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T he next morning, I walked into the chiropractic office with a box of donuts under one arm. I admitted to myself I was eating my feelings, but the sugar and saturated fat made me feel better, temporarily, and that’s all I needed to get through the day.

“Hey,” Eli said as I sat down in the chair across from his desk and chose a donut from the box. He stopped notating a chart, and his blue eyes glanced at my face, and then focused on the chocolate glazed donut I held in my hand.

“What gives?” He clicked his pen closed and leaned back in his chair.

“What do you mean?” I asked, but I knew. My hair was in a messy top bun, and I had dark circles under my eyes. I hadn’t bothered with makeup this morning because by the time my insomnia relented at three a.m. I slept through my alarm. Leaving early to pick up donuts and get to work on time was more important than a Kardashian presentation.

“You look like crap. That donut you’re eating is going to clog your arteries and make your ass big.”

Just like a brother to tell it like it is.

“Thanks,” I said. The sarcasm dripped like the chocolate off my donut. I licked my hand where the wayward icing landed. “It’s nothing.”

He clicked his pen a few times and cocked an eyebrow at me.

“I’m struggling with an upcoming event.” I shrugged.

“And?”

“And remember when I told you Caiyan and I took a break because he had to go deep undercover?”

“Yeah.” Click, click, click.

“Caiyan’s fallen into the abyss. The Mafusos have asked—” I stuttered and tried again. “Gian-Carlo wants—” I huffed. “Caiyan is getting married to—” My shoulders slumped, and I took a big bite of courage. With my mouth full, I forced the name from my lips, “Mahlia.”

Eli let out a long slow whistle. My brother had dated Mahlia. She was searching for a key and thought Eli would be a good avenue into my navigation system of family secrets. He thought he loved her, but in the end, he decided she was a little high maintenance.

I swallowed the glob of stress-coping, gluten-filled pastry. “I thought we were on a sort of hiatus, but he has a self-imposed mission. It involves him gaining the trust of the Mafusos.”

“So, to prove he’s legit, he has to marry Mahlia,” Eli finished.

I wondered if he might be a tad jealous. “You don’t still have feelings for her, do you?”

“No. She’s a nutcase. The great sex blinded me for a moment, but there’s not much else to fall in love with.” Click, click, click.

I released the deep breath I was holding, while my inner voice smashed his pen with her stiletto.

“Is this some kind of ploy, or is he going through with it?” Eli asked.

“That’s just it. He hasn’t confided in anyone. Not even Brodie. We confirmed he’s switched sides. The travel lab can’t find him because he doesn’t wear a key. He’s become a brigand.” My eyes filled at the last words despite my attempt to hold back the tears. I opened the box and pulled out another chocolate glazed donut.

“I’d give you a brotherly hug to console you, but I’m afraid my white dress shirt will be caught in the fusillade of chocolate retaliation.”

“I’m fine.” I bit into the donut and gave a troubled sigh.

Eli plucked a tissue from the box on his desk and passed it to me. He pointed to the area above his upper lip.

I swiped at the wayward chocolate icing on mine.

“Maybe he’s got a plan.” Eli thought for a moment. “Maybe he’s keeping you safe.”

Safe. Like the sword he’s protecting. “He stole a Confederate sword that dates to the Civil War. Jake thinks there might be a connection.”

“Jen, no way are you traveling back to the Civil War. Do you know how many people died? And not only from the war, but from the diseases that followed the soldiers around like a tick on a coonhound.” Click, click, click. Eli waved the pen at me like a magic wand.

“I don’t understand your reasoning. I went back to World War II. I’ve been in a shootout with Bonnie and Clyde and held captive by Pancho Villa. Why won’t you trust me to use my brains and do my job?” I crammed the rest of the chocolate glazed donut into my mouth.

“Because I love you, and this thing you do makes me crazy.”

“It’s the thing I choose to do, so treat me the same way you would if I worked as a police officer.”

