the magical summer he was ten and she was six. She and her sisters had played games every single day with the Sutherland triplets, games that had opened up all kinds of story possibilities in her mind—posse and sheriff, pirates and treasure, good and evil.

That was the summer that she’d fallen in love with Reid. From a six-year-old’s perspective, he’d been the personification of all the storybook princes and adventure heroes she’d ever read about. Whenever the games they had played had gotten too dangerous or too challenging, he’d been her protector or her champion. Guinevere couldn’t have had a better Lancelot. Cinderella couldn’t have met a more handsome prince at the ball. Princess Leia couldn’t have fought side by side with a more daring Han Solo.

When that summer had ended and Reid had disappeared from her life, he’d remained the hero in all the stories she’d woven for years to come. Knowing full well that, at six, she’d seen Reid Sutherland through rose-colored Disney-movie glasses.

A dozen years later when his mother had married her father beneath Angus and Eleanor’s stone arch, the way she’d seen Reid had been entirely different. He was no longer just a good-looking boy. He’d turned into an incredibly attractive man. While their parents recited vows, she found her gaze returning to him again and again. She hadn’t been able to stop herself. Even now, years later, she could easily conjure up the image of that lean, raw-boned face, the tousled dark hair. The full, firm mouth.

And she could still remember what she’d felt— dryness in her throat, rapid beat to her heart and the strangest melting sensation in her body. When he had glanced over and met her gaze, she’d felt that flutter right beneath her heart, and she’d been certain that she was falling in love with him all over again.

A mistake that could be excused in a naive eighteen-year-old who’d never felt such strong attraction for a man before. Thank heavens she’d never let him or anyone else know that he’d twice been the object of her heart’s desire. He always thought of her as a child; someone he felt indulgent toward. Someone he had to go out of his way to protect from harm. After their parents’ wedding, he’d made his feelings for her quite clear when he’d kissed her on the nose and called her “my new little stepsister.”

Those words had crushed her heart, and inspired by one of Adair’s plans, she’d put pen to paper and created a very different narrative about Reid Sutherland.

Nell took another sip of her icy coffee as the memory poured into her mind in vivid detail. It had been midnight when Adair and Piper had come to her room and awakened her. The wedding guests had long-ago departed, and their aunt Vi was sound asleep. Piper had swiped a bottle of champagne, and they’d gone out to the stone arch, the way they’d done so many times growing up. But with cola or tea in their childhood years.

Beneath the stones, they’d shared their goals and dreams and secrets. More than that, at Adair’s suggestion, they’d written down those goals and put them in their mother’s old jewelry box. As children, they’d tucked the box behind some stones that were loose to tap into the power that resided there. Back then, Adair had come up with the idea of burying all their secret goals in the stones. The theory had been that, if the stone arch had the power to bring true lovers together, it might also have the power to make other dreams come true. Even the very practical-minded Piper had decided that it was worth a shot.

Nell had continued to tuck her goals into the box even after her sisters had gone away to college. Since it was divided into three compartments, it was perfect for their purpose. Adair had insisted from the beginning that they each use a different color paper to ensure privacy. Piper had chosen blue, Adair yellow and Nell had selected pink.

On the night of the wedding, it was Adair, of course, who had suggested that they cap the celebration by writing out their most secret and thrilling sexual fantasy. Perhaps Nell’s fantasy had evolved as it did because she had been standing in the exact same spot when her gaze had locked with Reid’s during the ceremony. Maybe because the memory of what she’d felt was still so fresh—that rush of desire, the glorious wave of heat and the flutter right beneath her heart. Or perhaps it had been the champagne. But, of course, her sexual fantasy had involved Reid Sutherland.

And that night she’d been creatively inspired. Her best story ideas came to her while she was actually writing. The physical acts of running her pen over the paper or her fingers atop the keyboard tapped into her creative imagination the way nothing else did. And she’d certainly tapped into it that night. Nell had been eighteen, a freshman in college, and what she’d written went far beyond her limited experience. The details of those original fantasies were a bit fuzzy now. But the setting she’d chosen and the broader picture were perfectly clear.

No longer was Reid the romantic hero of her childhood fairy tales. No, indeed. In her fantasy, seduction had been her goal. And she’d chosen the most romantic setting she could think of—Eleanor’s garden. Over the years, she’d had plenty of time to embroider and expand on her original ideas. And those scenarios had been fueling her dreams, especially since the Sutherland men had reentered her sisters’ lives.

Of course what she’d felt that day could have been a onetime thing. But working against that theory was the fact that every time she relived it in her mind, she felt the same things all over again. No one before or since had ever made her want with such intensity. With that feeling of inevitability.

