Page 23 of Lost Kingdom

“You brought a date to family dinner!” he explodes in a hushed shout. “Aubree! You didn’t think to text me first?” Then he leans closer, whispering, “He’s mafia, honey. I know we don’t tell Mom and Daddy, and I know his family relations is kind of an unspoken thing. I know he’s been around a long time, all of my research says he’s not, like…activemafia anymore, and I’ve seen the way he’s protective of you. So I’m not panicking. Butfamily dinner? Are you insane?”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t bring anyone to dinner!”

“He’s in the dining room, sweetie.” Curtis’ eyes glitter with mischief. He’s having the time of his life, which is great for him and all, but my stomach drops from the anxiety swirling in its depths. “And he’s so handsome. I’m not into the beard thing”—He brings his hand up and touches his cleanly shaven chin—“but that’s not to say beards areless than. He said you’re bringing him this weekend.”

“Hesaid?” Rage bubbles in my blood, burning up and frying my common sense. “Timothy Malone is in this house right now? And he said he’s coming to the wedding?”

“That’s what he said,” Eli sniggers. “He brought wine and kissedMomma. He introduced himself, and then he went out back and fussed in the garden for a few minutes with Daddy. He ran the gamut, Aubree. And now we’re waiting for you so we can serve up dinner.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” I shove my purse at my older brother and swing past him with the rage of a million warriors. Then I growl when Curtis blocks the door, though he raises his hands and side-steps quickly enough. “Good choice.”

I yank the door wide and feel no guilt when it hits my future brother-in-law—he’ll be fine—then I stomp along the hall and emerge into the kitchen to find my Mom mooning over the man I’ve spent the last several years doing the exact same thing to. She stares at him, her chin in her hand, in love, and completely charmed by his easy smile. But his eyes come to me. Playful. Happy. So fucking relaxed, I know I’ll take extra pleasure wiping the damn grin off his face.

“My baby girl is here.” Daddy—Edward Emeri—spots me long before my mother does, skipping around the counter and wrapping me in a hug that smooshes my face against his chest and encases my arms, like he knows I’m about to throw fists. He presses a kiss to my cheek and whispers, oh so softly, “You didn’t think to warn us?”

I pull back, holding my words inside or risk that disappointment parents are so good at expressing. Then I move around and grab Tim by the ear.

He’s a powerful man. No one else would dare.Yada yada yada. I wrench him out of his seat and start toward the back door. “We’ll be back in a moment, Momma. Dinner smells amazing. Get outside.” I practically toss him, body and soul, and know in the back of my mind very few people will have done so in his life.

His father, present for every single event.

“What are you doing?” I slam my hands into his chest when he tries to stalk back toward me. “You weren’t invited!”

“You needed a plus one.”

“I need a cyanide pill, too! Or I will, now that you’ve inserted yourself in my life like this. You can’t come around here, Tim!”

“I wanted to see where you grew up.”

“You didn’t have my permission! I’ve gone twenty-seven years having never brought a man to my home, because I didn’t want to be that person who introduces a new guy every few months after a breakup. You didn’t have my consent to do this.”

“We’re not gonna break up. So it’s a non-issue.”

“We. Are. Not. Together! Why can’t you understand what I’m tellingyou? You’ve asked me out, I said no. You’ve badgered me, I maintain myno. Where is the miscommunication?”

“Words are not the same as feelings.” He steps closer and takes my hands in his, prying my fingers apart so I can no longer ball my fists. “Your heart is not saying the same thing as your words, Aubree. You wanted me before, and you want me now. Yournois pride and nothing more.”

“My pride?” I yank my hand from his grip, bring my elbow back as far as I can manage, then I barrel it forward and slam my fist to the top of his chest.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t move even an inch.

“I’m allowed to be proud! I’m also allowed to decide when I introduce a man to my family.”

“And I’m allowed to knock on a door and accept an invitation in for dinner.” He grabs my fist and brings it up, bravely, to press a kiss to my knuckles. “Did you hurt yourself?”

“Yes!” I hate that my hand stings. I hate that my ego is wounded. I hate that beneath my hate is a woman desperately clinging to her pride. If I take even a single misstep, I know I’ll long for the man who had the chance to prioritize me in the past… and didn’t.

“I didn’t want this.” The backs of my eyes sting. My emotions, forever and always so easily visible on my face. “If I wanted you to meet them, I would have made it happen.”

“I want us to be together.” He presses another kiss to my knuckles, the hair on his chin tickling my sensitive skin. “I want to be your protector, Aubree Grace. I want to be the guy you come home to. And I know you want that too. So how do we get from where we are right now to where we need to be?”

“We go back in time to when you chose to date someone else, like you thought that would make me fall out of love. We go back to when you had a chance to hold my heart, and instead of stomping it into the floor, you hold it gently and never give me a reason to doubt who you can be for me.”

“I was trying to help you!”

“And in the end, you hurt me.” I tug my hands free and bring one up to swipe beneath my eye. “And then you added more damage tonight, coming to my home and invading a safe space I count on. This ismyfamily, Tim. Mine. Not ours.”

“Well…” He swallows, the movement of his throat a visible, audible thing despite the black beard covering his flesh. Then he sets his hands on his hips and looks me up and down. “Would you feel better if I told you I introduced myself to your family as a friend?”

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