“At least the police get to wear a Kevlar vest. With you, there’s nothing to protect you. Do you know how inaccurate the guns were back then?”

I shrugged and moved on to the sprinkle-covered donut holes.

Click, click, click.

“You might get hit by a stray bullet, or worse, by cannon fire. The Union cannons killed an entire company of men in one shot. Dad took me to the reenactment in Pennsylvania. It’s not pretty. Those cannons pop out canisters that explode grapeshot. It’s like a shotgun on methamphetamines.” Eli’s voice elevated and his eyes were growing wide, Charles Manson style.

“I have my key.”

He tossed his pen on the desk, yay! and stared blankly at me. There was no arguing with him. The men in my life went to extremes to keep me safe.

“I’m going to take the rest of these to the girls.” I held up the donut box.

He grimaced at me, and I took my donut enhanced booty to the breakroom.

My coworkers, Paulina, Elvira, and Helga, fussed around the coffee machine and cheered when I slid the box of donuts onto the table.

They knew I had a relationship with a Scottish hunk, but their knowledge of him ended there. When I explained he dumped me for another woman, they agreed Caiyan was a slimeball.

Devouring the donuts, we made up names to call him. It was childish but satisfying. Elvira, the collections manager, told us about the time she ran over her ex-husband.

“Did he die?” Paulina, Eli’s perky assistant, asked.

“No, but he broke both his legs when I hit him the second time.”

“Did you get arrested?” Helga asked.

“Not that time. I claimed self-defense. He was mean as a black-tailed rattlesnake. The hospital put him in a half-body cast. Because I felt guilty, for three months I waited on him hand and foot.”

“Did he get better?” I asked and imagined running over Caiyan in my Mustang.

“Did he ever. Nine months later his physical therapist gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. The kid had a knit of eyebrows like my guy. We got divorced.”

“How did he manage to have sex in a body cast?” Paulina asked.

“Let’s just say there was one thing that wasn’t a disappointment.”

A round of laughter drew Eli into the breakroom.

“Ladies, let’s get to work.”

Everyone popped a donut hole and exited the breakroom.

“Jennifer, I hope your man comes around,” Paulina said to me as we headed toward the front office.

Me, too.

I worked the morning trying to forget about Caiyan. As I was fetching my purse to head out for lunch, Mary, the feisty widow who worked as Eli’s office manager, paged me to the front. One donut hole sat alone in the box on the breakroom table. I ate the sole survivor and headed toward the front of the building.

When I entered the front office, the girls were standing at the window, mouths open slightly, drooling.

“What are y’all staring at?” I asked, trying to peek over them.

“Forget what I said about your man,” Paulina said. “This one’s got to be better.”

Marco stood in the reception room thumbing through a back issue of Men’s Fitness .

He looked up when he saw me, and the dimple in his chin winked and enhanced his chiseled good looks.

Paulina sighed.

I gave him a wave and motioned I’d be right out.

“What’s wrong with him? Does he have a small penis?” Mary asked after she closed the sliding window.

Paulina placed her hands over her ears. “If he does, I don’t want to know. It would ruin my dream tonight.”

I ignored Mary’s question and went to meet Marco.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

He leaned down and kissed me on each cheek. The murmur of the office girls from behind the window at the very Italian gesture caused me to roll my eyes.

“I heard about Caiyan, and I came to see if you were OK?”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure, because you smell like a glazed donut.” I gave him my best no idea what you’re talking about look then changed the subject. “I’m on my lunch hour. Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”

We walked around the square to the Italian restaurant. Marco insisted on ordering a veggie pizza, and I agreed because the string on my scrub pants had to be loosened after the donuts.

I tapped my fingers on the plastic tablecloth while Marco gave the waitress our order.

“So, you want to talk about it?” he asked me.

