“And do what? I’d be useless. I’d just follow you around. I’d be Vera Exton’s—”

“Boy toy?”

“I rather like that idea. Or maybe I could get the press to call me your Man of War.”

Vera snorted. “Good luck on manipulating us.”

His eyes sparkled. “I thought you liked the way I manipulated you.”

She started to respond in an appropriately teasing way, but she looked into his eyes. “What’s worrying you?” She didn’t let him answer. “No. Wait. It’s your daughter.”

“Yes,” he said. “She’s been through a lot. The Hatten family is angry at her about Jared. They pretend that they’re not but we feel it. And Jared! He has no idea what’s going on.”

“Did you even consider telling them the truth?”

“No,” Miguel said. “They have enough. They don’t get my daughter, too.”

“Robbie...”

“Yeah, right. His death was hard for everyone. He barely got off the plane before he was—”

“Shot,” Vera said, and her whole body tensed. “If only we’d protested the war more. Louder. I should have led a march on DC. Organized a—”

Miguel pulled her head to his shoulder. “Yes, we all should have done more, but we can’t go back.”

For a while they were quiet, remembering those days of rallies and sit-ins and violence. Sometimes Miguel’s bayonet wound hurt as much as when it was new.

Vera spoke softly. “Adam would like to know that something of Robbie exists.”

Anger shot through Miguel. He got out of bed and pulled on his jeans. “Then Cait would be taken over by the Hattens? They’d take her on vacations around the world? Maybe Adam would give her a yacht for her birthday.”

Vera sat up, the sheet up to her arms. “Come on! Get real. They aren’t that rich.”

Miguel pulled on his shirt. “What about Jared? He’s supposed to sit next to his cousin at meals? His former girlfriend?”

Vera was frowning. “How intimate were they?”

“Not ‘all the way’ is what Cait said.”

Vera didn’t reply but her raised eyebrows said it all.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I am not going to give my daughter to Adam Hatten.”

“What does Cait say?”

“She agrees with me.”

“How convenient,” Vera said. “I bet you told her what you want. Then she had the choice of breaking your heart or obeying you.”

He narrowed his eyes at her.

Vera smiled. “I’d forgotten that look. I bet it scared your four women, didn’t it? It is downright frightening. Dark eyes, that gorgeous honey-colored skin of yours. Yes, quite intimidating.”

Miguel gave her a look of disgust. “I had forgotten what you’re really like.”

“Poor you,” she said.