Skye had always had an aptitude for languages. By the time she’d graduated from college, she spoke Spanish, French, Italian, and enough German to get by. In the army, she’d added Farsi to her list.

They talked for a while, catching up a little. Izzy was a real sweetheart, and she took great care of Conner, mothering him as if he were her son.

“I am sorry, your brother is not home.”

“Actually, I came to see Callie.”

Izzy nodded, moving strands of hair that had escaped from the neat black bun at the back of her head. “She’ll be glad to see you, I think. She is upstairs in the guest room working on her computer.”

“Thanks, I’ll go on up.”

“I have cookies and coffee in the kitchen when you come back down.”

Skye’s mouth watered. “What kind of cookies?” Not that she didn’t like them all.

“Chocolate chip.”

Skye grinned. “My favorite. I’ll be down in a minute.” Her brother was lucky. Izzy was a fabulous cook.

Heading toward the stairs, she admired Conner’s handiwork. The refinished hardwood floors gleamed. The white-painted moldings against the soft beige walls set off the cream sofa and chairs in front of a fireplace nestled between two old-fashioned leaded-glass bookcases.

She reached the second floor and knocked on the guest room door. Callie pulled it open.

Skye smiled. “I thought I’d stop by, see how you’re doing.”

Instead of a return smile, Callie’s blue eyes filled with tears.

“Hey, everything’s going to be okay.” Skye stepped into the room and pulled her into a hug.

Callie hugged her back. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just . . . you and Conn, you’ve both been so nice. I wouldn’t have made it without you. There’s a chance I might even have been dead by now.”

Skye gripped Callie’s hand. “Don’t say that. You were halfway to saving yourself when we found you.”

Callie just shook her head. “You saved me. And the worst part is I always resented you. I always thought of you and Conner as Dad’s real family. It’s taken all this bad stuff to figure out that you are part of my family, too.”

Skye hugged her again. “Well, now you know. That’s what matters.”

Callie took a deep breath and brushed away the wetness on her cheeks. “Conn’s not here. A guy named Morgan Burke is downstairs in the study. He’s a friend of Conn’s. Conn said he was a marine before he went into security. I guess something happened when he was working in the Middle East, and he quit the job and came back to the States. He just started working for Nighthawk.”

Skye nodded. “I heard there was a new guy coming in. I haven’t met him yet. You like him?”

“He’s . . . umm . . . he’s really hot.”

Skye grinned. “Yeah?”