“Can we finally eat now?” Titus bellows as we enter the room, and a woman who looks an awful lot like William smacks him upside the head.
“Manners.” The brunette arches a brow, unfazed by the growl Titus returns in her favor.
William finally steps in, breaking off the visible tension between the two. “Titus, stop staring at my sister like that, and Ashley, hands to yourself, please. We don’t need you antagonizing the beast.”
“That’s right, the beast. Don’t you forget it.”
“You’d like that wouldn’t you.” Ashley mumbles under her breath and I can’t help but chuckle. Wrong move. This brings all eyes back to me and I squirm under their gaze.
“Charlotte, please sit.” Bella pulls a chair and I do as asked.
Aiden sits next to me as the introductions around the table begin. “You’ve already met my daughter Bella and her fiancé William. He motions to them with his hand, then of course there’s Titus.” His jaw clenches and his hand balls into a fist. Meanwhile, my face turns red as everyone glances at each other, wondering what the hell brought on this moment of tension. But Aiden clears his throat and continues before anyone can get their two cents in. “Then here we have Ashely, William’s sister, who lives in Florida but spends a lot of time with Bella and helping out with Harper.”
Speaking of, I see a blond woman resembling a Viking setting up a highchair next to Bella. I see William gingerly plop his little girl down into the chair as the woman scoots it forward onto the table so she has her very own place setting.
At the sight, my ovaries clench and my eyes glisten. I can’t help but feel the twinge of jealousy, wondering if I’ll ever get the chance to have a family of my very own.
“And these are Ren and Cassie, they—”
“Oh, Cassie! Thank you so very much for picking out all of the amazing clothes that now line my closet. I can’t believe the connection you have with some of these designers!” Everyone laughs and my cheeks burn, as I realize I’ve just cut off Aiden—something no one ever does—to gush about clothing.
“I know. I’m chopped liver compared to what my Cassie can bring to the table.” The man sitting next to her, presumably Ren, places a kiss to Cassie’s temple and she blushes.
“Stop. You know you’re the real catch here.” She looks up at him with such adoration in her eyes. These two couldn’t be more adorable if they tried.
“Gag me now…” A man to the right of Cassie makes a gagging motion and the girl next to him giggles. She looks to be in her late teens.
Aiden sighs before motioning toward the man, “This is Hudson and sitting next to him is his little sister, Alyssa.”
The pair visibly flinch at that label, and my first thought is that there must be something more to their story.
“And last, but certainly not least, there is Chef. Her name is Margerie, but she likes to go by Chef. This Michelin Star rated woman gets to call herself whatever she wants and we will all gladly obey, as long as we get some of her amazing cooking.” Aiden smiles and the laughs around the table let me know he’s definitely not kidding.
“Now can we eat?” Titus looks at Ashley like he’s asking for permission and I can’t help but giggle. This man is one of the most domineering, testosterone filled males I’ve ever met. Yet here he is, looking like a little boy asking for his cookies before dinner.
As if on cue, Chef lifts two massive silver domes revealing the entrees underneath. A succulent roast in one dish and a salmon covered in a cream and caper sauce in the other. My mouth waters and my stomach grumbles at the feast before me and I can’t help but whisper, “Yes, please.”
Aiden smiles as his hand reaches underneath the table, grabbing hold of my thigh and squeezes. “Just wait until you see her dessert.”
Suddenly I forget all about the food and my thoughts go straight to the way his grip felt on my thigh as he spread me open. Aiden’s eyes drop to my mouth, the tip of his tongue peeking out and wetting his bottom lip.
“Someone serve the food quickly, before these two devour each other in front of the kids.” Hudson teases, but Aiden isn’t having any of it. He swiftly kicks Hudson under the table, his glare searing into the other man’s scalp as he doubles over in pain.
“Oomph. I was only kidding, man.” Hudson shakes his head, before murmuring, “Kind of.”
Either Aiden doesn’t hear or he chooses to ignore the comment. Either way, the food is getting served and I’m too hungry to care as I dive into a bite of the juiciest chicken I’ve ever tasted. “Chef, I’ll call you my queen if I can get another serving of this!” I smile up at her as soon as I’ve finished my first bite.
