Jason (Kings of Guardian #4) (19 page)

Faith peeked out of the limousine’s window. A line of cars waited to offload their charges in front of the restaurant. A lush garden-scape extended to the street and was studded with benches and people who lingered outside. The overall atmosphere was beyond anything she’d ever imagined. Expensive, refined and so not Five Guys Burgers and Fries. She was completely out of her element. The cars crept forward slowly and her nerves edged higher with each turn of the car’s wheels.

“Relax. I promise tonight will be fun. Besides, you know Tori, Christian and Jared already.”

“Yeah. Jared hates me.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and scooted closer to the window, looking at the clothes the women in the garden area were wearing. Thank God she’d listened to Tori and bought the dress she had on. The one she’d been considering wouldn’t have fit in at all.

“No, he doesn’t.”

She whipped her head back toward Jason. “Hello? Have we met?”

Jason laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. “Yeah, we’ve met. Let me worry about Jared.” The car stopped and Jason cupped the nape of her neck in his palm, tilting her eyes up to his. “Come on Cinderella, time for the ball.”

She drew a deep breath and nodded. She wasn’t ready for it, but then again, she probably never would be.

The driver and another man who had been in front of the vehicle exited the car. From what Jason had told her, there would be people already at the restaurant to watch over them, too.
Toto, we really aren’t in Kansas anymore.
He waited until one of the men knocked on the car’s window before he opened the door. Jason lifted out of the vehicle and extended a hand back to Faith. She took another deep breath and grabbed his hand.

Naturally, the first person she saw when she got out was Jared. Fear of what the man would do or say froze her to the spot. Her future brother-in-law strode across the open area to where they stood. She moved closer to Jason and shivered as his arm pulled her against his side. Thankfully, her left hand was now hidden behind Jason’s back. The weight of the ring grew with every step Jared took.

He stopped and nodded at Jason before he pinned her with a stare. “I wanted to get to you before we went into the restaurant. I owe you an apology. I’m truly sorry for making assumptions. The only thing I can say in my defense is that my concern was for his safety.” Jared held up a hand when Jason started to respond. “I know I didn’t go about it correctly. I failed to think before I spoke, and by doing that I caused people I care about pain. I never meant to imply your actions led to the events that transpired overseas. Jason, dude, you’ve got to know you’re my fucking hero. I’m amazed at how strong you are.”

The muscle tension drained out of Jason’s body. Faith could literally feel the man releasing his anger. “I accept your apology, Jared. But I think you’ll have to earn Faith’s forgiveness.”

She shook her head. “No, I forgive you for making assumptions. Based on my background, I can understand why you think I’m not the right person for Jason.”

“Actually, I believe you are exactly the right person for him. I’ve never had anyone put me in my place quite as succinctly as you managed the other night. I’m still licking my wounds. I have a feeling you’ll keep this guy on his toes.” Jared’s stern expression broke into a broad smile that Faith echoed.

“Jason!”

The shouted greeting brought them out of their conversation. She registered the man as a King immediately. A more refined, tailored version of Jared and Jason strode through the crowd, drawing admiring glances as he passed.

He grabbed ahold of Jason and pulled him from her arms. The bear hugs and back slapping bordered on physical assault. Jared leaned close and whispered, “Our brother Justin. He owns this and five or six other restaurants. I lost count.”

She nodded and took a quick step back as the man switched his attack from Jason to Jared. Once the back pounding ceased, Jason introduced them. “Faith, my brother Justin.”

Justin moved in for a hug and Faith flinched and braced instinctively. He laughed and pulled away, instead lifting her left hand and kissing the back of it. “A pleasure to meet the woman who won my brother’s heart.” She felt the heat rise in her cheeks as he made it a point to look from her ring to her face and then wink. “I see congratulations are in order.”

“I’m a lucky man. She said yes.” Jason pulled her back into his side and smiled down at her. The love she saw in that smile melted her bones into a puddle of goo.

“Then she is as smart as she is beautiful. Congratulations, both of you.” Jared’s comment startled her. She darted a glance at him to confirm he wasn’t being sarcastic. He smiled at her and gave Jason’s arm a slap before he headed into the restaurant.

“Let’s go inside. Christian, Jewell, and Jacob are already well into the second bottle of my best cabernet sauvignon and Tori has the market cornered on my sparkling cider.” She barely heard Justin’s comment as she watched Jared walk ahead of them. Maybe she wasn’t in Kansas any longer, but Oz had suddenly become a better place to be.

***

Faith’s face burned and her fingers trembled as she wiped tears from her lashes. She cradled her ribs and stomach with her other arm. Jared’s voice rose just before Jacob robbed the punchline and sent the table into another fit of laughter. Honestly, she’d never laughed so much or felt such camaraderie. Jason’s family contradicted everything she’d experienced growing up. There didn’t appear to be any animosity between the siblings, and if the riotous dinner was any indication, the family had strong bonds and were not afraid to express themselves.

Faith marveled at the brothers’ good-natured harassment, and the merciless way Jewell, Tori, and Christian teased them baffled and surprised her. As the evening progressed, their rather loud dinner earned several glares from closer tables. Without a second thought, Justin comped the meals and sent a bottle of wine to the offended parties.

Jason leaned over and brushed a tear from her cheek before he pressed a smiling kiss to her temple. “Still afraid they won’t like you?”

She leaned into his side and smiled up at him. “No, they’re wonderful.”

He chuckled, “They’re a mess.”

“You’re lucky.”

“I am.”

Jacob threw a question across the table and Jason turned his attention away to answer. Faith took the break in laughter as an opportunity to take a sip of her sparkling cider. She watched as Jared answered his phone and lifted away from the table. His relaxed demeanor tightened and the smile on his face dropped. His eyes cut from the floor to Jason. Moments later he pocketed his phone and strode over to them. He leaned down and spoke to Jason. The words were too quiet for her to hear.

