I felt the presence of all three guys behind me now, and Kaidan’s hand on my shoulder.

“Dad?” I said.

“It’s me. You ain’t gonna hug me?” He held open his giant arms.

I wasn’t scared, even though it was completely strange. But as I went into his embrace, I couldn’t shake the strange feeling of familiarity. Dad squeezed me and I squeezed him back, letting myself feel safe.

When we turned to walk back inside, Kaidan and Blake stood in the doorway with shocked expressions.

“What?” Dad asked, sounding impatient.

“Sir,” began Kaidan. “You’re . . . did you mean to . . .”

“You’re Big Rotty!” Blake blurted.

I gasped, staring up at Dad. Holy crap! Blake was right!

“Why’s everyone keep saying that?” Dad asked. “What the hell’s a Big Rotty?”

Rotty, as in rottweiler. Big and intimidating.

“You better come in,” I said. We walked in and shut the door, but stayed in the foyer. “Don’t you remember anything about this body’s past?”

He shook his head. “The human soul takes the memories with it. You gonna tell me what’s up?”

“Dad . . . did you get this body from a hospital in D.C.?”

“Yeah.” His giant brown eyes looked down at me, pinched.

“You took the body of a famous rapper.”

He stepped back from me.

“It’s all over the news, sir,” Blake told him. “He was in a coma and they said he died last night.”

Dad dropped a big curse. I hadn’t seen the news since last night at the bar when Big Rotty was shot.

“Well, at least they think he’s dead,” I said.

“He wasn’t gonna live.” Dad’s whole forehead was pinched now. “No family was in the room this morning. I just let his soul go long enough for the monitors to show he was gone. They pronounced him dead, unplugged him, and I jumped in. Brought the body back to life. Waited till they wheeled me down to the morgue, then grabbed some scrubs and left. Damn . . . I didn’t have time to do research on ’im. Stopped at a store to get some clothes, and everyone kept staring at me.” He cursed again.

This wasn’t good. He couldn’t have picked a more conspicuous body. Big Rotty’s family, friends, and fans would want a funeral, but now his body was mysteriously missing. If this hit the news, and people started spotting Dad . . .

He rubbed his giant hands across his face, a gesture that was distinctively John LaGray.

“All the kids upstairs can come down.” Dad sighed.

Right away we heard footsteps. Jay was first at the bottom. He did a double take, and his eyes widened.

“Wha—Big Rotty? Oh, man! I have all your albums!”

Uh-oh. Music fanboy alert.

“Jay,” I warned.

He ran over to us then stopped, suddenly confused. He turned to the twins, who came down behind him. “I thought you said her pops was here.”

He looked around, now thoroughly confused as his eyes landed back on the gigantic newcomer.

“My dad possessed Big Rotty,” I deadpanned.

Jay literally swayed and had to put a hand on the wall.

Zania came down the steps and went straight to Kopano’s side, eyeing the Duke with distrust.

Dad nodded at her. “Daughter of Sonellion, you’re looking well. The son of Alocer taking good care of you up in Boston?”

She cleared her throat and nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

“Good. That’s real good.” His eyes went toward the stairs. “I see you there, Patti. You gonna say hi, or what?”

Patti was standing at the bottom of the stairs, grasping the rail and staring at Dad. Her aura was a mix of excited orange swirled with dark and light grays.

“Hi,” she whispered.

He made a path through all of us as he stalked over to her. Patti’s eyes went up, searching his face.

Despite her obvious nervousness, she managed to say, “You’re looking young and fit these days, John. I hope it’s okay if I still call you that.”

“You can call me whatever you want, girl.”

Ugh, Dad. Time to get the new body and its language under control.

He kind of surprised us all by pulling her into a hug. Patti let out a startled laugh, and her arms slowly went around his wide waist. I was pretty sure Dad smelled the top of her head and quite positive that she rubbed his back for a second. The whole thing lingered a bit too long for my comfort. Everyone in the room shifted. Kaidan raised an eyebrow at me and I crinkled my nose.

Patti pulled away from him, blushing as she tried to get her frazzled aura under control. I prayed for no red to show, and it didn’t, to my utter relief.

“Well.” Patti crossed her arms and stepped back. “The new you is sure . . .”

“Touchy-feely?” I offered pointedly. A few chuckles rose and died around the room.

Dad actually turned his head to me and gave an embarrassed laugh.

“My bad. Still getting used to this body.”

Apparently, Big Rotty had had some affectionate mannerisms. He was known for being a reformed player as well as a gangster, after all.

Patti ran her hands over her hair, getting ahold of herself. “Well, I’m glad the scare’s over. Everyone come back in and sit down. It’s almost dessert time. Who wants pie?” she called over her shoulder as she headed toward the kitchen.

“Aw, hell yeah!” Dad said, grinning wide as he strutted in his way to the family room.

All of us stood there stunned for a moment before following. Jay wore his same goofy look of awe as he gazed after my father.

This was going to take some getting used to.

“So, where’d you get the money to stop and buy clothes?” I asked Dad.

We were all sitting around the family room, plates of different pies on our laps. Except Patti, who was too nervous or freaked out to eat.

“Before I ditched my old body, I stashed money in a locker at Union Station. That’s another reason I needed to get a new body in D.C.”

“Maybe if you change your look just a bit, sir,” Marna suggested. “Wear something that Big Rotty might not’ve worn?”

“Yeah,” Dad said, nodding. “Get myself a suit. Straight-up gent.” When he grinned, I could see exactly how he’d earned himself a reputation with the ladies. He had a famous scar above his eye from a knife fight, and a scar on his neck from a bullet graze, but he had a roguish handsomeness that made you want to stare.

“I can take your measurements,” Patti offered. “We’ll send one of these guys out to get you some clothes.”

“I will go for him,” Kopano said.

“Perfect.” Patti grabbed the remote and turned on the television. “Let’s see if they mention anything about this on the news.”

So far there was nothing. Maybe the police were keeping it quiet.

I looked down at Kaidan’s empty plate. He’d had three pieces of pie: cherry, pumpkin, and apple.

“Which pie was your favorite?” I whispered in his ear.

His eyes hit mine and I felt my neck heating, the warmth spreading up to my face. All at once we both realized Dad was watching us, giving Kaidan a murderous glare.

Kaidan quickly amended. “Erm, key lime was my favorite, luv.”

“Oh,” I said.

Dad looked away and Kaidan shot me a big-eyed “oops” glance. I choked back a laugh. Patti came up behind us and kissed Kai’s head.

“How you doing, son?” she asked.

He gave her a boyish smile and said, “Very well, thanks.” She pushed hair from his eyes before moving along.

“So, tell me what’s been going on around here,” Dad said to me. “You seen Pharzuph again?”

“No,” I told him. “Nothing’s happened since you came to my dorm room.”

“When’d you see Pharzuph?” Blake asked.

I told them about the surprise visit and Pharzuph’s new body.

“Yeah, brah,” Blake said to Kaidan. “We’ve both inherited fortunes and new-looking daddies we haven’t even seen yet. How many people get to say that?”

“Awkward,” Jay said. “Acko taco . . .”

“With a side of guaco,” Marna finished, and they chuckled together.

“You haven’t seen your father’s new body yet?” Jay asked Blake.