“I wanted to meet you,” Stefan said, “to let you know I am taking Kaitlyn home.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes.”
“She hasn’t mentioned it to me.”
“I have not yet spoken with her.”
“What if she doesn’t want to go?”
“I am afraid the choice is not hers. Her life is in danger here, as you well know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I am talking about Daryn Korzha. I believe you killed him.”
“You know about that?”
Stefan nodded once, curtly. “She is not safe here.”
Rising, Zack leaned forward, hands braced against the top of the desk. “I think I’ve proven I can take care of her.”
“Perhaps,” Stefan said, also rising. “But there are things going on you are not yet aware of.”
“Is that right?”
“For your own safety, I advise you not to pry into affairs that do not concern you. Good evening.”
Zack frowned thoughtfully as Stefan Sherrad left his office. “That’s where you’re wrong,” he muttered. “Anything that concerns Kaitlyn is my affair.”
Kaitlyn was dressing for her date with Zack when the doorbell rang. He was early, she thought, glancing at her watch. A last look in the mirror, and she hurried down the hallway to open the front door.
And came face-to-face with a short, stocky man holding a gun. She knew, by the blank expression in his eyes, that he was under some sort of mind control.
Had Nadiya sent him? If so, had she told him to kill her?
“You. Will come. With me,” he said, gesturing with the gun for her to follow him. “Now!” he added, when she didn’t move.
Kaitlyn stared at him, her mind racing. She took a step forward, intending to wrest the gun from his hand, when a dark shape rose up out of the shadows to her left and slammed into the man, knocking him off balance so that he tumbled down the porch stairs.
Without waiting to see who her champion was, Kaitlyn slammed the door and locked it, then stood there, one hand pressed to her heart. She was debating what to do next when she heard a knock at the door.
Was it the gunman? Or the man who had apparently come to her rescue? She hadn’t heard any gunshots. Did that mean the intruder had been incapacitated?
She tapped her foot a moment, then peered out the front window. And into a face that looked remarkably like her father’s. Could it be . . . ?
“Kaitlyn, open the door.”
His words carried the sound of home and she opened the door, then stood there, too stunned to speak.
“Kaitlyn.”
She stared at him a moment: Was it possible?
“I am your unc . . .”
“Stefan.” It could be no one else. He looked enough like her father to be his twin. “What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?” She glanced to the left, then the right. “Who was that man? Where is he?”
“Perhaps we could discuss it inside?” her uncle suggested.
“Yes, of course, come in.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder as he followed her into the living room. It was amazing, how much he looked like her father. She gestured at the sofa. “Please, sit down.”
“Thank you.”
She sat beside him, unable to stop staring.
“I know,” he said, smiling. “Your father and I look much alike.”
“You could be twins. What are you doing here?”
“I was traveling when I heard that one of the Korzhas had been killed in Lake Tahoe. I was naturally curious, since we are related.” He shrugged. “A little snooping here, a few questions there, and I overheard your name. I came here to see if it was indeed you.”
“Who was that man?” she asked again.
“I do not know. But he will not bother you anymore.”
That could mean only one thing, but it was hard to feel sympathy for a man who had pointed a gun at her. “What do you think he wanted?”
“You do not know?”
She shook her head. “Know what?”
Before he could explain, the doorbell rang again. Startled, she glanced at Stefan.
“I will get it,” he said.
Kaitlyn nodded. She told herself there was nothing to worry about. But she clenched her hands in her lap when Stefan opened the door.
A moment passed. Another. He stood there, unmoving, not speaking.
And then she heard her father’s voice, thick with emotion. “Stefan!”
Hardly aware of what she was doing, Kaitlyn stood as her father threw his arms around his brother and crushed him close in a hug that would likely have crushed a mortal’s ribs. “Stefan! Where have you been? What are you doing here?”
“Trying to breathe,” Stefan answered with a grin.
Drake released him immediately. “Forgive me, but I am so glad to see you.”
Stefan nodded. “And I you, brother.”
Drake’s gaze ran over Stefan. “You look well. Liliana has missed you. You should have kept in touch with her.” The unspoken words, and with me, hung in the air between them. “How could you stay away so long?”
“I needed time.”
“Promise me you will never again stay away so long.”
“I missed you, too,” Stefan said.
“I will have your promise,” Drake insisted.
“You have it.”
Kaitlyn saw tears in her uncle’s eyes, felt the sting of tears in her own eyes as the two men embraced again.
When they parted, Stefan cleared his throat. “Since you are here, I assume you know Kaitlyn is in danger.”
“Yes, it is the reason I am here,” Drake said as the two men moved into the living room.
“Just in time,” Stefan said, and quickly told her father about the gunman who had been there earlier.
“You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here,” Kaitlyn said, coming up behind the two men. “What’s this all about, anyway?”
“I have come to take you home.”
“But I don’t want to go home!” she exclaimed.
“That decision is no longer yours. I am certain Nadiya is behind these attacks on you,” Drake said. “I am not sure what she intends, only that you are involved. My guess is she is planning to use you to get to me.”
“Why?” Kaitlyn asked, frowning. “You didn’t have anything to do with Daryn’s death.”
“I believe she means to avenge herself on me for Florin’s death, and also for Daryn’s. She knows the best way to hurt me is to harm you. You are not safe here.”