The wind was howling around the little one-bedroom cabin, but thankfully, the lights electric held steady. They had arrived in good time, giving Levi enough time to secure the building against the elements and bring in plenty of firewood in case they lost power. The stove was gas and would work even if the power went out, but the fireplace was the only warmth they would have.

Ben and Rainer had help Levi as much as they could and then had settled into work before power was lost. Trinity had nothing to do, so she found a quiet corner and curled up with a book, doing her best to ignore Levi's presence.

The cabin was small. It was one giant room that housed the living, kitchen, and dining areas and there was one bedroom with enough bunk beds to sleep six. There was a fireplace in both rooms but they weren't needed at long as they had power. The plan was to light both fireplaces only after the power went out, thus conserving as much wood as possible.

Levi frowned at something he was looking at on his computer, and Trinity had to bite her lip to keep from asking what was wrong. She was on vacation. It wasn't her problem.

She darted a look from Levi to Ben and caught Ben watching her as he leaned back in his chair. "It's killing you, isn't it?" he asked with a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Trinity dismissed as she tried to turn her attention back to her book.

"Whatever Levi is looking at, you want to know what it is?" Trinity wanted to push him so his chair, which was balanced on two legs, fell.

Levi looked up at the sound of his name, looking at Trinity, confused.

"You can shoot me with hate daggers all you want, but I know you too well." Ben shrugged as his chair landed back on the wooden floor with a thump. "You might as well tell her, Levi. You already know she a wiz with numbers, she's more than doubled my money over the years."

"No thanks to you!" Trinity grumbled.

"You make it, I spend it," Ben said offhand as he turned his attention back to his computer.

It wasn't that simple. Their grandfather had left them both a good bit of money and while Christopher had spent Trinity's inheritance before she could invest it, Ben had invested his. That, coupled with his wildly successful writing career, meant he would never be short on cash.

"Fine, come look at this," Levi suggested as moved a pillow on the couch, making room for her to join him.

Trinity didn't feel like she had a choice, so she stood and joined him. The couch was old, and the springs weak so as soon as she sat down, she sank towards Levi because he was heavier. There was no way she could make space between them without making a show of it, so she did her best to relax and act as if his nearness was not affecting her.

But it was.

Her shoulder fell behind his, which meant that every time he moved his arm, it brushed her breast and her hip and leg were smashed against his. She could feel the heat as it radiated off of him and she had that thought that they wouldn't even need the fireplace if the power went out.

Levi appeared to be unaffected by her nearness as he talked her through some of the monthly numbers for the hotel.

As usual, the numbers took over Trinity's head as she tried to make sense of them and couldn't. She was so caught up in what she was doing that she took the laptop from Levi without thinking, crossed her legs, and settled in to figure it out.

Levi didn't object as he stood stretching. "I think I'll start dinner."

"Someone else besides me cooking will make a nice change," Trinity threw out absently.

"It sure will," Rainer softly agreed.

"I heard that!" Trinity replied.

"Rainer, you know Trinity did us a favor by joining us this past week. She kept us on task, cooked, and made sure we got enough sleep." Ben defended Trinity.

"Sure, but a gourmet cook she is not." Rainer shrugged.

"I can cook, but I can't guarantee you a great dinner since I'm not sure what I have to use." Levi moved towards the kitchen area, poking around.

Trinity tuned it all out as she started to frown at what she was seeing. She didn't hear Ben and Rainer strike up a conversation about travel with Levi, and she didn't hear Ben telling Levi about all the trips he and Trinity had taken, doing his best with his masterful storytelling skill to make it sound like they had been a couple even though they weren't

Both Rainer and Ben noticed Levi become more and more uptight as the conversation wore on and eventually, Rainer warned Ben with a look that he was taking it a bit too far.

"Hey, Sis!" Ben called, watching Levi's reaction to his words. Levi's head jerked up and he looked at Ben, his eyes narrowing as his words registered. "Dinner!"

"Coming," Trinity said, setting the computer aside with a frown and standing with a stretch just as Levi had done earlier. "You really need a new couch for this place, Levi."