I wasn’t sure I could confide in Marco. He knew my feelings for Caiyan, but still tried to weasel into my underpants occasionally. He wanted to see what kind of carnal explosion would occur if we had sex. I agreed, when we touched, the heat between us could set an Eskimo on fire.

If things were different between me and Caiyan, I might consider his offer. My inner voice reminded me things were different between me and Caiyan as she held up a save-the-date postcard. Thankfully, the date was blurry. They’re not married, yet.

Maybe there was more to Marco’s visit than his concern over my reaction to Caiyan’s bad choices.

“Did Caiyan ask you to keep an eye on me?”

“Not this time.” He paused as the waitress brought our drinks.

“Do you know if they’ve set a date for the wedding?” I imagined it would be an extravagant affair. I sipped my sweet tea and waited for his answer.

“I haven’t heard anything in the social circles.” He held his gaze steady with mine. “Jen. I’m worried about you. McGregor’s making you crazy with his irrational behavior. He’s never going to make you happy.”

“I’m guessing you can make me happy?”

A smile tugged at the corner of Marco’s mouth. “I could make you happy for a few hours, if you needed someone to take your mind off the Scot.”

Hours? It sounded promising, but I brushed him off. “Funny, but I’m not exactly sure why Caiyan’s doing this. Doesn’t it seem unusual to you that he’s joined up with the Mafusos and he’s agreed to marry Mahlia? I mean, what could be so damn important for him to do this?”

“You want my honest answer?”

“Yes, of course.”

“You.”

“Me?” I stared at him. “You remember he dumped me to marry Satan’s bitch, right?”

“I mean he’s protecting you somehow. Or he’s protecting all of us. Still, it doesn’t make him any less of an asshole.”

I tossed the statement over in my mind. “It started with the Civil War sword. I think if we find the sword, we will have a few answers.”

“Maybe.”

The waitress brought over our pizza. She leaned down in front of Marco to place the pan of pizza on the table, offering him a perfect view down the front of her shirt.

“Here ya go, sugar,” she said, batting her full, fake eyelashes at him. She turned to check on another table but gave Marco a glance over her shoulder on the way.

Oblivious to the woman’s flirtations, Marco frowned at the pizza. Obviously, not up to New York standards. He folded a slice and took a bite. “The sword was Confederate, right?”

“Yes, I’m sure Caiyan told me it was a Confederate sword. Do you think the Mafusos are going to drop him into the Civil War?”

“Mortas wants the sword, and he’s forcing Caiyan’s hand. My guess would be that Caiyan is going to lead him on a wild goose chase. I don’t know what to think about the marriage.”

“If Mortas gets the key, then Caiyan is supposed to get his key back.” I selected a slice of pizza and contemplated Caiyan’s possible logic for his actions.

“I’ve never known the Mafusos to be forthright. Caiyan knows this also. He’s probably going to bag the wedding.” Marco chose another slice.

I picked the green olives off my pizza and felt hopeful for the first time in a long while.

“The next full moon cycle begins at the end of the month. What’s the next major event in the Civil War?”

“You’re joking, right?” His dark eyebrows shot upwards.

When my blank stare told him I wasn’t, he finished chewing his pizza and took a long drink of the tea. “The Battle of Gettysburg begins on July first.”

“That was a pretty bad one, right?”

“The worst battle of the Civil War.”

He gave me the look like I shouldn’t have slept through my American history class.

“I hope they don’t drop him there,” I said.

“Me, too. The guns are shit.”

We ate in silence until I moved the last slice onto my plate, and he finished his pizza.

I leaned back in my chair, the string on my scrub pants threatening expansion once again.

“Have you heard from Agent McCoy?” Marco asked.

“I’m waiting on Jake to approve the search for the sword at Caiyan’s house. He wanted Brodie to check the other potential locations before I went rummaging through his personal space.”

“Be careful. If the Mafusos catch you in the area, they’ll hang you off the Empire State Building.”

