Lissa wanted to hug Lexi to her. Sweet, wonderful Lexi. She was so accepting. Kidnapped, forced into a sham of a marriage with a pedophile, forced into child labor, her family murdered by the vicious cult that took her, she still had the sweet nature no one could ever take from her. Lissa felt very protective of her and loved her like the sister she never had. She would do anything to keep Lexi safe and happy. She had vowed she would make certain no one took that feeling of safety away again.
“What is it?” Lexi asked, suddenly moving right into her, perching on the arm of Lissa’s chair. Close. Her eyes moving over Lissa, seeing too much. “You look sad. As if you’re saying good-bye to us.” There was trepidation in her voice. Fear on her face. Yet she kept her voice low, instinctively protecting Lissa from the others.
Lissa was grateful. All of her sisters could read one another easily now. Lissa had lived a lie with them for so long she felt guilty and ashamed. They showed her who they were, yet she had to hide who she really was. What she really was. She tried a smile. “Baby, you know I’m heading off for Europe any minute, right? I have to catch a plane. Isn’t that what this gathering is about?” She tried to inject a teasing note into her voice, but in truth, she didn’t believe she would be coming home.
Lexi shook her head. “You know what I mean. This is your home. Are you happy here?”
“I’ve been happier here than I’ve been since I was a very small child. This is home,” Lissa said firmly, grateful she didn’t have to lie. That was strictly the truth, and Lexi would hear it in her voice.
“Are you coming back?” Lexi persisted, her eyes showing anxiety.
“This is home,” Lissa said. “It will always be home. I’ll always come back.” If I can. She would. She would never ever leave Sea Haven and the beauty and peace of the farm if she had a choice. She raised her voice a little so the others could hear. “If I get the contracts for the chandeliers throughout these hotels, all three of them, then we’ll be sitting pretty for the next few years. It will give the farm a real chance to thrive.”
“It’s already thriving, Lissa,” Lexi said. “You don’t have to overwork anymore. I have Gavriil to help me now, and during harvest all of you help. With him around, I won’t mind if we hire extra help when we need it. Before, I was always uncomfortable with strangers, but Gavriil makes me feel safe. Well, all the boys do.”
Lissa burst out laughing. “Only you would refer to the Prakenskii brothers as boys. I love you, Lexi. So much. You taught me a great deal about letting go of anger. It’s still there, but I’m working through it.” She would never – ever – say how to her baby sister.
“I love you too, but seriously, Lissa, don’t take on more work than you can comfortably do.”
Lissa nodded. “One hotel in Italy, a castle in Germany that’s been renovated into a luxury hotel and the last in Russia. I really get to travel, and for free. It’s a tough life, but someone has to do it.”
Airiana sighed and leaned back, sipping at her tea. “I thought I would never want to travel again after all my adventures on the yacht and then the cruise ship, but the children are wearing me out. Benito is a crazy boy. He’s getting to be more like Max every day. I swear, without adoption, he’s already a Prakenskii. I could use a vacation. The other night, when Max and I snuck off to the gazebo to have a little fun, we were going at it when all of a sudden, red lights began flashing all around us and an alarm went off. That horrid boy rigged our only safe place.”
The women erupted into gales of laughter.
“Of course he did,” Blythe said. “I was waiting for something like that. No way was he going to resist. I can just picture Benito and his sisters hanging out the window laughing their little heads off.”
“Until Max caught up with them,” Judith said, hardly able to get the words out around her laughter.
“He chased Benito all over the house. The girls and I couldn’t help laughing hysterically,” Airiana admitted. “I didn’t tell Max, but I think Lucia may have been the mastermind behind the red lights. The little girls thought they came up with the idea of the sirens, and Benito graciously and in the face of Max’s wrath allowed them to take credit for it. Clearly, all of them had discussed it and were just waiting for us to sneak out.”
“Bet that didn’t take long,” Rikki said.
Another round of laughter erupted.
“We have to sneak out,” Airiana defended. “Those little monsters sleep in our room. We’re hoping when we get the puppy, they’ll all take to sleeping in Lucia’s room.”