Page 28 of Golden Knight

I pull up into the driveway, parking right in front of the door. Amber looks at the house with curiosity. I decided to explain a little bit more about Zeev and me. “When I got out of the military, as you know I decided to start my own security business. That’s how I met Zeev. He became a brother to me. These people are my family, and you are my family. It’s time to bring my two families together.”

Amber gives me a soft smile. It’s something at least. She leans into me and gives me a chaste kiss. “I would love to meet your family, Jake.”

Chapter nineteen

Amber

When Jake pulls up to a huge mansion, my hands start to sweat. I’ve never even been in a house this size.

When we exit the car, he intertwines his fingers with mine, grounding me. I try to keep my breath even and not freak out. I don’t do well meeting new people. The closer we get to the front door, the more nervous I get. I try to pull my hand away from Jake, but he just tightens his fingers around mine. Like he’s reading my mind, he says, “Don’t worry. You don’t need to be nervous. They’re going to love you.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I love you.”

Before I can respond to him, the front door swings open. In the doorway stands a tall older gentleman, watching, accessing us. I feel his eyes taking us in. The man speaks in a monotone voice, “Welcome, Mr. Grims.”

“Gregory, I told you to call me Jake,” he says as we move past him.

The older man doesn’t look deterred by Jake’s complaint. “My apologies, sir.”

I take a deep breath. Here we go. We both move through the foyer straight into a sitting room. I look around the room and take it in. I can tell rich people live here. The walls are covered in red damask wallpaper and the chandelier twinkles in the middle of the room. A man and a woman are sitting on a black velvet couch. The couple are leaning in and whispering to each other, both engrossed in their conversation.

Jake clears his throat, getting the attention of the two sitting on the couch. Their eyes pop up, and a grin comes across the woman’s face when her eyes meet mine. She stands up, her dark brown hair falls down her back in waves, and she moves toward me as if she is floating on a cloud.

Her smile gets bigger and bigger the closer she gets, “Hi. I’m Blanche. You must be Amber.”

I wipe the hand that is not holding Jake’s against my jeans, hoping it’s not too sweaty before I place it in hers. “Hi,” I squeak out.

The man behind her pats the seat next to him. “Come sit back down, Red. We don’t need to crowd them.”

She lets out a giggle but listens as she turns back toward the man. “Zeev, it’s not every day that Jake brings someone to meet us.”

She places her finger on his chin, forcing him to look deep into her eyes. I’ve never met a couple so hypnotizing. Scratch that. Mikhail and Ella are pretty close.

“Actually, he has never brought anyone to meet us,” Blanche says.

Her comment makes me smile and warms my heart, but I still squirm under their scrutiny. Even though I know I shouldn’t care, it feels good knowing that he might’ve been with other women physically, but no one has had Jake’s heart. He never loved anyone enough for him to introduce them to people he considers family.

It also makes me smile, knowing that he has these people who loved him while I was gone. People who have his back no matter what.

Blanche finally listens to her husband and returns to her seat next to him. After our introductions, Jake pulls me toward the empty couch across from them. “Sit, sunshine.”

I’m still not sure what’s going on, or how to feel about the situation at hand, so I do the safe thing. I listen to him and sit. Jake follows by plopping down on the couch next to me. He then clears his throat and looks at me. “Sunshine, I asked you here to tell you something.”

”What’s that?”

“You know how I’ve told you that you don’t have to worry about The Wolves.”

My face starts to heat, I don’t want to talk about this. I try to pull away, but Jake doesn’t allow me to. Are we going to talk about this in front of his friends? I see both stiffen and straighten up in their seats when he mentions The Wolves.

I glare at him, hoping I’m able to convey my thoughts telepathically. I don’t want to do this right now. He doesn’t seem to pick up on it or doesn’t want to pick up on it, because he keeps pushing forward. “You don’t have to worry about The Wolves, because—“

“I don’t think we should talk about that right now.”

But he doesn’t listen, he just blurts out, “Amber, Zeev, and Blanche are the leaders of The Wolves.”

The blood rushes to my ears as I try to process what he’s saying. When it hits me, I jump off the couch, and pace. “What?” I semi yell.

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