Page 5 of Mine to Promise

“The women are in there.” Stone points over to the barn. “And then the men are in there.” He points at a house that isn’t far away from the barn.

“There is also a changing whatever you call it, over there.” He points at the small house in the back of the big house.

“I’ll go over there and change,” Jenna says, “I’ll meet you later.” She comes to me and kisses me.

“I’ll be around,” I tell her as she grabs her bag and walks away from us.

“Bringing a girl to a wedding,” Stone grumbles as soon as she is far enough away. “What the hell are you even thinking?”

“What was I supposed to say to her, you can’t come?” I throw back, grabbing my bag.

“Um. Yeah,” he states and I laugh. “It’s been a week.”

“It’s a month,” I point out, which doesn’t make it any better. We met a month ago when I was working for the company she is employed with.

He slaps my shoulder. “Did you tell your parents you were bringing her?” he asks me.

“Did you tell Romeo you are hooking up with his sister?” I counter and he stops.

“I’m not hooking up with his sister.” He stops walking. “I’m trying to hook up with her, there is a difference.”

“The difference is, you aren’t used to people telling you no,” I point out to him as I walk up the steps to the house, and I can already hear the guys’ voices.

“Here we go,” Stone says, opening the door. “Look at what I found.” He walks in and all the heads turn toward the door.

“Stefano!” everyone shouts my name. I can’t help but smile when I look around the room at all my cousins. I mean, technically we aren’t blood related, but my mother, Vivienne, has been with the family from before I was even born. They are her second family and we have grown up together.

“Look who it is,” I say, seeing Matty, who is standing with a beer in his hand. I drop my bag and walk over to him.

“How you doing?” I ask him, giving him a hug. He slaps me on the back before letting me go.

“I feel so fucking great right now!” he exclaims, his chest puffing out. “What about you?”

“I’m good. Driving in was fun,” I say, chuckling. “I felt like I was going through security checks every five minutes.” He just looks at me. “There are cameras everywhere taking pictures. Did you guys not see?” I ask the room, and all of the guys just shake their heads.

"What did you expect?” I hear a voice say from the front door. “That we are going to let just anyone drive in?”

I look him up and down, but he needs no introduction. I mean, he doesn’t to me because I’ve already checked him out a while ago. Casey Barnes. Owner of CBS Corporation. The biggest security firm in the world. He has major contracts with the US government and some that no one knows about. Well, except for me, that is.

“Relax,” my uncle Matthew soothes, coming into the room. “Stefano.” He comes over to me and gives me a hug. “I see you’ve already riled his feathers.” He laughs. “Casey.” He looks over at the man. “Meet the biggest pain in your ass you will ever meet.” He squeezes my shoulder. I look over at Casey and just nod at him.

“Nice to meet you,” I say, and I can see him sizing me up. When Matty started dating Sofia again, we found out who her family was. I got a call from my uncle, and when I heard the name, even my balls shriveled up. You didn’t do my job and not know who Casey Barnes was.

He walks over to me and holds out his hand. “Finally get to see the man who cracked my firewall,” he jokes, and all I can do is laugh.

“If it makes you feel better,” I reply, shaking his hand, “it took me a whole day.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better at all,” he returns, letting go of my hand. “What would have made me feel better is knowing someone was cracking my firewall.”

“What is going on right now?” Matty asks, looking at me and then at Casey.

“Shop talk,” Casey shares, putting his hands in his pockets and smirking when he knows it bothers Matthew not being in control.

“Where is Dad?” I turn around, looking for him.

“He was with Quinn, Sofia’s uncle,” Matty says. “They are discussing bringing some of the dogs to his rehabilitation center.” My father used to play professional hockey but always had a side business of dog walkers. You would think it was a funny business but he not only opened them in big cities, but smaller ones, too; he was one of the first to start doggy daycares also. Now he has over two hundred and fifty stores all around the country. They cater to dog walking, dog daycares, dog sitting, and newly, dog training.

“Nice,” I say, looking around. “I should go and get changed.”

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