We tried to laugh, but none of us could. Victor's contorted body lay in a pool of blood at the base of the staircase. My knees wobbled when Damian helped me up.

"I thought he killed you." I clutched his shirt and sobbed.

"I saw myself in him. The way I'd been." He held me so fiercely I could barely breathe. "You were my saving grace, Skye."

We clung to each other, acknowledging the glorious miracle of being alive.

"Let's go check on Sierra," I said.

"Call the police," Damian said to Rafael. "And an ambulance. I want to make sure Sierra's all right. Victor sedated her."

"I'm on it," he replied. "Go look after your girls."

"I will. And Rafael?" Damian turned to him. "Are you all right?"

Rafael nodded and dropped the gun. "I'm just glad I got here when I did."

"I owe you one. Big time."

"You saved my life twice, Damian. I simply returned the favor. Two for two. Accounts balanced."

"There were three of us. Don't tell me this screwed up your brain cells, Mr. Mathemagician."

Rafael attempted a smile, but were were all too shaken up. "Tell Sierra I want a rematch when she's ready."

"Game on, Rambo. But I have a feeling she's still going to kick your butt."

DAMIAN AND SIERRA WERE TOSSING peanuts into each other's mouths.

Crunch. Crunch Crunch.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

"Oh my God. Would you two stop that? It's driving me insane! We're never going to get this place ready." I swept up the stray peanuts rolling on the floor.

We were at Damian's island retreat, getting it ready so Rafael and his fiancee could honeymoon there.

"You know you don't have to lift a finger." Damian took the broom from me and set it aside. "I can have a crew come in and fix up the place in no time."

"The man saved our lives, Damian. It's the least I can do."

"Clean is clean whether you do it yourself or hire someone to look after it."

"You used to insist I do the chores around here."

"That's when I thought you were a self-entitled princess."

"And now?" I linked my arms around his neck.

"Now I want you fully focused on other tasks." Lifting one hand, he slipped his fingers under my shoulder strap and kissed the small, puckered scar.

I nudged him gently and motioned to our rapt audience. Sierra was watching us as if we were her favorite movie.

"Sierra-"

"I know, I know." She cut Damian off. "Go read a book. Do you know how many books I've read this week? You guys are always kissing." She made a face, but I caught her grin before she left.

"This bedroom is way too crowded for the three of us." Damian went back to nuzzling my neck. "I'm thinking we could use an extension. Maybe a second storey."

"Or you could sleep in the shack." I trailed my nails down his back.

"Keep doing that and I'll carry you off there right now." One large hand tightened around my midriff.

"Not now," I said, extracting myself from his grip. "When she's napping."

"She never naps," Damian growled.

"Unless she's tired."

"Right." He grinned and grabbed my hand. "Let's go tire her out."

Damian came out of the ocean, skin glistening in the sun, and walked towards me. I wished there was a longer stretch of beach between us because I could watch him forever. He was molded bronze in motion, hair wet and wild from his swim, sand sticking to his feet. He plunked down on the towel beside me and leaned over to kiss me. Salty drops on warm lips.

"She's a bundle of energy," he said.

I put my head on his chest and we watched Sierra jump the waves.

"I can't see," I said, after a while.

"I can't help it," he replied. His erection was blocking my view.

I laughed and handed him a bottle of sunblock. "Another twenty minutes and she'll be all worn out."

"Flip." Damian straddled my back and started working the lotion in. "I have a wedding gift for you. I was going to surprise you with it, but I need your input. I bought some property in Paza del Mar. The site of the old warehouse."

"The one you blew up? Where El Charro and his men died?"

"That's the one. I want to build something good there, something worthwhile."

"What did you have in mind?"

"How would you like to expand the work you do in Valdemoros? A permanent facility where you can employ some of the women you work with, when they get out. They can help you fulfill your orders and you can focus on training and education. You can still hold your workshops in Valdemoros, but you'd have a bigger base. There's nothing to stop you from going international. I already have a shipping network in place. You can put some of the profits towards the charity you had Nick set up and use the rest to your discretion. Fair wages, women's shelters, clinics, education programs-" He stopped rubbing lotion on my back and froze. "Skye?"

"I wish MaMaLu had those options back then," I said, as I wiped the tears. "I wish you did, too."

"Hey." He rolled on to his back and stretched out beside me. "Sometimes everything gets dismantled so something better can be pieced together."

I nodded, and traced his jaw. He was the perfect example. "Let's do it," I said. "Let's build something that Sierra can be proud of."

She came bounding out of the ocean, spraying us with seawater and enthusiasm. "Look!" She held up a seashell. "This one?"

I had been showing her how to pick the right ones for a necklace. She'd seen the one Damian had made for me and wanted one for herself.

"This one's perfect." I opened up the picnic basket and added it to the collection she was raking up. "When you have enough, Dad will make you a necklace."

Damian and Sierra exchanged a strange look.

"What's that about?" I asked.

"I'm hungry!" she said. "I want the ceviche."

Damian had packed it for us in three separate containers.

"This one for me. This one for Dad. This one for you." She handed them out, looking at Damian for confirmation.

He winked.

She smiled.

