Quinn shook his head and laughed. He'd always enjoyed his in-laws much more than any man should. "I think I'll go help Ari gather the troops."
"Not yet." Elena waved an arm in the air, her long sleeve blowing in the summer breeze. "I have one more game for the girls to play before we sing 'Happy Birthday' and open presents," Elena said.
Connor adjusted his sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. "What game is that?"
"You'll be sorry you asked," Quinn promised his friend.
Zoe nodded.
Undeterred, Elena pulled out a red cut-out heart from one of her kimono pockets. "Since they're too old for Pin the Tail on the Donkey, they're going to Pin the Heart on Orlando Bloom," she said, pronouncing heart on so quickly the phrase sounded like hard-on.
This time Connor spit out his drink. "Pin the what on whom?"
Thankfully, his fiancée, Maria, came up behind him and pulled him away, rescuing the poor man from any more of Elena's antics.
"They're happy," Zoe said of the couple.
Quinn nodded. "Connor was a goner the first time he laid eyes on Maria working as a cocktail waitress at the casino. I was just amazed he so easily accepted that she had a kid."
Foster care and their rough upbringing had scarred both Connor and Quinn, Zoe thought sadly. But they had each come around in the end, accepting that the future could be much better, if only they gave it a chance.
"The things people do for love," she said lightly. More lightly than she actually felt.
After all, she really wouldn't know what love would do to a person. She'd never fallen hard for any man. After growing up witnessing the intensity of her parents' relationship, their love and their fights, most of the time she was glad Cupid had passed her by. Experience showed her that her mother often caved in to make her father happy, and Zoe couldn't imagine sacrificing her independence for any man. As for a family of her own, Zoe wasn't holding her breath, because without love, there would be no family, no babies. It wasn't something she gave much thought to, perhaps because her immediate family took up so much of her time and energy. She was never alone unless she wanted to be.
"You'll see for yourself one day," Quinn said, an amused smirk on his face. "In the meantime, why don't we meet tomorrow morning at the new office and discuss business there?" he suggested.
"Sounds like a good plan." Better they talk when there were no prying eyes or ears and nobody to offer their well-meaning, off-the-wall suggestions on how to run the new venture.
Zoe had been out of work for almost a year, and it had been Costas meddling that had gotten her into trouble in her former job. To help her mother, Zoe had taken a gig as a showgirl for a casino owner to whom Elena owed money. Within a few hours, she'd realized her mother was up to one of her tricks, this time matchmaking between Zoe and the casino owner. Unfortunately, despite his good looks, the man oozed slime and Zoe's instincts had kicked in. In no time she'd discovered a money-laundering scheme, which had put her in danger and the cops already investigating the case— namely Quinn— in a foul mood. He'd forced her into protective custody until their investigation was over and they'd had to tell her family she was missing and presumed dead. Not Zoe's finest hour.
Meanwhile her superiors had been royally ticked that she hadn't come to them as soon as she'd uncovered the illegal operation and had suspended her. She'd quit instead. She hated the rules and restrictions that were part and parcel of government work, so as soon as the case had ended, she'd returned home and settled back into her life, surrounded by her chaotic family. All her time in the safe house had made her realize she didn't enjoy her job as much as she should. Not when the job was all she had. For a while she'd helped her parents in their new spa business venture but playing bookkeeper and receptionist didn't suit her. She missed the action and day-to-day surprises on the job.
The action had drawn her to the FBI to begin with. The training at Quantico and subsequent job had more than filled her need for excitement. Too bad rules and regulations had been part of the package. She hoped her new business would give her back the satisfaction of thrills on the job. And she looked forward to working for only herself and her partners, planning and implementing security detail.
Once the business was established, she could turn her attention to finding a place of her own. Residing with her parents had worked while she'd been on the road on assignment, living out of hotels more often than being home. But she'd turn thirty next week and it was past time for her to grow up and move out.
Her parents accused her of being afraid of committing to anything, any man or any place. She didn't like to think of herself as afraid of anything.
"We'll talk tomorrow. Right now I'm going to find Ari," Quinn said, interrupting her thoughts.
Zoe cleared her throat. "Good idea. Maybe she can talk Mom out of embarrassing Sam with this Pin the Hard-on game, or at least get it over with before the social worker gets here."
Despite the seriousness of the caseworker's visit, she and Quinn couldn't help but laugh. They both found the Costas clan uniquely amusing. They were one big family, including Sam, whom they were intent on protecting and making happy.
Zoe understood how important it was for Sam to feel loved and she had to admit, for all their oddball tendencies, love was what the Costas family did best.
* * *
ALMOST THERE. Ryan Baldwin glanced at the directions supplied by the private investigator and turned right. Two more blocks and his search for his runaway sister's child would finally be at an end. A bittersweet end after a long, nearly fruitless search.
Faith had left home when she was seventeen— hopelessly hooked on drugs— but Ryan hadn't been able to begin searching for her until five years later, when he'd turned eighteen. By then her trail had turned cold. He hadn't given up looking, but Faith had changed her name so many times that the P.I. had had one hell of a time finding out what had happened to her.
Only recently had his P.I. stumbled onto info rmation from a convict who had some link to Faith, and more facts had come to light. Ryan was still reeling from the painful discovery that his sister had been shot and killed six years ago by a bullet meant for her drug-dealer boyfriend, a guy now serving a life sentence. Ryan was also floored by the news that Faith had had a child.
He glanced down and realized he'd clenched his fists too tightly around the steering wheel, and loosened his grip. Thinking of Faith was always difficult. More so now that he understood what had happened after she'd run away.
Growing up, Ryan had alternated between missing his older sister and envying her the freedom he felt sure she'd finally found. Their conservative upbringing in an elite suburb of Boston , Massachusetts had never matched his sister's wilder personality. As his older brother, J.T., had already moved out, her running away had left Ryan as the only child at home. His parents had disowned Faith because of her defiance, and Ryan had caught on quickly, always behaving as expected.