“And if I were making your dinner, maybe I’d be worried about what you thought.” Nessa stuck her tongue out at him.
I heard footfalls and turned to see Sebastian coming down the hall to join us.
He smiled at me. “You look really nice, Jessie.”
Austin glanced over his shoulder and then did a double take, his gaze sweeping down my body and then lingering on my face. His shoulders came around slowly, as if some other force were turning him.
“You look beautiful, baby,” he said softly, taking the few steps toward me.
“Yeah good, go bother her,” Nessa said before pointing at his back with the knife and catching my eye. “How can you stand him? He’s a know-it-all in the kitchen. It’s smothering.”
“Maybe take a lesson—you might learn something,” he replied, full of bravado. Nessa rolled her eyes.
“This is a strange setup for a kitchen.” Sebastian stood next to the windows lining the wall.
Below them was a bench seat topped with pillows and a cushion. “Is this bench seat in case the cook wants an audience or something?”
“Probably, and I’m sure he made plenty of use of it,” Nessa replied. “His head is big enough to think he’s some sort of celebrity chef.”
Austin’s grin was cocky, his demeanor uncommonly loose around them right now. “I didn’t design this house, nor did I remodel it. I decorated the interior and went with it.”
“Which is the only reason I’m saying anything.” Sebastian turned around and sat down. “I don’t even have a great view of what you’re doing, Nessa. I’d rather sit at the island.”
“Except you can’t because of how it’s positioned in the kitchen.” Austin’s gaze drifted back to Nessa’s cutting board. “The design is not well thought out, something I didn’t care about at the time. I was more interested in the size of the house.”
“No surprise there,” Nessa said, “your being a guy and all.”
“Okay, we’re going to head out.” Austin opened the pantry and grabbed out a bottle of red. He looked at the bottle, frowned, and then looked at another. Then a third.
“What is it?” I asked, debating on putting something in my clutch. It wasn’t like I’d need money or anything, though.
“Nothing.” He hefted the first bottle. “Ready?”
A wave of butterflies washed through my stomach. I was about to meet the in-laws, who had a bunch of shifter rules I was still learning. Hopefully Mimi would help me keep out of trouble.
“Yup.” I stepped in close to him so he’d drape his arm around me.
He steered us toward the hall leading to the front door but paused at the edge of the kitchen. He turned back to face the mages.
“Don’t burn my house down.”
“Hah!” Nessa pointed a knife at him. “You and I are going to have a cookoff, bub, and I am going to rock your world.”
“What amazing delusions of grandeur you have.” He started forward again.
“You look great, by the way, Jessie,” Nessa called. “Knock ’em dead!”
“Not literally,” Sebastian added.
“She’s fun.” Austin opened the front door for me, waiting for me to go first. “If you didn’t notice it, the garage is just on the side of the house.”
We’d sent back all the rented luxury vans, and Kingsley had said he’d get the team some
transportation in the meantime.
He paused after opening the detached garage, staring at a white Ford Taurus that had to be ten years old or more. It had a dirty windshield, iodized paint in some places, and a small dent in the driver’s door.
His look my way was bewildered before he led me to the passenger side and pulled open the door. Before stepping away, though, he bent in to inspect the seats.
“Doesn’t look like you’ll stick to anything,” he murmured, before heading to the other side and peering in there as well. He grabbed a set of keys off the hook near the back before climbing in.
“You guys just keep your keys in the garage where anyone could steal your car?” I asked as he gingerly threaded the key into the ignition and turned it.
With a cough, the car roared to life, much louder than it had any right to be. The radio blasted Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” from a cassette tape deck.
Austin tilted his head to the side as a smile crossed his face. He rested his hands on the steering wheel for a moment, looking through the windshield at nothing.
“Not when I had my Bugatti,” Austin finally said, putting the car into gear. “I abandoned it years ago on the road when I decided to cut across the mountain. I asked him to get me something to drive around while I was here. He clearly thinks this is funny. And given his scent is all over that garage, no shifter in their right mind would touch it.”
He drove in silence for a moment as the tape played.
“I should’ve backed down earlier,” he finally said. “The last thing I want is to cause trouble in this territory. I’ve done enough of that for a lifetime. I want to reconcile with my family. I want to be on good terms with them again.”
“I know,” I said, patting his thigh. He grabbed my hand and held it. “But you also have to remember that if we don’t hold up our end of the bargain and do all we can to help secure this territory, then you won’t have a family. None of us are going to survive. Mimi made a good point. I mean, if something as logical as clearing out Momar’s spies affronts him, we’re butting up against some real problems.”
Austin sighed and shook his head. “I’m not sure what I thought this homecoming was going to be like, but it hasn’t started out great.”
“It’s going to be fine. Let’s stay happy and fun and easy at this dinner and not talk about work. It’ll be good.”
He squeezed my hand. “I should warn you, Mimi and Earnessa don’t really get along.”
“I’d already gotten that impression.”
“And my mom likes to tell my brother how to do his job. It creates tension, especially when too much wine has been poured.”
“I’m happy to stay out of it.”
“And Kingsley likes to enjoy a cigar and a brandy in his study.” Austin paused for a brief moment.
“Men only. You’ll be left on your own for a bit.”
“I told you before, Austin, I’m well versed in handling all sorts of family drama, including the kind that’s directed at me. I’m a pro at being neutral. It’ll be great.”
He squeezed my hand again before pulling it away to turn onto a long driveway leading up an incline and to a large house. The entranceway had a wood trellis over it, flanked by windows with white shutters. A few cars were parked around the side, all of them fancy and newish, including a sporty BMW, a Lexus SUV, and a Mercedes sedan. It was like arriving at my ex-mother-in-law’s house.
Another wave of butterflies invaded my stomach. At least Mimi was here. I had to keep reminding myself that I had her. And Kingsley, if he didn’t run away to the men-only part of the house. The two of us had always gotten along.
“Here we go.” Austin left the keys in the ignition and climbed from the car, his own nervousness coming through the bonds.