Celt. (Den of Mercenaries Book 2) (14 page)

She was still contemplating how to answer his question without actually answering it when he hooked a finger beneath her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“What is it?”

“Just … thinking.” That was the truth at least.

“About what?”

“Nothing that should make you worry.” At least, she hoped it wouldn’t.

But then again, wasn’t that why she wasn’t ready to tell him, because of what his reaction might be.

That answer didn’t appease him either. “Tell me anyway.”

Trapped in his gaze, she would have told him everything, just blurted it out to see what his reaction would be, but she was saved by her phone ringing.

Grateful for the distraction, she grabbed it and answered. “Hey, Mom.”

“Darling, how are you? I’m so glad I could reach you. We were hoping you could make it to brunch.”

Last week her mother had called to let her know that she, her father, and Aidan, Amber’s little brother, would be flying in for Aidan’s college tour. While he might not have been interested in going anywhere outside of California, he had agreed to visit a few schools that their father wanted him to consider.

She had forgotten all about it.

“What time?”

“Oh, we won’t make it to Manorsfield until one at the earliest.”

Manorsfield would be at least an hour away from Kyrnon’s place, and that was on a good day, but it had been raining for the better part of three hours and the idea of taking the metro out there didn’t sound as good.

“Your father is willing to have a car come pick you up—since you insist on not buying one,” she added.

“Tell him thanks, but I don’t need him to send one. Does—”

“Your father—then here, take the phone.” There’s was a bit of shuffling as the phone changed hands, then her father’s voice came over the line. “How’s my favorite girl doing?”

“Hey Daddy,” Amber said back fondly.

She barely held in her laugh as Kyrnon moved the arm he had around her, clearing his throat.

“You’re not working today, are you? We hardly get to see you as it is.”

The curse of living thousands of miles away. “I’m not working, no. I was telling mom that—”

“Is it because of the bloke you call yourself fancying and going on about? Your mum won’t shut up about it.”

“I haven’t gone on about anything!” Amber shot back, her voice rising slightly as she elbowed Kyrnon in his ribs when he laughed.

“Then bring him along if that’s what’s holding you up. Your brother and I want to meet this one.”

Already, her face was hot with embarrassment, and the thought of them grilling Kyrnon about
anything
made her feel slightly nauseous.

“Tell him we’ll be there,” Kyrnon said, obviously loud enough for her father to hear.

“Right then, see you soon, love,” he called back, then hung up.

“Kyr—”

“Should probably get dressed if you want to make it on time,” he said with a wide smile, as though he found all of this amusing. “Traffic is shite about now.”

“You actually
want
to go?” she asked as she got to her feet, going back to his closet to find something to wear. She hadn’t realized it, but she had slowly started taking over his closet with her own clothes.

“Whether now or later, I was going to meet your folks anyway, right? Might as well make a good first impression while I can.” He was still talking as he moved around her, grabbing a pair of jeans. “Because with my work, I can go out of town for days at a time. Sometimes I’ll miss important dates.”

Glancing up at him, she noted the way his voice had changed, as though it weren’t just a statement, but a warning to her. She did notice that he had a random habit of disappearing for long lengths of time without notice—then, there was also that trip to Brussels he took weeks ago.

“Dates can always get rescheduled, you know,” she said softly, answering the question he hadn't asked.

His answering smile told her that was what he had been hoping to hear.

Once she was dressed, makeup applied, and shoes on her feet, Amber waited for Kyrnon to finish his usual walk though before stepping onto the elevator.

“Which car do you want to take?” he asked, pressing a button for them to go down a floor, but not to the level that usually led them outside.

“How many are there to choose from?” she asked, half-joking, half serious. Knowing the kind of things he had already shown her, she didn’t doubt for a second that whatever he was about to show her would be … extensive.

Seven, she saw once they were in the garage that she hadn’t ever stepped foot in. Seven different cars. But as she looked around, she wondered if the number was actually eight considering she didn’t see the Ferrari.

But she did see a Lamborghini.

A Porsche.

Two Jeep Wranglers.