"I'll work on it," Levi agreed, his eyes leaving Ben to take in Trinity's languid grace as she lengthened her body in the stretch. When Levi looked back at Ben, he was watching him closely.

"You're name is Emerson?" Levi asked for confirmation in an attempt to take the attention off of himself.

"It is." Their eyes met and mutual respect was shared, Levi's respect for Ben was because he had played him so well, and Ben's was for Levi was because he had taken the game Ben had played on the chin.

"Of course, his name is Emerson; he is my brother." Trinity looked at them all, confused.

"I didn't know he was your brother," Levi returned.

"Yes, he is, and Rainer is an old family friend. They are here working on a book." Trinity looked between all three of the men picking up on the tension finally. Her face turned bright red as the realization of what Levi thought dawned. "First, ewww. Second, what kind of woman do you suppose me to be to spend her vacation with two men!"

"A popular one?" Ben said, breaking the tension.

Trinity picked up a cushion and hurled it at his head in response.

"Come on, guys. I'm hungry." Rainer finally joined the conversation as he sat down at the table.

"So, your name is Ben Emerson, and you're a writer?" Levi delved a little deeper. "You're not Benjamin Emerson the writer, are you?"

"I am." Ben nodded as he reached for a serving of the casserole that Levi had thrown together. "This looks good!"

Levi frowned, and Trinity watched him run through his mind's database about what he knew about Benjamin Emerson. She saw the moment he found it.

"He didn't kill his wife," Trinity whispered.

"No, I didn't. Although it's touch and go with the current one." Ben joked.

There had been a rumor in their home town that Ben had killed his first wife by pushing her down the stairs. It was a rumor that his first wife's brother had started, and it had followed their family around for years.

"Ben!" Trinity reprimanded him.

"It's true, that woman tests my patience to the limit sometimes."

"And you love her for it!" Trinity insisted.

"What was fascinating with those numbers?" Rainer asked, changing the subject.

"Not sure yet," Trinity said, shooting a look at Levi.

"With that look, it can't be good," Ben said around a mouthful of food.

They moved on to lighter subjects as they ate, but afterward, Trinity moved back to her chair to read her book, and Levi went back to her computer to review the notes that Trinity had made.

Rainer and Ben cleaned the kitchen and then got back to work.

It was about an hour later when she looked up to find Levi staring at her.

"What, it's not that bad," Trinity assured him. If money was being stolen as she thought, they hadn't lost that much yet.

"No, it's not that," Levi said, looking back at his computer with a frown.

"What?" Trinity asked as she stood, her stomach rolling. The look on his face was a serious one. "You mentioned Ben being accused, but you never said anything about you." Levi turned the computer towards her, and Rainer and Ben stopped talking.

"What are you talking about?" Trinity took the computer and started to read.

It was a recent headline in the local Savannah paper that accused her of being Illiana Mercer's real killer. As Trinity read, bile rose in her throat. It talked about how Illiana's brother, Connor Butler, had raised the theory that Trinity had killed Illianna in revenge for having an affair with her husband, Christopher Langford, and that the baby Illianna had been carrying was Christopher's.

"Did you know anything about this?" Trinity asked as she turned a pale face towards Ben.

Ben stood up and joined her, reading the article over her shoulder, dropping a few curse words when he finished.

"I didn't know about the article, but I knew about Connor's wild accusations. He approached Lia with them over three years ago." Ben ran his hand through his hair as he looked in desperation at his sister, watching as her newly acquired spark of life dissipated before his eyes.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Her voice was monotone. "Mom and Dad, what has this done to them!" Her voice turned to panic as she turned to look at the date on the article. "This came out this week, Ben!"

Ben's face turned to granite. "I honestly thought I had squashed it when I told him there was no money." He turned the computer to look at the article again. "There's your source, and it's not Connor, it's Christopher!" Ben pointed to the caption under her photo that read that it was courtesy of one Christopher Langford. "I'd bet a hundred to one that he is trying to draw you out by trying to get you to defend yourself, and he knew he could do it while I was away. What he didn't bargain on was that I would be with you."

"Excuse me. I'm going to be sick." Trinity ran to the bedroom where the bathroom was, slamming the door behind her.