“Surprise!”

That was an understatement. They hadn’t seen the woman in six years. Occasionally, Killian would get a text on the untraceable phone Maraveet had given him the night they blow up his manor and set off into the sunrise. It never made any sense to Juliette, but he would tell her Maraveet was in China or Prague or Canada. It was always somewhere new. She knew Killian had told Maraveet where they were in that weird cryptic message of theirs, but Maraveet had never, not once dropped by.

“What are you doing here?” Juliette asked, still not fully steady from the scare Maraveet had given them. “And what the hell are you doing trying to break in? You scared the hell out of us.”

Maraveet had the decency to grimace. “Just testing your reflexes.”

Heart refusing to slow, Juliette could only glower at the woman.

“It wasn’t funny,” Killian said for her. He shifted Callum higher on his hip. His hand rested carefully against the boy’s back. “You know that.”

Maraveet was no longer listening. Her eyes had fixed on Callum with wide fascination. “Who is this?”

“This is Callum.” Killian turned his body so she could catch a glimps of the face Callum had squished into Killian’s neck. “Callum, this is your Aunt Maraveet.”

Callum refused to move. His thin arms tightened around his father and he remained stubbornly hidden.

“He’s shaken,” Killian stated, looking hard at his sister. “Someone decided to break into his house.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know he was here?” Maraveet demanded, still watching Callum like he were a unicorn. “I didn’t know he existed.” Her gaze went to Juliette’s stomach. “Either of them.” One corner of her mouth twisted. “Jesus, I’m an aunt! I’m an aunt twice!” With a giddy laugh, she turned to the man standing at her shoulder, tall and quiet “I’m an aunt!”

The man chuckled. It was a nice sound, a kind sound that matched his handsome face. He had the flawless tan of a European with thick, glossy black hair and golden brown eyes set in a movie star chiseled face. Juliette didn’t recognize him, but the way he stuck to Maraveet’s side, the way he had his hand settled on the small of her spine, she had a feeling they would be seeing a lot of him in the future.

“Here I thought I would be surprising you guys.”

“I’m surprised,” Killian said, chuckling. “So, who’s your friend?”

That caught Maraveet’s attention. Her cheeks flushed pink as she turned so they could see the seven foot man towering drastically over her.

“This is Pedro. We met in Spain.”

Killian raised an eyebrow. “Is there a reason you brought Pedro from Spain or have you upped your business from things to people?”

The color on Maraveet’s face darkened. “He and I might have gotten married.”

“Married?” Killian’s mouth opened and closed a few times before the rest of his exclamation poured out. “How? When?”

“Well, it’s a bit of a story.” Maraveet grimaced. “But basically, he was trying to arrest me and I seduced him.”

“I wasn’t trying,” the man muttered with a dry little frown that was contradicted by the laughter in his eyes. “I did arrest you.”

His rich, Hispanic purr was almost as delicious as Killian’s Irish one. It rumbled flawlessly over the kitchen, tangling with the spicy scent of cooked meat.

“You’re a cop?” Juliette blurted. “You married a cop?”

“I don’t think what we did with those handcuffs can be construed as arresting,” Maraveet said to her husband before turning her attention to Juliette. “Not anymore. I’ve converted him to the dark side…” she broke off when Pedro raised an eyebrow. “We might have converted each other. No more arresting for him, no more … borrowing for me.”

Killian glanced from one to the other, his expression bright with hope. “Does this mean…?”

Maraveet shrugged with a teasing grin. “I might have hung up my hat. Kind of had to…” With a bite of her lip, she touched her flat belly and Juliette squealed.

“Really?”

Giggling, Maraveet nodded. “Only just found out last month. Pedro and I decided it was time to get a house and a fence and maybe a dog, but a big one with lots of teeth.”

“I think I need a drink.” Killian blew out a breath.

“You’re not leaving, are you?” Juliette asked. “Supper’s already on the table and I want to hear more about how you guys got together.” She turned her attention away from the pair to the baffled maid huddled just inside the doorway between the kitchen and the hallway. “Aniela, can you please set room for two more?”

Bobbing her head, Aniela peeled herself away from the doorframe and hurried to do as she was asked.

Maraveet glanced at Pedro. “We can stay a little bit, yes?”

Tawny eyes settled on her face with the absolute devotions of a man head over heels in love. “If you like.”

Beaming, Maraveet took his hand, but looked to Juliette. “We’ll stay.”

Dinner was filled with talks of Maraveet’s adventures, of Pedro’s chase to capture the thief stealing art pieces all over Spain and him finally capturing her, only to fall captive himself. It was filled with laughter and all the things that Juliette had always wanted filling her home, love, friendship, and happiness. But also the promise of a tomorrow. She only wished Vi had been there. The table just wasn’t complete without her.

Maraveet and Pedro stayed the night. Killian showed them to the guestroom as Juliette put Callum to bed. The boy had said very little since the incident. While he was normally a reasonably quiet child, she knew he would have had a million questions. They had told him of his Aunt Maraveet, had told him she was far away and it had taken them a week to answer all his questions. For him to be so sullen meant something was wrong and Juliette knew exactly what it was and it broke her heart that he had to go through it at all.

“Hey, want a story?” she asked as she drew the sheets around his tiny chest.

He shook his head.

Juliette sighed and perched on the mattress next to him. “Want to talk about what’s making you sad?”

Dark eyes lifted and it always amazed her how much they reminded her of Killian’s; they both had such open, expressive eyes.

“I didn’t like the bookshelf,” he whispered. “I don’t want to go in there again.”

With her pregnancy hormones, it was a task not to burst into tears at the solemn declaration. She stalled having to answer by brushing strands of hair off his brow.

“Mommy and Daddy will always protect you,” was all she could promise. “We will never let anything hurt you or your sister.”

“Will she have to go in the bookshelf?”

“Not if we can help it.” Killian stepped into the room, his hands tucked casually into his pockets.

“I don’t want her going in there.” His small mouth pursed in determination. “She won’t like it and I won’t let her.”

Juliette rose off the bed, her emotions overwhelming her as tears started a steady trickle down her cheeks. She quickly kissed Callum on the forehead, whispered she loved him before hurrying from the room.

She was standing by the terrace in the room she shared with Killian when he joined her. He shut the door and crossed over to stand behind her. His arms slipped around her middle and he drew her back against his chest.

“I hated that,” she croaked.

“I know. Me too.”

Her back shuddered with a quiet sob. “I never … ever wanted to do that.”

His arms tightened. “It won’t happen again. Maraveet didn’t think. I’ll talk to her. We’re safe, Juliette. I promise you. You and our babies, I won’t let anything happen to any of you.”

Swallowing, she wiped her eyes and turned to face him. “I’ll be okay. I’m just shaken. Plus the hormones, I’m a mess.”

He took her face between his palms. “You’re a beautiful mess.” He smiled when she chuckled.

“How is he?”

Gentle hands brushed hairs off her damp cheeks. “He’ll be okay. I promised him a hike along the beach tomorrow. We’re going to look for mermaids.”