Sassy and Ronnie greeted them when they went into the kitchen outfitted with sparkling new stainless appliances including a dishwasher and an enormous refrigerator. Just when Dane was about to feel like he didn’t belong, Ronnie opened up the freezer and pulled a bottle of tequila from its depths, crusted over in a comfortable layer of frosty ice.

  “You didn’t think I’d forget the ritual, did you?”

  “You’d have hell to pay if you did.” Katy put a hand over Dane’s mouth and he buzzed her hand. Her peel of baby laughter nearly lifted him off the earth with buoyant joy, the kind he lived for. “You’re killing me, baby,” he whispered in her ear and took in the baby scent of her as he hugged her close. There was no way he could drink tequila while he held her, but that was no problem.

  Sassy held out his glass and took Katy from him in a very uneven trade and the little traitor went without complaint.

  “Are you the baby whisperer or do all living creatures large and small love you because you smell like pie?” He asked.

  They all laughed.

  “It’s more like you probably smell like sweaty old man,” Shana said. Dane gave her a look that said since when are you complaining about my manly scent? Getting the message she raised her brows and sidled up to him, still holding Colt. Under her breath she said, “Not that I mind.”

  Dane took a healthy swig of his tequila. It was either that or force Colt into Sassy’s spare arm and drag Shana to the guest room. Though they were good friends with Ronnie and Sassy, he knew where to draw the line. And this was their home now. He and Shana were only guests.

  Dane and Shana caught Sassy and Ronnie up on all things baby as they watched their twins walk around the kitchen holding onto whatever or whoever they could while they babbled and occasionally sounded like they hovered on saying mama or dadda. At just over a year, he and Shana were waiting for the momentous occasion of recognizable words to come from their mouths. Dane had a friendly bet with his wife that one of them would say dadda first. It was a very friendly bet that he knew he’d cash in on one way or another, even if he had to cheat, because he knew his wife would let him.

  “Any problems on the island?” Dane asked Ronnie. He shook his head. He was in his last year at West Point and on leave. Sassy split her time between the island and West Point when the Army would let her.

  “It’s a good thing I’m not relying on private investigating for my living,” Sassy said, “or we’d be poor. As it is the island is serenely boring.”

  “Is that another way of saying you miss us?” Dane said.

  “Yes and no. Serene is good.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re giving up on your PI career before it starts?” Shana said, looking truly crestfallen.

  “No, but we may re-think where we work.”

  “Smart,” Dane said. The clock on the microwave buzzed and they all turned to it. It was empty.

  Sassy waved a hand. “I set the timer. It’s time to dress for the holiday gala at the Gabe’s mansion,” she announced. “I’m so excited. I’ve never been to one of their parties but I’ve heard they’re super elegant.” Her grin was stretched unnaturally wide across her face, even for her.

  “You’re definitely in for a treat,” Shana said. “I’m really looking forward to dressing up. And most of all to seeing so many old friends.”

  Dane picked up both of his babies from the floor and held them under his arms, enjoying their laughter as he carried them. He followed Shana into the guest room. He didn’t share the excitement about dressing up for the party, though he looked forward to seeing old friends.

  Dane showered and dressed first and then helped dress the twins in their matching red velour Christmas outfits, Katy in a dress with white lace trim and Colt in pants and a bowtie. To complete his tux, Dane put on a white dinner jacket a la James Bond because Shana had made him buy it. Now he wore it to every occasion requiring a suit as punishment because he never failed to turn it into a costume more than formal wear. He enjoyed the role of mock James Bond.

  “What are you looking at?” Shana said as she slipped on her silky black sheath dress held together at her shoulders by pearl-like beads. He sat on the bed with the twins watching the show.

  “The best reverse strip show I’ve ever seen. You could sell tickets.” She gave him a pouty look that did nothing to quiet his interest. “But don’t bother because I’d have to buy them all.”

