Page 22 of Dangerous Rhythm

On the other side, Callie sat with Curtis, who had his four-year-old niece bouncing on his knee. A blonde woman in her late twenties or early thirties sat with them. Her knee touched Curtis as she sang some French kid’s song along with the bouncing girl. When the song ended, they all laughed, and the scene looked so intimate that Lina felt she was intruding. She had already turned back halfway when Curtis called her name.

“Lina,” he said. “Come, join us.”

Callie stood and met Lina by the stairs with a smile. “So, you’re Lina. I’m Callie, Curtis’ sister. We spoke on the phone.”

“Yes, we did.”

The next second, she was enveloped in a hug. “Thank you for getting my family here safely. I’m so glad you were there with Curtis when he found that box.”

Shocked by the gratitude, Lina could only say, “I’m only doing my job.”

Callie pulled back. “That may be, but I’m still grateful.” She put her arm around Lina and led her to the rest of the party. “I hope you got some rest. Curtis and our parents crashed not long after they arrived.”

“I did,” Lina replied.

“Marie, this is Lina,” Curtis introduced her to the blonde woman. “She’s saved my ass too many times.”

Marie smiled and stuck out her hand. “Enchanté. It must be hard to keep this one safe. He’s a bit of a…ah, how do you sayit? A cowboy,oui? I had to make sure he and Brandon didn’t get arrested here several times.”

“Come on. The situation called for it that time,” Curtis protested.

Lina shook the French woman’s hand and smiled. “Are you a lawyer?”

“Yes. I work with Callie at her foundation to help battered women out of their situations,” Marie answered.

Impressive, Lina thought. And suddenly another twinge of envy zapped her as she watched Curtis put an arm around Marie’s shoulders and squeezed them with pride. “She and my sister are such badasses.”

Marie’s hand landed on his thigh as she chuckled at his praise.

“What can I get you, Lina?” Callie asked. “Have somehors d’oeuvreswhile we wait for the others for dinner.”

Lina’s ears perked up.More people?

“Just family, I promise. We all live in this compound. Genevieve and Anaïs are hosting my parents at their house next door, while Curtis is sleeping in Brandon’s studio. It’s the one next to Madeleine and Julien’s unit,” Callie explained. “They and their two kids are also coming for dinner.”

Lina did a mental calculation. If something happened at this dinner, she and Pierre might not be able to cover everybody.

“Nothing’s going to happen, Lina. Relax,” Callie said quietly to her, as if she could read her mind. “The bad guys are across the ocean.”

Lina looked at Callie and forced a smile. She wished she could have Callie’s conviction, but she was wired to stay on guard.

Relax? Yeah, not while Serafina Stiletto is still sniffing after Curtis.

“Great idea to do hot pots for a cold winter night, Lien,” Genevieve said to Popo. The rest of the diners chorused their agreement. On the long table, two hot-pot cookers were almost bone dry, with the meat, vegetables, and noodles completely consumed.

“I thought it was a wonderful way to celebrate family.” Popo beamed at everybody.

Seeing how happy his grandmother was having all of her chicks in one room made Curtis’ heart swell. Going into her seventy-ninth year, Popo was still full of energy. Man, was he glad he had her genes. He hoped he’d still be kicking and playing music at her age.

Curtis scanned the packed table. Outside of his family, there were also Genevieve, Anaïs, Marie, Madeleine and Julien and their two children, Luc, and Jeanne, whom he’d met during his reunion with his sister only a year-and-a-half ago. They’d been more family to Callie than he’d been. He regretted his lack of effort in maintaining a relationship with Callie, but was grateful Callie had them during her time of need.

This is what it’s all about. Family.

“We need to do this more often,” he blurted out his thought.

Everybody turned their attention to him with a question in their expressions.

“Get together as family does,” he elaborated. “We shouldn’t wait for weddings or—”

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