Page 63 of Marked

“I’m coming too!” Caleb bounced up. “There’s this amazing view by the lake that—”

“Someone should—” Marcus interrupted, checking his buzzing phone with a frown. “I have to take this.”

“Duty calls?” I asked sympathetically.

His eyes met mine, intense enough to make me shiver. “Unfortunately. Don’t let these two lead you into trouble.”

“Us?” Caleb pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. “We would never.”

“Be back before dinner!” Maria called after us as we headed for the French doors. “Six o’clock sharp!”

“Sí, Tía Maria,” Caleb sang out with a cheeky grin.

“So, how are you all related exactly?” I asked as we stepped onto the terrace. “I mean, Maria and Jorge are obviously Spanish, but you three…” I gestured vaguely at their distinctly American appearance.

“Maria’s our great-aunt through marriage,” Derek explained. “She moved here from Valencia when she married our great-uncle Thomas about thirty years ago.”

“And Jorge is our cousin—Uncle John and Aunt Carmen’s son,” Caleb added, his usual bounce returning. “His mom’s Spanish too. So technically our cousin, but he’s been bossing usaround the kitchen since we were kids. Pretty sure he was born with a wooden spoon in his hand.”

That explained so much about the family dynamic—the comfortable bickering, the way Maria mothered everyone, how Jorge could get away with sassing three intimidating men who made corporate CEOs nervous.

“Come on,” Derek said, guiding me down the stone steps. “There’s a path around the lake that’s perfect this time of day.”

I hesitated at the tree line, my usual anxiety about forests creeping up my spine. The woods had always meant danger in my mind—probably thanks to my mother’s paranoia about them. But Derek’s hand was warm on my lower back, and somehow the massive presence of the brothers on either side of me made the shadows seem less threatening.

All three dogs fell into formation around us—Shadow to my left, Storm ranging ahead, and Scout bouncing between us like an oversized puppy. I found myself unconsciously stepping closer to Derek whenever the trees grew denser, though I tried to play it off as avoiding roots and branches.

The afternoon sun filtered through ancient trees, casting dappled shadows across a path that looked like something out of a fairy tale. Or a horror movie, my anxious brain helpfully supplied.

“Should I be leaving breadcrumbs?” I joked, trying to mask my nervousness with humor. “This is definitely how every story about people disappearing into magical forests starts.”

Caleb laughed, but I caught Derek shooting him a warning look. Weird.

“Seriously, though,” I said, trying not to trip over Scout who kept circling my legs excitedly, “this property is incredible. How many acres is it?”

“A few thousand,” Derek said casually, like he wasn’t talking about owning half a forest.

“A fewthousand?” I squeaked. “That’s not a property, that’s a small country. Do you have your own postal code too?”

Caleb snickered. “No, but we do have our own—” Derek cleared his throat loudly. “…hiking trails. Lots of hiking trails.”

The path wound through towering pines, their branches creating a natural archway overhead. Everything smelled of earth and pine needles and something wild I couldn’t quite place. It should have made me nervous—my usual reaction to anything remotely woodsy was full-blown panic—but with the brothers and their dogs flanking me, I felt oddly secure. It was strange; for the first time in my life, the forest didn’t feel like it was waiting to swallow me whole.

But then Scout darted into the bushes after something, making me jump. My heart leaped into my throat—because seriously, who knew what could be hiding in these woods? Mom’s warnings about forest dangers echoed in my head.

“Just a squirrel,” Derek assured me, his hand settling briefly on my lower back to steady me. The touch sent an odd tingle through my hip, right where that weird scar was. “Scout thinks he’s a mighty hunter, but mostly, he just entertains the wildlife.”

“Unlike Storm and Shadow?” I gestured to the other two dogs, who moved with decidedly more predatory grace. Their presence was oddly comforting—like having my own personal security detail against whatever monsters my imagination conjured in the shadows between the trees.

“They take after their owners.” Caleb grinned, then yelped when Derek smacked the back of his head.

The path opened up to reveal a stunning view of a lake, its surface gleaming like polished silver in the afternoon sun. An elegant boat dock stretched out over the water, and I could see what looked like a private beach curving around one side. The knot of tension in my chest loosened as we emerged from the forest into the open space.

“Okay, this is just showing off now,” I said, but I couldn’t hide my awe. Relief made me giddy, or maybe it was just the spectacular view. “Do you water ski? Please tell me you water ski. I need mental images of serious businessman Marcus wiping out dramatically.”

“We do, actually,” Caleb said, moving closer with that dangerous smile of his. “I could teach you, if you want. I’m a much better instructor than Marcus—oh man, there was this one time he tried to teach Miguel to waterski—” A distant crack of branches made me flinch.

Derek’s hand was instantly on my lower back again. “Just deer,” he murmured, but he kept his hand there, warm and steady. I tried to ignore how naturally I leaned into his touch.

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