And other cars that she wasn’t quite sure the make of.

“Now you’re just showing off.”

Ultimately, she picked the one that looked closest to a race car, and as she slid inside the passenger seat, there was a four-point harness for a seatbelt that took a bit of effort to get situated.

It wasn’t long before he was starting the car, hitting a button on the middle console, sending the bay doors open, sunlight spilling in as they drove out. Not long into the drive, Kyrnon got a call, one that was over relatively quickly, but it did make him frown as he ended it.

“I have to make a stop,” he explained when she glanced at him in question. “I’ll drop you off first, then come around once I finish. I’ll be twenty minutes, tops.”

Well that sounded … strange. “Wouldn’t it make more sense if we did your errand first,
then
went to the brunch? It seems like more trouble to drop me off first.”

“I have to come alone—Boss’ orders.”

Despite the sincerity in his voice, Amber wasn’t sure she believed that. At the very least, she could have stayed in his car while he handled whatever it was he needed to deal with, but she didn’t press the issue.

It wasn’t like he had given her any reason not to trust him.

Once they arrived at the restaurant her parents had called her to, he laid a quick kiss on her lips before she was climbing out and heading inside, Kyrnon driving off once she was inside the building.

Manorsfield reminded her of the golf clubs her father liked to frequent when he was back home in Napa, and while she didn’t usually frequent them, it was always a nice change of scenery.

She took the stairs to the second level where a few tables were sectioned off at her father’s request. The first person she ran into as she made her way across the floor was her younger brother. It was easy enough spotting him, he had as much hair as she did, and despite the cooler weather outside, he was still in a pair of cargo shorts and vans, his muscled arms on display in the sleeveless shirt he wore.

He stood off to the side, leaning against the wall, his focus on their family across the room, his lips turned down. Amber didn’t have to wonder why he looked so annoyed—Piper’s laughter took care of that.

It wasn’t just her family, apparently, but Piper and her parents as well—and if she were there, Rob would be close by since she acted like she couldn’t make a move without him.

“This has to be the most awkward thing in the world,” Aidan said as Amber stopped at his side, his eyes on their cousin. “Parading a boyfriend around to the same people he’s already met. Your cousin is fucking psychotic.”

She smiled to herself but Amber still said, “Language.”

Though only freshly turned eighteen, he cursed far more than anyone she knew—something he had done since he was a boy, though their father had been trying for years to get him to curb the habit.

He also had the tendency to pass off ownership of people that annoyed him. ‘Your cousin’ or ‘your friend,’ even if they were his as well, as though trying to distance himself from the stupid shit they had done to get on his nerves in the first place.

“But you know I’m right,” he said smiling at her, with all the wisdom a younger brother could possess. “Want me to kick his ass?”

She was losing count of how many people made her that offer lately, but this was a question that Aidan asked her every single time she spoke to him, as though it was his duty to defend her.

“There’s no need. It was a long time ago.”

“Not that long ago,” Aidan said shaking his head. “But it doesn’t matter now, right? Dad says there’s a new guy.”

One time.

One
time she had caved and told her mother about being with Kyrnon. It wasn’t like she had given her much of a choice since they had been in the middle of a conversation when Kyrnon had come around, her mother overhearing him in the background.

Of course she just had to tell Monroe and Aidan, as though she really needed the pair of them embarrassing her.

“Mom talks too much.”

“Does he surf?”

The answer to that question would give Aidan all he needed to know. Since he spent whatever hours he wasn’t in school catching a wave, surfing was a big part of his life.

“Doesn’t surf,” she said, though she wasn’t very sure of that answer. She actually didn’t know if he did or didn’t. “But he drives a mean Harley.” Well … one of the two he drove around on was a Harley.

Aidan seemed to contemplate that. “I’ll give you that one. Where is he now? Not trying to meet the fam?”

Rolling her eyes, Amber laughed. “He’s coming.”

She hoped. She really
really
hoped he mad it back in time.

“Good, because my opinion holds weight. And if I don’t like him, he’s getting cut off.”

