I left Colin in the kitchen with his grandparents to steal a moment alone in the living room. I was growing increasingly anxious every minute Constantine was gone. He’d said he wanted to check both airports before returning, worried they’d be taking Lennon out of the States. But that was nearly an hour and a half ago.

There were no clouds blocking the view, so I went over to the window to try and get a glimpse of Central Park down below.

I caught sight of Alessandro hovering behind me in the reflection. “Let me guess, you have strict orders never to let me out of your sight?”

“Of course.” He pocketed his hands, continuing to hang back and offer me space without breaking his word to his brother.

“Can I ask you something?” I rubbed my arms at the goose bumps that’d become a permanent fixture and faced him.

He sat on the sofa and casually leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. “Sure.”

I approached him slowly, unsure if now was the time for this conversation, but at least it would fill the time so I didn’t worry my way over the proverbial edge of no return. “I was under the impression Constantine didn’t tell anyone about meeting me in Aruba. He’s not much of a sharer, so I’m surprised he told you.”

“Much of a sharer?” He smirked. “More like non-sharer, period.” He sat upright, and his wedding band caught my eye as he continued, “I thought you were going to ask me how we do this work and have families at the same time.”

His words sent pain deep into my temples, and I pushed my fingers to the side of my head to try and dull the sharp throb there.

Before I could respond, he said, “But now that I know your brother works with Carter, I suppose you don’t need that question answered.”

Speaking of Easton, he was talking to Izzy upstairs in the office, which was strange.

My brother.

Constantine’s sister.

Working together.

I’d called Easton to let him know what happened and how he was technically involved—then absolved him of his guilt before he could start up with any nonsense—before personally making the introductions between him and Izzy over FaceTime.

Gwen was also on their call, assisting with some “cyber stuff” (a.k.a. hacking) to try and expedite the search for Lennon.

Colin was relieved to hear they had her help. Courtesy of Easton’s boasting about her whenever they’d chatted in the past, Colin knew Gwen was one of the best cyber experts in the world.