LITMIR.BIZ

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the woman suddenly froze, her eyes riveted on the envelope she held, then swayed slightly, as if she were about to faint.

      Case must have noticed the woman’s reaction, too, because he ran the rest of the way down the stairs and slid an arm around her to support her.

      “Are you all right, Patricia?” he asked in concern.

      She pressed a shaky hand to her forehead. “Just suffering a bit of jet lag, I guess.” Forcing a reassuring smile, she patted his hand. “I’m fine now.” She glanced at Gina and gave Case a chiding look. “Case Fortune,” she scolded. “Where are your manners? Introduce me to your friend.”

      “Patricia, I’d like you to meet Gina Reynolds. Gina, my step-mother Patricia Blackstone Fortune.”

      Smiling shyly, Gina took the hand the woman offered. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fortune.”

      “Patricia,” his step-mother insisted, then looked up at Case in question. “The two of you are staying for dinner, I hope?”

      “Indeed we are,” he assured her. “We’re just making a quick trip to the solarium so that I can show Gina the pond and fountain.”

      “You might want to save that for after dinner,” Patricia warned. “The others are already gathering in the dining room.” She hugged the mail tighter against her chest. “I’ll join you there, as soon as I put this away.”

      Case watched his step-mother walk away, his forehead creased in a frown.

      “Is something wrong?” Gina asked in concern.

      “Did she seem upset to you?”

      “I don’t know that I would term it ‘upset,’ but she definitely appeared shaken.” She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s probably nothing more than jet lag, just as she said.”

      “Maybe,” he said doubtfully, then shrugged off his concern. “Well? Are you ready to meet the family?”

      “Do I have a choice?”

      Laughing, he looped her arm through his and guided her toward the dining room. “No. But don’t worry. I’ll stay right by your side all evening.”

      Four

      Gina felt as if she had been dropped down in the middle of a nest of magpies … or, worse, the eye of a tornado. Her head ached, her ears rang, and though the food looked and smelled delicious, she hadn’t managed so much as a bite. How could she, and hope to keep up with the conversations flying around her?

      There are so many of them, was all she could think as she stole a glance down the length of the table at Case’s family. Halves, wholes, steps. The one sibling of Case’s she was confident she could address correctly was Creed, and that was only because he favored Case so much. In fact, the two could be mistaken for twins!

      His parents were easily identified, as they were the oldest in the group. Nash, Case’s father, could easily have been Case’s brother, due to his youthful appearance and the features he shared with his sons. But the rest? Impossible! There were simply too many.

      The sound of Case’s voice forced her attention from her thoughts.

      “Any mobsters tried to take over your casino yet, Blake?” Case asked the man across the table.

      Everyone at the table howled with laughter—everyone, that is, except Blake. Gina watched his eyes narrow and his hands ball into fists, and thought for a moment he might leap across the table and grab Case by the throat.

      “Are you questioning my ability to manage my own business?” he challenged tersely.

      “Come on, Blake,” Creed chided. “Where’s your sense of humor? Case was only kidding.”

      “Yeah, Blake,” Case agreed. “Can’t you take a joke?”

      A woman from the opposite end of the table spoke up. “I think he lost that ability when Dad turned Dakota Fortunes over to you and Creed and left Blake hanging.”

      “That’s enough,” Nash said sternly, then offered Gina an apologetic smile. “You’ll have to forgive my children. It seems sibling rivalry persists, no matter what their ages.”

      With the attention now focused on her, Gina felt a blush warm her cheeks. “Uh … I wouldn’t know anything about sibling rivalry. I’m an only child.”

      “An only child?” Eliza repeated, then sighed enviously. “What I wouldn’t give to be an only child.”

      “And miss out on the pleasure of having me as an older brother?” Case teased.

      “Yeah, right,” Eliza returned wryly, then grinned and blew him an affectionate kiss.

      With that, the confrontation was forgotten and the earlier joviality returned, leaving Gina feeling like a ping pong ball as she tried to keep up with all the conversations around her.

      While Case dealt with the lock on the door to the loft, Gina thought back over the evening. Throughout dinner she had felt a distinct disadvantage, since everyone gathered for the welcome home celebration had known each other and she’d known only Case. Yet, she couldn’t help envying his family’s obvious closeness, in spite of the brief confrontation she’d witnessed between Case and Blake.

      Remembering the woman who had come to Blake’s defense, she tried to recall her name. “Tell me again your half-sister’s name,” she asked, as she stepped inside the loft.

      “Skylar Fortune.”

      Exhausted both mentally and physically from trying to keep all of Case’s family straight in her mind, she stripped off her coat and let it fall to the floor. “Steps, halves and wholes,” she said wearily and collapsed onto the sofa. “How on earth do you remember all their names?”

      Chuckling, he dropped beside her and cupped a hand at the base of her neck, squeezed. “Years of practice.”

      She moaned pitifully as he kneaded the tensed muscles of her neck. “Please don’t stop,” she begged.

      The telephone rang, but she ignored it.

      “Aren’t you going to answer that?” he asked.

      She shook her head. “I’m too tired to move. Whoever it is will just have to leave a message.”

      At that moment, the answering machine clicked on, playing her recorded message. Seconds later, a male voice came through the speaker, “Gina, it’s your father. Call me at your earliest convenience.”

      Ice shot through her veins at the sound of her father’s voice.

      “Aren’t you going to call him back?” Case asked.

      She turned her face away. “No.”

      “But it sounded important.”

      “I’m not interested in anything he has to say.”

      “Gina,” he scolded gently. “Isn’t that rather harsh?”

      “Actually I was being kind, considering how I feel about him.”

      “But he’s your father,” he reminded her.

      “My family’s not like yours,” she informed him. “My father and I have never been close. His choice, not mine.”

      He looked at her in puzzlement. “What do you mean, ‘his choice’?”

      “He never had time for me. Or for my mother, either, for that matter,” she added bitterly. “His one and only love is and always has been Reynolds Refining.”

      She saw the look of surprise on Case’s face and felt he deserved some kind of explanation. However she was reluctant to offer one, especially after meeting his family and seeing how close all the Fortunes were. She pushed to her feet and crossed to the window to stare out, needing to distance herself from him, while

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