  She flashed him a promising look and finished her outfit with sheer black thigh highs and sparkly spike heels. Colt tried to grab one of them and Dane pulled the twins into each arm, flying them around the room to distract them long enough for Shana to pack up all their things for an evening out. He called it the twins’ go bag, bigger and more complicated than any go bag he’d ever needed for a mission.

  This was their life now.

  So why couldn’t he lose that feeling of impending danger, the one he used to live with daily, the one that was supposed to be gone with his old life?

  CHAPTER 2

  “Let me confirm with Laura that she’s ready for us to bring the twins,” Shana said. She pulled out her phone and punched Laura Gable’s icon, hoping that Dane didn’t notice the shake in her hand. She angled away from him to make sure, looking out the kitchen window over the sink to the harbor and twinkling lights strung along the dock in the back of the house.

  A momentary chill of nostalgia tinged fear ran through her, raising hairs everywhere as she listened to the ringing. No way would she leave the twins behind even if they had Mary Poppins wielding an AK-47 to take care of them. But there’d been no need to worry. Laura confirmed that she had the perfect room for the twins to nap in once they got tired with two cribs and a view of the ocean at the back of the house.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go to the Gable’s party,” Dane said before she had a chance to let him know that the accommodations for the twins were all set. She raised her brows at him.

  “Everyone will be there,” she said in an even, reasonable voice. She needed him to quell her nerves, but if it was the other way around, she could rise to the occasion. “Who says I want to see everyone? Didn’t we come to visit with Sassy and Ronnie?” He was being difficult and she wasn’t sure why.

  “What’s the problem, Dane?” She suspected his issue was the prospect of seeing Cap. She had no idea what her issue was.

  “Something isn’t sitting right about going to the mansion for a big party. The last party we went to there—the only one—didn’t gone so well.”

  His words caused a shiver to rise in her. “But that was in another life, right?”

  “I thought you would be happy to see the Gables?” Sassy said.

  “It’s not that.” He didn’t’ say what it was, but Shana noticed that he held Katy tighter reflexively. She hoped it was all about Cap. That tension she could deal with.

  Shana hugged him and whispered in his ear. He fisted her hair and pressed her face to his, kissing her. He’d do anything for her and a bubble of fear rose in her at the danger of that fact, but it popped and disappeared before it took root, thank the angels—or the devils—whoever was on their side. She wasn’t sure anymore even when Dane had always been convinced he was a devil in angel’s clothing.

  “Never mind,” he whispered into her hair, causing her a shiver of awareness.

  Shana put the twins in their matching red plush coats and Santa hats while Dane stood against the door jam and watched.

  “You could help,” she said, though she didn’t need his help and enjoyed the challenge of managing her precious twins.

  “I refuse to participate in the Christmas corruption of our children,” he said.

  She laughed The Santa hats didn’t last, so Dane wore one on his hand and Shana wore the other on her head, though it was way too small.

  “You look adorable in that hat in spite of the fact that it’s too Christmassy,” Dane said as they left the new beach shack with Sassy and Ronnie following like their entourage, carrying baby bags and bottles and gifts.

  “You’re not going to stay in your Grinch character all night, are you?” Shana knew better than to ask, because he doubled down on his Grinch-like grin. But she couldn’t help laughing.

  She needed that laugh to overcome the inexplicable bubbles of nerves that rose in her as if she drank sour champagne.

  Once he got past the blinding lights decorating the exterior of the Gable’s big old Gatsby-like mansion, Dane realized he knew almost everyone at their Christmas shindig. Bill may have invited everyone on the Vineyard and quite a few off-island people. Newly minted Senator Peter John Douglas was in from Boston.

  Acer showed up all the way from Italy, and even Dane's old Russian friend, Anatoly Ivanov, aka Toly was there. He wondered how the hell Laura Gable got Toly's contact info for the invite because he hadn’t given it to her.

  There were also a pile of local mucky-mucks in attendance who Dane didn’t know, but he shook their hands and let his little girl, who he held in one arm while he held a champagne flute filled with untouched tequila in the other, enchant them.