“Well, dear. You are welcome to my cooking any time.” She winks at me before continuing, her eyes locking on Aiden. “I have a feeling I’ll be seeing a lot more of you.”
My cheeks flush for the millionth time today—I’ve completely lost track—and the only thing I know is that despite my apprehensions about this dinner, this is the most fun I’ve had in awhile.
With my clothes on, that is.
Aiden
“What do you mean ransacked?!” My voice is unrecognizable even to myself. “Is Sylvie okay?”
“Yes, she was out running errands when we noticed one of our men was missing. We believe it to be an inside job and he was the one who ransacked the home while Sylvie was out.” Jimmy lets me in on the details of what transpired at the safe house while we all sat around William’s table and ate, oblivious to the destruction going on back home.
Home. That isn’t our home, but fuck if Charlotte hasn’t made it feel like one.
Charlotte. She’s going to be distraught when I tell her the news, but there’s no way we could stay there now.
“You there, boss?” Jimmy’s voice brings me back to business.
“Yes. Do our usual sweep and send a team in search of our man. We need answers.”
“Yes. We’ll report as soon as we have something.”
The phone cuts out just as Charlotte steps into the hallway.
“Everything okay? I could hear you all the way in the game room.” She approaches me hesitantly, as if she were afraid I’d detonate any moment.
Poor woman has been conditioned to walk on eggshells. “Come here.” I open my arms wide and bring her into my chest, placing a kiss on top of her head. “What I have to tell you won’t be pleasant. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
“Good news.” Charlotte buries her head into my chest, tightening her hold around me.
“Preston has been served with the divorce papers.”
Gasping, Charlotte looks up into my eyes with so much hope, I’m almost hesitant to tell her the rest.
“That’s great news! Right?” The realization that there’s bad news to share has her smile sinking into a sad frown and I can’t help but bring both of my hands to her face, cradling her as if she were the most precious crystal—because let’s face it, to me she is.
“We aren’t sure if this is Preston’s doing, but the house was ransacked earlier.”
Her beautiful face contorts into one experiencing excruciating pain. “Oh my god! Sylvie! Did they hurt her?”
This beautiful soul, her sanctuary was demolished and her first thought goes to a person, not things. She couldn’t be more different from Clara if she tried.
“Sylvie is fine. Thankfully, she was out running errands while this happened. Like I said, we aren’t sure if this is Preston’s doing. His secretary Mikaela accepted service of the divorce petition but we’ve yet to receive a response as to how he’s wanting to proceed.” I lower my hands to her waist and squeeze, trying to impart as much strength into my touch as possible without hurting her. “I’m here. Everything is going to be okay. If this situation at the safe house was Preston, then we’ll handle it. I give you my word.”
“Your word.” Charlotte’s brow lifts right along with the corner of her mouth. “I seem to be collecting a lot of those lately. I’m quite the lucky girl.”
“You’re not going to feel too lucky when I tell you the rest of the plan…”
Squeezing her eyes shut, she takes in a deep breath before asking, “What’s the plan now?”
“We can’t go back to the safe house now that it’s been compromised, and I definitely don’t want to be driving around with you where you could probably be spotted. So…” I tilt her chin up, looking into her big brown eyes. “We are staying here.”
“We’re what?!”
“Staying here. The boys already have their rooms here on the second floor, right next to Harper’s and we can stay in the guest room. It’s just down the hall and on the first floor.”
Charlotte’s entire face flushes bright red, and I realize what I’ve just insinuated. Quickly trying to do damage control, I add, “You’ll take the bed and I’ll take the couch, of course. This home only has five rooms, and I didn’t want to bunk with the boys on the second floor while you are on the first. Safety measures and all.”
Her eyes narrow, probably calling me on my bull shit. The truth is William is on this floor and this place is locked up tighter than Fort Knox. Still. Nobody could protect her like I would.
Before I can try to justify it any further, Charlotte concedes. “Okay.”
“Okay?” My mouth slacks ajar as I openly gape at her. This was way too easy.
“Did I stutter?” She purses her lips to the side before continuing. “Good thing you don’t snore.” With a wink, this little vixen turns, escaping my arms and leaving me wanting more.
Lord, I’m in trouble.
