She heard the soft click of the radio and a brief crackle as Drake or Joshua opened the line to Jake.

“You should have warned us ahead of time that you were accompanying Mr. Givens, Ms. Anderson,” Drake said, his voice one of absolute authority. “Mr. Bannaconni doesn’t like surprises, and he said to inform you that if you showed up again without an invitation or the courtesy of a call ahead of time, you would be refused entrance.” He deliberately addressed Susan’s governess, reprimanding her publicly as she had her charge.

Color whipped into the woman’s cheekbones and her mouth tightened ominously. She looked down her nose at Drake, taking in his faded jeans, the T-shirt stretched across wide shoulders and thickly muscled chest, and with a little sniff of disdain, dismissed him as inconsequential.

“Please lead us to a room suitable to carry out Susan’s studies,” Dana snapped to Emma. “We don’t wish to be kept waiting. Jim—Senator Hindman—requires promptness and expects his orders to be carried out. We can’t have Susan falling behind again.” Her coyness implied intimacy with the senator as she delivered her second strike at the girl.

“But, Dana,” Susan protested, “I’m not behind at all. I tried to tell Dad, but you—”

“Do not contradict your elders.” Dana glared at her. “It’s important to know your place, Susan. Your father is a great man. You wouldn’t want to embarrass him.”

A rumbling sound, much like a growling cat, filled the room. The deep-chested growl raised hair on the back of people’s necks, caused hearts to speed up, and everyone fell silent, froze, turning almost as one to see Jake’s frame filling the doorway of the kitchen. He stood in the way he always did, utterly still, eyes fixed and focused, head at an angle like a stalking animal, a predatory hunter about to devour prey. Emma found herself holding her breath as silence fell, unable to tell if the harrowing sound actually emanated from Jake, but it chilled her to the bone nonetheless. She tried not to be afraid, but she knew Jake, and he was at his most dangerous.

Joshua and Drake shifted almost imperceptibly, shielding the babies with their bodies.

Jake’s eyes had gone to savage, glittering gold. “Joshua, I would greatly appreciate it if you would take the children outside.”

Without a word Joshua wrapped an arm around Kyle and Andraya and lifted them to his hips, striding for the door. Conner opened it for him and Joshua took the little ones outside.

“Susan?” Jake beckoned her with his finger. He waited until she crossed to his side and he dropped his arm protectively around her.

The silence stretched until Emma’s nerves were raw. He didn’t take his eyes from Dana’s face. “I believe I have something of yours. My people are very good at tracing electronic equipment.” He pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket. The microchip could clearly be seen. He tossed it toward Dana contemptuously, deliberately just out of reach, so the damning evidence fell at her feet for everyone to see.

Dana went stiff, her face very white and set, but she didn’t speak, anger flaring in her eyes. Jake set Susan very gently behind him and stalked across the kitchen floor, moving in that silent, fluid way of his, roped muscles shifting powerfully, his eyes never leaving the woman’s face. He inhaled, as if scenting her.

“You even smell like a traitor. You and your friend will be escorted off my property now. Don’t ever make the mistake of coming back.”

It was Harold Givens who bent down to pick up the microchip. Dana snapped her fingers. “Susan. Come with us now. This is an unsuitable place for you, not with this man and his little slut flaunting their bastard children to the world. My God, look at the hickeys all over her neck, like she’s some whore.”

Emma gasped, terrified of what Jake might do. Her hand crept up toward her neck, but Jake caught her wrist without looking at her and pulled her hand down to her side, holding it there. A long silence stretched, everyone’s nerve endings taut.

Jake’s smile was slow, humorless, utterly frightening, his white teeth gleaming, and he never took his eyes from his prey. “Susan will stay here. The senator will send your things to you. I doubt you’ll be able to get a job anywhere unless it’s with the Trents or Bannaconnis, who you obviously work for.”

“I’ll have you charged with kidnapping.”

“Drake, remove this disgusting excuse of a human being from my sight immediately.” Jake turned his back on the couple in dismissal, took Emma’s elbow and waved Susan ahead of him, guiding them from the room.

Behind them, Dana sputtered, “Get your hands off me.” “I don’t much care how we do this, sweetheart,” Drake said. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re garbage to be thrown out. I don’t have to be nice.”

Dana shrieked again. There was the sound of a scuffle. Harold grunted in pain. The door slammed and the sounds faded.

“Are you all right, Susan?” Jake asked.

Susan nodded. “But she’ll tell my father lies. She always does.”

Jake picked up the phone. “Not this time. Do you need a tutor? I can have one here in an hour.”

She shook her head. “I know more about calculus than that man ever did. He’s Dana’s friend, but my father believes everything she says.”

“Your father will listen to me,” Jake assured, his voice certain. “Go riding with Emma and have fun. Don’t worry about any of this. People like that try to make everyone around them feel small and useless. You’re not. You’re smarter than they are. And you’re stronger, too strong to ever let someone like that make you feel bad about yourself.”