“What do you mean ‘kidnap’?” Kyle asked.

“I mean they tried to grab your younger brother off the street.”

“Whatever for?” Troy asked. “For slave labor in a foreign country?”

Toni looked at Jackie and then back at her brother. “Really?”

“Why do you sound shocked? That sort of thing happens all the time. And he’s a strong little boy and quite tidy. He’d make a good little worker in a sweatshop.”

“Okay, stop.” Toni took a breath. Tried again. “We’re going back to Washington . . . for safety.”

“No.”

Jackie wished that had come from one of the kids sitting in front of her. Because she’d expected it. But sadly . . . it didn’t.

“Freddy—” she began, but it was too late. Her little boy had heard everything.

Freddy, standing under the archway, shook his head. “We’re not leaving. Not because of me.”

“Freddy.” Toni tried to soothe, walking toward her brother. “I know this is hard to understand—”

“I’m not stupid!”

Oriana stood and Jackie cringed until her fifteen-year-old said, “We’re trying to protect you. This is about family, Fred. All of us. We protect you, you protect us. Even when we think you’re an untalented little bastard,” she added, her gaze moving to Kyle.

Who came back with, “Or a chubby, overbearing witch with huge psychological issues.”

Confused, Freddy asked, “You guys won’t be mad? If we go back? I mean . . . you guys have all your classes and stuff set up.” He pointed at the wall covered in giant Post-it notes with Novikov’s careful handwriting on it. “Our schedules.”

“Our talent goes where we go,” Oriana said, managing to be loving and smug all at the same time. It was a gift she did possess. “Those of us who have talent. In all honesty, I’m not shocked someone’s trying to take you. You are a Jean-Louis Parker, after all. We’ll always be in demand. Right, Mom?”

“Uh . . . yes. Very true.”

“Besides,” Oriana added, “going back is better than if you were actually taken. Because then we’d have to mourn or whatever, and spend our time searching for you.”

“Wow.” Troy sighed. “I hadn’t thought of that. What a nightmare!”

“Exactly.”

Toni put her hands on her hips. “Oriana . . . really?”

“What? I plan to be in the Royal Ballet by the time I’m seventeen. Can’t do that if I’m busy handing out milk cartons with Freddy’s face on them.”

“Oh, my God!”

“Antonella,” Jackie cut in, giving a quick shake of her head, “let’s just gowith what we have?”

“Narcissistic children?”

“Yes!” she told her eldest daughter. “That’s what we have. So deal with it.”

“Toni,” Troy asked, “are you going to be coming with us?”

“No,” Oriana answered.

“How the hell do you know?” Toni demanded.

“Because you’ve finally found something you’re good at. And, even more important, you enjoy something you’re good at. You can’t walk away from that.”

“And you know this because . . . ?”

“Because you’ve been getting flowers and gift baskets all day from people. The flowers we put on tables all around the house, but the lion security people ate the meat from the baskets and the bear security people ate all the fruit. I have to admit, I’m not sure that security company pays their people enough, because they seem awfully hungry.”

“The idiot’s right,” Kyle told Toni. “Although I’ve always planned for you to be my personal assistant and business manager . . . it’ll be a few years before I need you full-time. It’s best you get some outside training before I add you to my team.”

“Gee,” Toni said dryly. “Thanks, Kyle.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Look,” Toni said. “We’ll worry about all that later. For now I still plan to head home with you guys. Now, everybody upstairs. Get packed.”

“You’ll need to get movers to transport my marble,” Kyle said.

“Can’t we buy you new marble when we get home?”

“I’ve already started!”

“Kyle!”

Jackie took Kyle by his shoulders and turned him toward the door. “We’ll discuss this with your father later. For now . . . get packing.”

While the kids walked out, Jackie and Toni crouched in front of Freddy.

“You all right?” Toni asked him.

“I thought they’d all be mad at me.”

“Nah. Not for something like this.” Toni kissed her brother on the cheek. “Now go upstairs and get packed. I’ll try to get us out tonight, but if not, definitely tomorrow morning, so be ready. Okay?”

“Okay!” He hugged Toni, then Jackie, before sprinting out of the room and up the stairs.

Toni waited until she heard his little feet hit the second floor before she said, “I’ll make sure I set up an appointment with his therapist for the day after tomorrow and get rid of any matches in the house.”

“Great. Thanks, baby.”

Toni smiled, as always comfortable in her role as sibling protector. “You’re welcome, Mom.”