“Hi.” Emma held her hand out to Linda. “I’m Emma, Cain’s wife, and this is Finley and Abigail.”

“Abigail,” Linda said, standing and facing her. “You might not remember me, but we saw each other a few times.”

“I do remember you, but forgive me for not knowing you were related to Nicola. I’m not sure why she kept all but her immediate family a secret, and I’m so sorry for what she did to you.” Abigail bit her lip and took a deep breath. “Nicola is someone neither of us will ever understand. I’m begging you, though, for your brothers and my children, that if you have something that could help us, please share it.” Abigail took Finley’s hand and pulled her forward. “This is my fiancée, Finley Abbott, and she’s proof there is a possibility of starting over.”

“Weren’t you with the NYPD?” Linda asked, but she shook hands with Finley. “I remember David talking about you. Not to me, but to Boris.”

“Boris St. John?” Finley asked, and Linda nodded. “Do you know what happened to him? That’s who Eaton sent to New Orleans to find Abigail and the kids. I recognized him from the files we had.”

Cain realized she had to look over Finley’s files and familiarize herself with all these people. “Are your brothers going to be okay?” she asked. They were ready to begin, and she wanted to see how far Linda was willing to go, but she didn’t want to do it standing in the middle of the living room where the boys could overhear them.

“They’re watching television to see if there’s any news about the house last night. They made some friends on the wrestling team, and they didn’t want them to worry. There’ll be no calling, though—they know better than that.” As a group they moved into the kitchen, and Cain closed the door behind them.

“I believe your next move will be for good,” Cain said as she pulled out a chair for Emma at the table. “They can make all the friends they want, and you can stop looking over your shoulder.”

“That’ll be a hard habit to break. I’ve been doing it all my life, and I think it was something I learned from my father. He married into the Antakov family, but he knew what kind of man his brother-in-law was. David Eaton might have fooled plenty of people in high society, but he was a butcher I blamed for my father’s death.” She tore at a paper napkin, shredding it to pieces. “My mother idolized her brother and only acknowledged her Antakov roots. It’s what she wanted to nourish and foster in us, but I tried to teach Tim and Joshua a different way.”

“Cain said that from what she could see, you’ve done a good job,” Emma said.