She squeezed Jason’s leg.

Jason’s rumbled reply wasn’t as soft. “Alright. If that is the way he’s dealing the cards, set it up for tomorrow morning”. He glanced at Jacob and Jewell, who’d stopped talking and were staring at Jason. “Jared and I need a quick word with you. Jewell, I’ll need you and Jacob, too. Justin, do you have a secure area we can talk?”

Justin nodded and fished out small ring of keys. He tossed them to Jason. “The key to my office.”

Jason pulled Faith closer. “I’ll be right back. We need to make a few calls.”

She smiled and kissed her fiancé. “Do what you need to do. I love you.”

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that.” Jason flashed her a quick grin as he got up.

She watched them walk to the back of the restaurant. Tori cleared her throat, drawing her attention back to the table and the three other occupants who remained.

“It’s alright, this type of thing happens. Not often, but in their business, it’s expected.”

Christian nodded. “That’s a given, especially when they are all together. At least one of them will get called away.”

Justin poured some more sparkling cider in Tori and Faith’s glass. “How are you liking retirement, Tori?”

He nodded toward Christian’s wineglass. The man put his hand over the top. He’d nursed one glass of wine all night long. It was obvious he wasn’t a drinker.

Tori almost choked on a swallow of cider at Justin’s question. “Retirement? I have three babies and one on the way. I don’t know where you’ve been living, but Justin, that is not a retirement. I think I need to go back to work to rest!”

“Congratulations on baby number four, by the way.” Christian leaned over and nudged Tori’s shoulder with his. “What are you going to name him?”

“Her.”

Justin laughed. “Do you know, or are you hoping? We Kings breed boys, you know.”

“Oh, believe me, I realize that. No, I’m only picking girl names this time. Trish, Tabitha, Tonya, Tina…”

“Are ‘T’ names special to you? I’ve noticed all your sons have first names that start with ‘T’,” Faith asked.

All three of her table mates laughed. “Well, since we have some time, let me regale you with the family tradition. It started on my dad’s side eons ago and hasn’t been broken in six generations as far as I know. The first letter of the first name of the first child dictates the starting letter for all the family’s children. For example, the King family has eight children that have names starting with ‘J’. When my mom got mad, sometimes she’d run the entire gambit before she’d hit on the right name—and lord forbid if you laughed because she called you the wrong name.”

Tori snickered. “She still does it. The last time we were at the ranch, Miss Amanda was fussing at Joseph and called him Jason. Jason wasn’t even in the same state. Joseph made the mistake of reminding her of that fact. Believe me, it wasn’t pretty.”

Justin and Christian laughed, obviously knowing something she didn’t. Justin looked toward Faith and explained, “My brother Joseph is… well suffice to say, he has a corner on macho.”

“Scary, freaky macho,” Christian chimed in.

“He
is
intense,” Tori added.

“Anyway, I’ve only seen two people put the man in his place—his wife Ember and my mom. I wouldn’t want to be on their bad sides.”

A bolt of fear ran through Faith. Would Jason’s mom like her? Would she accept Reece?

Tori chuckled. “Don’t believe him, Faith. Amanda is the sweetest woman on the face of the earth, and she happens not only to be my mother-in-law, but she’s also my stepmother.”

Faith blinked.
How the heck did that work
?

Tori giggled. “Let me help you on that one. My dad was a widower. He met Amanda after Jacob and I were married. They hit it off and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Faith blinked again as she connected the dots. “Oh, well, okay. That makes sense.”

“The Marshalls, Tori, her sister Keelee and Frank, their father, are fantastic people. Tori and I grew up near each other. I was younger, but Keelee and her father went out of their way to watch out for my brothers and me,” said Christian.

“Are your brothers still in… South Dakota… is that right?”

Christian pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and dropped his gaze to the tablecloth. Faith had the sudden and strong impression she’d stepped in something.

Tori reached over and placed her hand on Christian’s. “His brother Gregg still works on the ranch with my dad and sister. He lost his father and older brother Clint a while back. But all that is in the past, and I’m blessed to have Christian here in D.C. to help me out when I get stretched too thin.”

“Yeah, about that. I need to let you know I’ve accepted a job. Well, I say it’s a job, but it doesn’t pay much. However, it works with my school schedule for my last term.”

Justin poured the last of the wine into his own glass as he asked, “Have you told Jason?”

“Not yet. He’ll understand. Besides, it’s not like I’m doing anything illegal. I’m going to work with a shelter and resource center for at-risk teens.”

“I’d kick your ass if you were remotely involved with anything illegal, but I can understand wanting to leave the nest and be your own man. I trust you to lead your own life, Christian; however, I reserve the right to check up on you.” Jason’s voice brought everyone’s head around.

“Right… like you need permission, Jace. You run Guardian.” Christian stood and Jason grabbed the man in a bear hug and slapped his back with a resounding thud.

Tori leaned over toward Faith. “Never, ever let one of these guys hug you. Deadly.”

Faith winked at Jason. “Believe me, I learned that earlier.”

Justin put his hand over his heart. “I’m wounded!”

“Wounds aside, I’m afraid Faith and I need to go. Tori, I’ve given Jacob a few tasks he’ll need to see through to completion tonight. May we give you a ride? I’ll take you both home and then I’m afraid I need to head into the office.”

Jason grasped Faith’s hand, and she squeezed his in understanding. Jason had explained his job, and she knew going into the relationship that his work could lead to insane hours. Obviously, it affected not only him but his brothers and sisters as well.