“I heard that,” she grumbled, following me out of the house.

I handed the case to Pietro for him to store in the back of the limo before facing her. “I don’t like how off you’ve been since your vacation. It was supposed to help you relax and unwind. But you came home looking more stressed than ever. And every time one of us asks you about your trip, you either change the subject or come up with a reason to leave the room.”

She lowered her lashes, hiding her brown eyes from me. “I…” She sighed heavily and shrugged. “I met someone while I was on vacation.”

I felt my entire body locking up. “This is the first I’m hearing of this. Your security didn’t mention anything.”

“It’s complicated. I didn’t evade my detail, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She folded her arms over her chest, rubbing her hands up and down her arms like she was freezing. Considering it was in the high eighties and humid as hell out, I didn’t understand how she could be shivering unless she was sick. “I’m not ready to discuss what happened, but I will say this. I met a guy…a man. We had a lot of fun, and I thought we really connected. But I was wrong.” She swallowed hard, shifting her gaze to somewhere in the distance. “Very, very wrong.”

Instinct told me to hug her, and I wrapped my arms around her slight frame, tucking her head under my chin. “I’m sorry,” I murmured. “Do you want me to find him and put a bullet in his skull?”

She stiffened at my question and shoved at my chest. “No! Don’t even joke about things like that.”

I held up my hands at the murderous look in her eyes. “I wasn’t joking, but okay.”

Samara came skipping out of the house, pulling her case behind her as she hummed happily to herself. “Hurry up!” she called over her shoulder. “Tavia and Theo are already there! I can’t believe they got to go early to see the new baby and we didn’t go with them.”

“We didn’t want to overwhelm Delaney,” Mom reminded her as she followed Pop out of the house. “You will have plenty of time to see little Ronan before we come home.”

“I want to see the baby, but I’m more excited to see Nova. I haven’t seen her since Easter.”

I understood my sister’s need to see Nova. I’d been so busy with work and making sure the construction of our house stayed on schedule, there had been zero time to fly out to see her. Between end-of-year exams and preparing to move to New York, she’d been just as busy. My arms ached to wrap around her, and now I was a few hours away from doing just that.

Only, this time, I didn’t have to let her go ever again. There would be no goodbyes at the end of the summer before I put her on the plane to return home for another year of school. Once I picked her up this one last time, I would never have to let her go again.