“Don’t despair. My people researched all of this.” He handed her a folder. “That’s all the information concerning your inheritance from a very distant cousin. Inheritance is not community property, so no sharing required. You will, however, have to pay taxes on it or risk trouble with your IRS, so we added a bit on top to cover that end of things.”

“Seriously? You did that?”

“I don’t think you understand how happy Zeus is.”

“Probably not as happy as me right now.”

Marina threw her arms around Alexios and hugged him, bouncing them both up and down.

When she stopped bouncing, she blew out a breath. “That’s incredible.”

“Incredible is an understatement. It’s literally out of this world.”

Halcyon walked back in, carrying a large square package covered with brown paper.

“What’s out of this world?” she asked.

“I’m getting the money!” Marina yelled, and Halcyon let out a loud, “Whoot!”

He laughed. “I thought you might be excited, especially after the splurge on that trip to Mexico the two of you took.”

“How did you know about that?” Marina asked.

“Zeus has this way of rewinding the view, so to speak.”

Halcyon narrowed her eyes. “I hope he doesn’t view everything.”

“Unfortunately, no,” he said. “Was that surfer as good as he looked?”

Halcyon grinned. “Better.”

“We thought things might end,” Marina said. “Soooooo…”

“It was a really good choice,” Alexios said. “Maybe next time you can bring Hunky. You know, once you go ahead and admit you want him.”

“Thank you!” Halcyon said.

“I’m not discussing this with the two of you,” Marina said.

“Talking is the last thing this situation needs,” Alexios said.

Marina smiled, then grew serious. “Do you think I’ve had the ring my whole life? Or did it turn into that toy when I came into my power?”

“I don’t know,” Alexios said. “I don’t think we’ll ever know. But it does give me pause. To think that all those before you might have had the ring just sitting in a drawer all their lives.”

“But if it was there the whole time, why didn’t I feel it?” Marina asked. “I mean, I did when I took it out but before then, nothing. And I packed that box myself.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that either,” he said. “My historians have been over everything, including the moment when you realized you knew where the ring was. They wanted to know if you’d tell me what you were thinking about. There was a particular expression on your face that they felt was powerful emotion attached to a memory.”

“It was,” Marina said, and she told him the story about the fair.

Alexios shook his head. “It’s an incredible story, and I have to wonder if that moment of contemplation along with coming into your power so late in life and all the emotional stress and hard choices you faced that week all culminated in your success.”

“You think that finding myself allowed me to find the ring?” Marina asked.