Page 21 of His Fate

"Now that, I'm sure I don't have enough food to cover. I have to be able to plan in order to feed my house as well as four men as big as you."

Kai smiles up at me with a lifted brow. "I am the tallest."

"I noticed." As if it's totally normal and not at all presumptuous and a tad hopeful, I take his hand and pull him from the motorcycle to start leading him to my front door. "But you and Andrej seem to be only a half an inch apart, maybe an inch between you and Henrich and Milos."

"You are very observant, my beloved."

Internally, I swoon at the term of endearment. I probably shouldn't because it won't last and frankly, it should probably weird me out that he calls me that after knowing him all of two days but it doesn't, so swoon I will.

"Hello!" I call out in my usual greeting, though it's a little shaky since I'm not alone.

I kick off my shoes and smile when Kai follows suit without question, but I giggle when I see his giant biker boots sitting next to my tiny in comparison All Stars. Then I turn and immediately stub my toe.

"Shit!"

"Josephine, are you—"

Dad wheels around the corner just as I drop my purse and clutch my foot. He looks at me with a smirk that fades the second he sees Kai, who straightens up and clasps his hands behind his back.

"Hi, Dad," I grumble. "I brought a friend home for dinner."

He arches a brow then goes right to his marker board.A friend?

I nod and open my mouth to make introductions but don't get the chance.

"Good evening, sir. I am Kasimir Dragovihk, Josephine's gentleman friend." Kai steps in front of me and holds out his left hand for my dad to shake. "Thank you for allowing me into your lovely home."

Dad eyes him up and down skeptically, shakes his hand then goes back to his board.Hank Timmons. Sgt. Hank Timmons.

I roll my eyes and look at Kai. "Ignore his obvious attempt to assert dominance." Dad scowls at me and I snort. "What? I'm not wrong, am I?"

Dad huffs then ignores me as he writes.What exactly are your intentions with my daughter?

"Dad!"

Kai holds up a hand and smiles. "It's a valid question, Posey." Making intense eye contact with my dad he states simply. "My intentions are true. I plan to woo your daughter, as long as she agrees, then I intend to make her mine."

My eyeballs all but launch out of my skull while I look between the two alpha idiots having the most intense staring contest ever in the entryway, and when neither of them blink for a really long time, I get very nervous.

Then my dad gives Kai a firm nod, scribbles on his board and turns it toward us.You want a beer?

Serious alpha male macho shit right there, let me tell you.

We head to the dining room where Dad and Kai sit at the table chatting about their shared appreciation for the Giants (which scored Kai major points), beer, their military backgrounds, careers in public service, and my least favorite topic, me.

I learned a lot from listening to Kai answer my dad's questions and respond to him.

His family was one in power back in Slovakia, his father was their ”ruler,” as Kai put it. He and his brothers all served in his father’s army most of their adult lives. Their parents died recently in some sort of civil war which is why they left home in hopes of starting over.

Kai didn't like talking about losing his family or leaving his home. I could feel his sadness, his heartache, so intensely that I actually shed a few tears while I put the finishing touches on dinner.

When I joined them at the table to eat, I just watched them talk while they compared the differences and similarities between our military and theirs; discuss the Giants’ hall of famers and classic games; over-analyze the brewing techniques that go into making their favorite beers.

Then dad asked how we met and I held my breath when Kai told him, including the fact that it was only a day ago.

Thankfully that didn't seem to faze my dad and he instead took the opportunity to start sharing embarrassing stories from my childhood.

Dad told him about the time I peed in the confessional at church because I thought it was a bathroom.

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