  The only person missing was Cap. Of course. Dane looked around, standing with Acer on one side and Peter on his other as he turned down a second glass of tequila.

  Acer’s brow rose. “What’s with you? This is a party, isn’t it?”

  He couldn’t explain to Acer that he felt twitchy for some reason and preferred to keep his wits, because even for him that sounded paranoid. And the last thing he wanted to do, his Grinch persona aside, was ruin the holiday celebration for his friends. He hadn’t seen either of these men in a while.

  “I know what the problem is,” Peter said.

  “He’s getting old?” Acer said and snorted a laugh. He shook his head. “We’re all getting old.”

  “That’s not it.” Peter grinned like he had a secret and Dane worried for a fraction of a second Peter was going to call him on his paranoia.

  “He’s a daddy now.” Peter gestured to the sleepy baby girl in Dane’s arms. He kissed the top of his baby’s head.

  Dane smiled and wondered how much of his worry was about the twins, like any parent, and how much of it was residual paranoia from his long-standing dangerous lifestyle so recently abandoned. He spotted Shana and Laura Gable heading their way and his breath hitched with Shana’s beauty smacking him in the chest, forcing his heart to stutter the way it always did.

  “I think it’s time to put our babies to bed,” Shana said, coming alongside him with a sleeping Colt on her shoulder.

  “You can put them in the blue room,” Laura said. “As promised, I had two cribs brought in for the occasion.”

  “That was so thoughtful of you,” Shana said. Dane wasn’t surprised, and gave Laura a genuine smile. It was good to see the Gable's who’d somehow turned from groupies to friends while he was away from the island.

  “Don’t go anywhere,” Dane said to Peter and Acer. “I’ll be back to prove I can still out-drink either of you two reprobates.” His friends laughed at him and he wasn’t sure whether he was exaggerating, but he hoped not. He hoped he could spend some good quality drinking and back-slapping time with his old comrades in arms.

  After retrieving the baby bag from the closet, he and Shana followed Laura upstairs to the so-called blue room and took their time putting the babies down to sleep, sucking every bit of pleasure out of the ritual, watching their soft sleepy faces fall into that peaceful baby sleep.

  Dane knew he’d have to stop thinking of them as babies since they’d be turning two years old on their next birthday, but he planned to delay their growing up process as much as possible, to keep them in a protective cocoon for as long as he could.

  Hell. What riled up that protective instinct? That hadn’t exactly been the plan.

  He and Shana had talked about making sure their children would grow up learning about the world and how to take care of themselves in it—without exposing them to the underbelly where he and Shana had worked for so long. It would be tricky, but it could be done. Finding balance in the war between the need to protect and the need to prepare his babies was hard fought in his mind and soul every day.

  Shana turned the baby monitor app on in her phone and turned it on. “Here. It’s on vibrate. You put it in your jacket pocket so you’ll know if there’s any disturbance.”

  Her words stirred the uneasiness that had plagued him all week leading up to this return trip to the scene of their last case, to when their beach shack blew up and they’d barely escaped with their lives. He took the phone and slipped it inside his jacket, a slight tremor shaking his hand as he did. If Shana noticed, she didn't comment.

  When they went back downstairs to the party, it was in full swing.

  With Shana on his arm they took the last step off the staircase into the entry hall together. At that point, Dane registered first disturbance. The front door opened.

  The next disturbance followed immediately.

  The one man he never expected to see again, who he wanted to see, who he was afraid to see, walked in the door.

  Captain Colin Lynch.

  CHAPTER 3

  The man who’d been Dane’s friend for years stirred up a clash of emotions and warring responses from the reflexive desire to embrace him to the violent need to punch his far too neutral face. He gathered all the roiling feelings into a ball and commanded his cool to take control.

  “What are you doing here?” Dane said. He shouldn’t be a prick because that’s not how he left things with Cap and it’s not how he wanted things between them now. But something had him on edge and he’d learned to trust his instincts.