The question was, when she finally met Reid again, what would happen next? Each time she asked it, a fresh thrill rippled through her system. As a writer, it was the question she always wanted foremost in her readers’ minds. It was what made them turn the page. And she found that the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to turn the page in her own life and discover what would happen.

Just thinking about it had her reaching again for her drink to cool down her system. She hadn’t seen Reid since their parents’ wedding day. His job heading up the vice president’s security team made him a very busy man. Still she had no doubt that they would meet again sometime soon, and she would have the opportunity to turn her fantasies into reality. And she’d made preparations.

A heady thrill moved through her at the thought.

“Earth to Nell.”

Piper’s words made Nell shift her gaze to the letters Piper was placing in her briefcase. Giving herself a mental shake, Nell refocused on the fact that she was currently involved in a much more pressing narrative.

“Duncan wants to see both letters. We’ll take a taxi to Reid’s office, and he’ll meet us there.” She left two bills on the table to pay for their coffees.

“Reid’s office? Why do we have to go there?” Nell asked.

“It’s halfway between Duncan’s office and here. Plus Duncan says Reid’s on vacation, and he’s going to the castle with you.”

In her mind, Nell pictured a guardian angel swooping down on her. “I don’t need anyone to protect me. I can handle this.”

“Don’t be silly.” Punching another number into her phone, Piper moved quickly toward the curb. “Abe, I’m going to be a little late for work. Family emergency.”

Family emergency? Nell frowned. Nell grabbed one last swallow of chocolate-laced caffeine and rose from her seat.

Piper turned back to her. “The best place to catch a taxi is at the opposite corner. Follow me.”

Then she stepped in between two parked cars to wait for traffic to clear.

A horn blast drew Nell’s attention. A few stores down, a dark sedan was blocking traffic. The driver behind him demonstrated his displeasure by leaning on the horn again. Piper glanced at the noise also and then turned her attention back to her phone call.

Nell had only taken one step when a woman came up to her. “Ms. MacPherson? You are Nell MacPherson, right?”

“Yes, I am.”

The woman was a tall brunette in her early fifties who looked as if she could have stepped right off the cover of a high-end fashion magazine. “I missed your signing, and I was wondering if you could autograph a book for my granddaughter?”

“Of course.”

While the woman fished in her bag for the book and a pen, Nell heard the horn again and the sound of a motor revving. She caught a blur of movement out of the corner of her eye. The image of the dark sedan shooting forward had barely registered, when she realized that Piper was directly in its path. Fear flashed so brightly in her mind that for a moment she was blinded. Pure instinct had her pushing past the woman and racing toward the street.

Piper seemed so far away, the sound of the car so close. Nell felt as if she was moving in slow motion, the car on fast-forward. She slammed into her sister, grabbing her around the waist and using Nell’s momentum to hurl them both forward. They were airborne for a second. Holding tight to Piper, Nell twisted so that she took the impact on her side when they tumbled onto the pavement. Then with every ounce of energy she had, she rolled, dragging her sister with her. Hot wind seared her cheek, and she smelled burning rubber as the dark sedan whipped past and sped up the street.

“Nell? Are you all right?”

Pain was singing through every bone in her body, but Nell managed a smile as she opened her eyes and looked into Piper’s. “I’m fine. You?”

“Yeah,” Piper said. “Thanks to you.”

“He was crazy,” a man said as he helped both of them to their feet.

Piper ran her hands over her sister. “You’re sure you’re all right?”

“I’m better than I was a moment ago.” Nell didn’t want to ever replay those few seconds in her mind again.

For a moment Piper just held on to her sister’s hands. There was a look in her eyes that Nell had never seen before. Surprise?

“You saved my life,” Piper said. “I guess you were right about it being just as dangerous here as at the castle.”

“It’s all good,” Nell said as she pulled her sister close and just held on to her for a minute.

“I wrote down his license plate number,” a woman said. “It looked to me like he wanted to run you over, young lady. You should report him.”

“I will.” Pulling away from Nell, Piper took the slip of paper.

“I called 9-1-1,” another woman said. “They’re sending the police to take a report.”

Glancing around, Nell noted that they’d attracted quite a little crowd. On the edge of it, she saw a young man pushing forward. As he reached her, she saw that he had an envelope in his hand. “Sorry, lady,” he said. “The guy in that car gave me this to deliver to you after you left the café. He paid me fifty bucks and told me to wait until you crossed the street. I had no idea he was going to try to run you down.”

“Thanks,” Nell said. But it wasn’t her the driver had been aiming for. It had been Piper.

“Let me open it for you,” Piper said, then pulled out her phone to call Duncan once more.

“No.” This was her story, and if she’d had any lingering doubts about that, they vanished as she read the message on the letter inside.

You have forty-eight hours to find the sapphire necklace, or you run the risk of losing another member of your family.

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