“Like you could—”

“Amber.”

They both looked to Rob as he suddenly appeared.

Aidan’s answering scowl was fierce, his irritation clear. Once, the pair of them had been thicker than thieves, Aidan looking up to him as the big brother he never had, but after what he did to Amber, Aidan had made it very clear that he wasn’t to even breathe in either of their directions.

Amber had felt bad, not wanting her brother to lose someone he had been so close to for years, but Aidan had shot that down.

He was nothing if not loyal.

Rob attempted a smile, but it just looked awkward with all the tension between them. “Aidan, could I borrow Amber for a moment?”

“For what?” Aidan asked, genuine confusion in his expression. “She doesn’t have to listen to whatever bull—”

“Aidan, I got it,” Amber quickly jumped in before he could go off on a tangent. Sometimes her brother could get a bit creative when he was pissed.

“Let me know when Kyrnon gets here. Can’t wait to meet him.”

Whether that was true or not, it was enough to make Rob sigh.

“Oh,” Aidan said before he’d barely taken a step. “About two weeks ago, Piper called her mom to let her know she had a raging case of crabs. Of course, then my aunt called my mom—just thought you should know.” Clapping Rob on the shoulder, Aidan raised his glass in cheers. “You should probably get checked out, though I’m hoping your dick falls off. Later.”

At some point, Amber had forgotten all about admonishing her brother for his language, and was instead trying to contain her laughter.

“He’s still angry with me,” Rob said once Aidan was out of earshot.

Amber didn’t bother denying that. “He’ll move on.” Though if he thought they would ever have the same relationship they did before, he was wrong. “How many times are we going to have this same conversation? I thought we were clear the last time you showed up at my door.”

And he had gotten an eyeful of Kyrnon.

“This isn’t about that. Well, it is, but not—” he grew frustrated, as though he couldn’t find the right words. “I want to apologize, not just for that day, but for all the days before it. It shouldn’t have happened.”

Amber wasn’t sure if he meant his last few attempts to try and get her back, or his relationship with Piper, but she didn’t care enough to ask for a clarification.

“Piper’s keeping the baby, so I think we may be seeing a lot more of each other than you would like, so I wanted to clear the air between us.” His smile was sad as he said, “We used to be great friends, weren’t we?”

The best of friends, until he ruined it.

This time, her smile was a little more genuine. “We were.”

“Maybe we’ll get there again,” he said, unable to hide that hopeful note in his voice.

“Maybe,” she agreed.

With a nod, he accepted that. “The one you’re with now … does he treat you good?”

Amber didn’t rub her relationship in his face. She wouldn’t gloat. “He does.”

“Then I’m glad you have him. You deserve it.”

Silence stretched between them after that, until they were joining the rest of her family as they all sat. Unlike everyone else at the table, Piper looked the most uncomfortable.

“So where is he? The mystery man,” Amber’s mother, Avonne, asked.

“Oh, he’s—”

“Running late.”

Kyrnon’s sudden appearance behind her had Amber glancing back in surprise. Despite how much time she spent with him, she still wasn’t used to the way he could move around so quietly.

Of course her mother had to smile wide as she eased to her feet, her manicured brows shooting up as she glanced at Amber. If there was nothing else, Kyrnon had won her over with his looks.

“Such a pleasure to finally meet you, Kyrnon. I’ve heard great things.”

She had barely heard anything at all.

“A pleasure to meet you as well,” Kyrnon said, taking hold of the hand she extended and bringing it up to his lips. “I can see where Amber gets her beauty.”

And there went that Irish charm.

Oh, if he wasn’t laying it on thick now.

Next, her father was standing to shake his hand, though he looked far less impressed than her mother. And as Kyrnon took a seat at her side, his arm stretching across the back of her seat, she couldn’t help but feel elated.

It didn’t take long for him to win them over, sharing interesting stories of his work. And as he talked, Amber noticed Aidan looking at her out the corner of her eye.

When she looked to him, he gave a sort of half frown, half smile with a shrug.

Little brother approved.