  Cap smirked, but not in his old friendly way. “Merry Christmas.”

  Shit. Dane nodded and put out a hand in an attempt at redemption. A quick glance in Shana’s direction showed her poise in place. Her expression was cool and civil, yet screaming at Cap that he had something to prove. Dane’s admiration for his wife swelled to an all-time high and he tamped down the enthusiasm lest he and his cock embarrass him.

  Cap took his hand and the tension that strangled the group at the entry door eased up. Ronnie shuffled between his two feet, reminding Dane of how he was when they first met.

  “Cap, I didn’t realize you were on the island,” Ronnie said. “I wasn’t sure you’d be here.”

  Dane recognized Ronnie’s message that he wasn’t responsible for the reunion set-up and Dane wondered who was.

  “I wasn’t planning to,” Cap said, but he was looking at Dane. “I was summoned here, or I should say I was asked very persuasively to come.”

  “By who?” Shana said, feigning idle curiosity.

  Cap turned his attention to Shana and his entire appearance and demeanor softened. He gave her his old big Cap smile. Of course he did. The bastard.

  “Oscar sent me.”

  Boom.

  Dane’s head spun in a dizzying turn back to years ago, the last time Oscar sent someone to the island to see him. That had been a dark time and he’d almost lost Shana. He squinted his eyes as if he were examining Cap for imperfections and maybe he was because something was up and he wasn’t keen on finding out what. But he needed to know, like it or not. His heart beat sped up and the sense of urgency pulled at him.

  “Explain,” he said.

  “Oscar has a message for you, but we should talk in private.” The tick in Cap’s jaw jumped and Dane knew that sign. He was holding something back. And Dane was sure as shit it was something bad.

  He grabbed Cap’s arm, in an ill-advised but automatic move, and tugged him toward the Gable’s library doors. Cap yanked free and nearly growled at him. Shana inserted herself between them and took over leading the way. The bastard didn’t pull away when Shana took him by the arm.

  Dane took a backward glance and nodded at Peter, Acer, Ronnie and Sassy, signaling for them to stand by.

  Shana held the door open and Dane nearly pushed Cap inside, but held onto his demon impulses. Something wasn’t right, but it most likely—okay, probably—wasn’t Cap who was responsible. But Cap sure as hell made a dandy scapegoat for Dane’s advancing edginess.

  As he stepped into the library behind Cap, he turned to Shana and pulled her in for a kiss.

  “You go back and wait out there.”

  She nipped his lip, making him grin, but stayed outside. He slammed the door shut behind her. The door rattled and he chuckled humorlessly as he faced Cap.

  Cap was not amused. He stood with his arms folded.

  “You finished with the adolescent behavior?”

  “That depends,” Dane said, not bothering to defend his behavior, or explain it. Not that he had a real explanation, the kind that would stand up to rational scrutiny. But Cap knew about his hunches and instincts. “What did Oscar have to say?”

  “He says there’s someone after you, a fresh trail.”

  “Someone?”

  “Likely Russian based on the IP addresses where most of the noise is originating.” Cap unfolded his arms and scraped a hand through his hair.

  Dane stood stock still and let the intel shake its way through his body, all the implications rumbling like a major earthquake. Because now he had his babies to think about and he was supposed to be out of the nasty business, supposed to have left it all behind.

  “I’ve been out of the business for over two years. Why would anyone be after me now?” His question was rhetorical, but Cap answered him anyway.

  “Obviously an old grudge.”

  “No shit. But what triggered it?”

  “Your return to the island—”

  “Once again, no shit. But---” Dane cut himself off. Because he knew. Anatoly Ivanov was here at the party. His presence was not a coincidence. His adrenaline, always on hair-trigger readiness, started pumping in earnest now.

  “Toly’s here,” he said.

  Cap’s face tightened. “Dam. Let’s talk to him.”

  “Is that all you have? Oscar said nothing else? You didn’t do any checking—”