"Hey, all I get is a clam?" I asked, staring into mine. "What's going on?" My eyes slid from her to Damian.

"Open it!" Sierra was so excited, Damian had to hold her down.

I pried the creamy, brown shell open. The inside was filled with sand. Lodged in the center was a ring with three sparkling alexandrites.

"You like it? You like it?" Sierra was prancing around me.

"It's beautiful." I smiled at Damian.

My mother's necklace lay somewhere at the bottom of the ocean, where he'd thrown it. I'd never get it back, but I had something of my own now.

"Thank you." I leaned over and kissed him.

He deepened the kiss, burying his hands in my hair. "Sierra-"

"But I didn't bring any books!"

"You said twenty minutes." Damian groaned into my ear.

"Maybe twenty more?" I laughed. "Where are you going?"

"For a swim," he answered. "In the cold, deep end of the ocean."

I watched him take off, slicing through the water with fluid, graceful strokes.

Sierra and I finished lunch and stretched out in the sun. Blondie, Bruce Lee, and Dirty Harry watched us from their rock. I didn't know how long green iguanas lived, but I was glad Sierra had the chance to make friends with them. Damian had given her the task of naming the island, and she had spent the morning conferring with them. The verdict was still out.

By the time Damian returned, Sierra had fallen asleep. He adjusted the umbrella so she was in the shade, and tiptoed around her, to my side. His wet skin gave me goosebumps that had nothing to do with the temperature.

"Put it on," he said.

I raised an eyebrow. "I was betting you'd tell me to take it off."

"I like the way you think, but I was talking about the ring." He gave me a wicked smile as he slipped it over my finger. "I want to see what it looks like on you."

I held my hand out, against the endless blue horizon. Rainbow glints reflected off our faces. It wasn't just a ring. It was an open window and paper animals, a boy clutching fifteen pesos and a girl writing strawberry letters. It was the story of two people who had come full circle, and it was wrapped in gold around my finger.

What are we? Damian had asked on this very beach.

There on our little piece of paradise, with Sierra sleeping beside us, I finally figured it out.

We are sand and rock and water and sky, anchors on ships and sails in the wind. We are a journey to a destination that shifts every time we dream or fall or leap or weep. We are stars with flaws that still sparkle and shine. We will always strive, always want, always have more questions than answers, but there are moments like these, full of magic and contentment, when souls get a glimpse of the divine and quite simply, lose their breath.

A NEW MOON PERCHED IN the dusky sky, a slender arc of the softest silver. The small group of guests who had shared our special day-Nick, Rafael, their wives, some of the women I worked with, and a handful of Damian's associates-were all gone, but the gardens of Casa Paloma were still twinkling with lights. Damian, Sierra, and I were sitting by the pond.

"Who's Monique?" I asked, holding up a card personalized with a deep-purple lip print.

"Let me see that." Damian put aside his cake. Pink frosting, topped with fresh strawberries. It was an unusual choice for a wedding, a replica of the birthday cake he'd never got around to having. He'd laughed when they'd wheeled it in. The cake topper was a giant white tooth, a private joke harking back to when he'd knocked Gideon Benedict St. John's tooth out.

He looked the card over and grinned. "Monique was someone who made my time in prison so much more pleasant."

I crossed my arms and waited for an explanation.

"Don't scowl. It's not very bride-like," he said.

"Don't bring up exes on our wedding day. It's not very groom-like."

"I can think of a few very groom-like things I'd like to do to you."

"Don't even." I pushed him away. I didn't feel the least bit threatened by this Monique, but it was fun playing it up. Rafael had not been able to convince Damian to wear a tux, but he looked so damn fine in a crisp, white shirt and tailored jacket.

"Fine. I'll take you to see Monique one day, but don't say I didn't warn you." He tossed the card aside and grabbed my waist. "I have something for you and Sierra."

He reached inside his jacket for MaMaLu's Lucky Strike tin and opened it. "She would have wanted you to have these." He handed me her earrings.

I held them up: two doves joined at the beak to form a circle, with turquoise stones hanging from them. I had a flashback of cool, blue stones brushing against my skin as MaMaLu kissed me goodnight.

"Hey." Damian wrapped his arms around me. He knew it had been an emotional day for me. I'd missed my father's three kisses, missed him walking me down the aisle. Sierra had filled in. She'd picked out her own dress: Kermit-the-frog-green, accessorized with a new pair of sneakers. Her one wedding day concession had been a floral hairband that matched the color of her orange shoelaces. Apart from a headache, she had come around from the sedative Victor had administered with no idea of the disaster we had escaped. When I thought about how close we'd come to losing it all, I hugged Damian tighter.

"You think she'll like it?" he asked, holding up MaMaLu's hair clip.

It was shaped like a fan, made from abalone shells and alpaca metal-pretty without being too girly.

Sierra examined it before handing it to me. She turned around and motioned to her hair, voicing her silent approval. I gathered two sections of her hair from the sides and secured the clip in center.

"What's this?" she asked, unfolding the newspaper article that Damian had saved all these years: 'LOCAL NANNY ACCUSED OF STEALING FAMILY HEIRLOOM.'

"This is a little piece of paper that caused a whole lot of trouble," said Damian.