Hot tears burned like acid at the corners of Zoe’s eyes and she blinked hastily to clear her vision as Rusty’s impassioned words settled over her, sinking into places, vulnerable areas she’d never dared allow anyone to see.

“I sound vain and ungrateful,” Zoe said, shame creeping up her spine. “I swear I’m not, Rusty. What I am is scared out of my mind, not only for me but for you. You’ve risked everything to help me and I can’t help but wonder what happens if they find out about you or get to you. I could never live with myself knowing you were hurt or killed because you risked so much for me.”

Zoe was gripping her hand so tightly that Rusty gingerly pried it from her terrified grasp and gave her a look of understanding, love and friendship that nearly brought tears to her eyes.

“You’re my dearest friend,” Rusty said sincerely. “There’s no way I’d ever turn my back on you. Besides, I have mad skills. Not even my brothers would be able to uncover the truth of your past, and that’s saying a lot considering what they do. It usually pisses me off that they either continually underestimate me or are so overprotective that they want to wrap me in Bubble Wrap like they do their wives and never let me out in the world on my own. God, you should have heard the objections when I wanted to move off campus and get my own apartment after my sophomore year. You would have thought the world had come to an end. Then there was the time when I was totally teasing one of my brothers and said that I was perfectly capable of defending myself and made reference to the fact that self-defense classes were a must for a woman going to university. He immediately demanded to know what assholes were giving me trouble and threatened to go kick some serious ass.”

Rusty rolled her eyes, making her laugh.

“I don’t know,” Zoe said wistfully. “It must be so wonderful to have a family who loves and cares about you so much.”

Rusty immediately looked chagrined. “God, I’m such a jerk. I didn’t mean to make you feel like shit.”

“Don’t,” Zoe said forcefully. “Do not apologize for having such a wonderful family just because for all practical purposes I had none. Besides, if what you said is true, then it looks like I’ll get to experience what having a real family feels like while I’m here.”

“Just remember,” Rusty said in what Zoe thought had to be her best schoolmarm impression. “None of your usual makeup, no designer clothes. You have to act like what you look like. A fresh-faced, innocent, all-American girl next door who thinks a Jimmy Choo is a restaurant and not an outrageously expensive shoe.”

Zoe burst out laughing. “That I can do. It’ll be nice getting to be myself for once instead of some made-up Barbie doll controlled by my dad, who only remembered he had a daughter when he was telling her how to dress and act and where to go or not go.”

“You’re going to get through this,” Rusty promised. “I don’t have all the answers. Yet. But for now I want you to relax and enjoy hanging out with me and my family and try to forget about the asshole trying to kill you. He can’t hurt you here, honey. That much I can promise.”

They turned onto a winding highway that paralleled the lake, and a few minutes later, Rusty’s Jeep pulled up to a huge security gate that had Zoe’s eyes widening. When Rusty rolled down her window and faced the retinal scanner, Zoe’s mouth fell completely open.

“I told you what my brothers do,” Rusty said with a shrug. “They take the safety of our family very seriously. They’ve made some not-so-nice enemies over the years, and one of my sisters-in-law was even abducted from the compound before construction was complete, so believe me when I say no one gets in and out of here without them knowing.”

For the first time since her entire world had fallen apart, Zoe began to feel hope. Maybe Rusty was right. This just might be the absolute safest place for her to lie low for the time being. As they passed an airfield, a shooting range, two buildings that Rusty explained were the war room and the infirmary, her belief was only cemented. Even her father didn’t have the extensive resources the Kellys seemed to possess.

A few seconds later they pulled up to a large, two-story house that, while new, looked like a throwback to another era. The epitome of a southern, country home complete with charming dormers, a wraparound porch with rockers and a porch swing.

“This is Frank and Marlene’s house,” Rusty explained. “My brothers and their wives all have houses spaced out within the confines of the compound. It took a while for Sam, my oldest brother, to convince our parents to move, but here they are. They had an architect draw up an exact replica of their old place, the next best thing to plunking their old house right down on this plot of land. The only holdout remaining is Joe. He and Nathan are twins and the youngest. Well, until I came along,” she added with a grin. “He’s the only remaining bachelor, and he spends most of his time dodging Marlene’s matchmaking efforts when he’s not on a mission.”

“Are they away often?” Zoe asked curiously.

“Depends,” Rusty said as she climbed out and met Zoe around back to get the bags. “Right now things are pretty quiet but that could change at a moment’s notice. They have three teams and are currently hiring new muscle and training. They usually rotate missions to give each team enough downtime between missions, but sometimes shit gets real and all three teams are involved.”

Zoe’s eyes went round. “I don’t even want to know.”