The visual made me shudder. When I visited Caiyan, I tried to avoid the Mafusos’ area of New York City. They kept close to the docks in the import/export areas in the Bronx. There were rumors Gian-Carlo kept a bank of offices close to the harbor, but he wasn’t getting any younger and frequently stayed at the house in the Hamptons.

“I can’t believe Mahlia is going along with Gian-Carlo’s demands,” Marco said.

“Mahlia wouldn’t like anything better than to have a Caiyan sandwich and rub my nose in it.”

“What did he say when you asked him what he was doing?”

“He told me to be patient, and he said something about smoke and mirrors.”

“Hmm sounds like he’s got a plan. You should sit back and see what happens.”

“I’m afraid it might end up with me eating wedding cake alone.”

“I’ll postpone being a shoulder for you to cry on until we figure out what the Scot’s got up his sleeve.”

“Maybe afterward, if he says I do, you can bail me out of jail.”

“I’ll comfort you in ways you can’t imagine.”

I smiled. “Thanks. You know how to make me feel better.”

“You think I’m joking, but in reality, I’m rooting for the other team.”

I attacked my last slice of pizza. Marco was a good friend. I didn’t feel the same connection as I did with Caiyan. I was attracted to him, but what breathing woman wasn’t?

“Friends can have benefits, you know?”

My mouth dropped open at his spot-on accuracy of my thoughts.

“You just tore at that slice of pizza with your teeth. I saw a bobcat do that at the zoo once.” He added a fake shiver.

“Sometimes I worry you can read my thoughts. You don’t have ESP, do you?”

“Jen, I’d love to be inside that head of yours, but sadly I have to base my findings on observation alone. I am interested in the benefits part of that statement.”

“Is getting me in the sack all you ever think about?”

Before he could answer, the waitress sidled up to our table.

“Can I get you two lovebirds anything else?” she asked.

“Um, we’re not a couple.” I said, unraveling any notions of fringe benefits.

A little whoop of delight left her lips. “In that case, I’ll just leave the check right here. You can pay anytime.” She slid the check face down toward Marco and left with a longing gaze.

“I bet money she left her number on the ticket,” I said.

Marco flipped over the bill, and a wide smile spread across his face. When I reached for my wallet, he waved me off.

I ignored the fact he put the number in his wallet after he paid the check.

Marco kissed me on the cheek and left me standing in front of the office. A slight tingle remained where his lips brushed my skin.

The girls were standing at the plate glass window watching Marco walk across the street when I entered the office.

“Where’s he going?” Elvira asked me. The three of them were staring out the window nodding approvingly.

“He parked down the block.” Marco was headed to the wooded area of the park to call his transportation.

“Seems outta the way to me. He coulda parked in front of the office,” Elvira harrumphed. Exercise to Elvira meant making an extra pass down the frozen food aisle at the supermarket.

“He’s dreamy,” Paulina said.

“He’s a friend.”

“Can I have him?” Helga asked.

“Only if you live in New York. He’s not from around here.”

“Obviously, they don’t make men like that in these parts.”

“I resent that remark.” Eli entered the room.

“Dr. Cloud, you’re dreamy but in an unavailable way,” Paulina piped in.

“Good to know.” Eli sent a curious glance my direction.

“Marco came for a visit,” I added. “To take me to lunch.”

“Ah, that explains why all of my employees are staring out the window instead of preparing the charts for the afternoon patients.”

* * *

After work Eli walked me out to my car. He had changed into his shorts and workout shirt. “I’m going to the gym, want to come?”

“Jake forces me to exercise two days a week, and I’m not adding to my plan.”

“Suit yourself. I thought with all your Lara Croft adventures you might want to buff up a little.”

“I’m fine. I have a date with Gertie. We’re watching a Civil War documentary.”

“Just make sure you don’t go back there.”

“Aye, aye captain.”

He frowned, then entered his car and drove away to build a better body. I, on the other hand, was going home to watch thousands of men die, followed by a glass of wine and a bubble bath.