Celt. (Den of Mercenaries #2)(49)

But she did see a Lamborghini.

A Porsche.

Two Jeep Wranglers.

And other cars that she wasn’t quite sure the make of.

“Now you’re just showing off.”

Ultimately, she picked the one that looked closest to a race car, and as she slid inside the passenger seat, there was a four-point harness for a seatbelt that took a bit of effort to get situated.

It wasn’t long before he was starting the car, hitting a button on the middle console, sending the bay doors open, sunlight spilling in as they drove out. Not long into the drive, Kyrnon got a call, one that was over relatively quickly, but it did make him frown as he ended it.

“I have to make a stop,” he explained when she glanced at him in question. “I’ll drop you off first, then come around once I finish. I’ll be twenty minutes, tops.”

Well that sounded … strange. “Wouldn’t it make more sense if we did your errand first, then went to the brunch? It seems like more trouble to drop me off first.”

“I have to come alone—Boss’ orders.”

Despite the sincerity in his voice, Amber wasn’t sure she believed that. At the very least, she could have stayed in his car while he handled whatever it was he needed to deal with, but she didn’t press the issue.

It wasn’t like he had given her any reason not to trust him.

Once they arrived at the restaurant her parents had called her to, he laid a quick kiss on her lips before she was climbing out and heading inside, Kyrnon driving off once she was inside the building.

Manorsfield reminded her of the golf clubs her father liked to frequent when he was back home in Napa, and while she didn’t usually frequent them, it was always a nice change of scenery.

She took the stairs to the second level where a few tables were sectioned off at her father’s request. The first person she ran into as she made her way across the floor was her younger brother. It was easy enough spotting him, he had as much hair as she did, and despite the cooler weather outside, he was still in a pair of cargo shorts and vans, his muscled arms on display in the sleeveless shirt he wore.

He stood off to the side, leaning against the wall, his focus on their family across the room, his lips turned down. Amber didn’t have to wonder why he looked so annoyed—Piper’s laughter took care of that.

It wasn’t just her family, apparently, but Piper and her parents as well—and if she were there, Rob would be close by since she acted like she couldn’t make a move without him.

“This has to be the most awkward thing in the world,” Aidan said as Amber stopped at his side, his eyes on their cousin. “Parading a boyfriend around to the same people he’s already met. Your cousin is f*cking psychotic.”

She smiled to herself but Amber still said, “Language.”

Though only freshly turned eighteen, he cursed far more than anyone she knew—something he had done since he was a boy, though their father had been trying for years to get him to curb the habit.

He also had the tendency to pass off ownership of people that annoyed him. ‘Your cousin’ or ‘your friend,’ even if they were his as well, as though trying to distance himself from the stupid shit they had done to get on his nerves in the first place.

“But you know I’m right,” he said smiling at her, with all the wisdom a younger brother could possess. “Want me to kick his ass?”

She was losing count of how many people made her that offer lately, but this was a question that Aidan asked her every single time she spoke to him, as though it was his duty to defend her.

“There’s no need. It was a long time ago.”

“Not that long ago,” Aidan said shaking his head. “But it doesn’t matter now, right? Dad says there’s a new guy.”

One time.

One time she had caved and told her mother about being with Kyrnon. It wasn’t like she had given her much of a choice since they had been in the middle of a conversation when Kyrnon had come around, her mother overhearing him in the background.

Of course she just had to tell Monroe and Aidan, as though she really needed the pair of them embarrassing her.

“Mom talks too much.”

“Does he surf?”

The answer to that question would give Aidan all he needed to know. Since he spent whatever hours he wasn’t in school catching a wave, surfing was a big part of his life.

“Doesn’t surf,” she said, though she wasn’t very sure of that answer. She actually didn’t know if he did or didn’t. “But he drives a mean Harley.” Well … one of the two he drove around on was a Harley.

Aidan seemed to contemplate that. “I’ll give you that one. Where is he now? Not trying to meet the fam?”

Rolling her eyes, Amber laughed. “He’s coming.”

She hoped. She really really hoped he mad it back in time.

“Good, because my opinion holds weight. And if I don’t like him, he’s getting cut off.”

“Like you could—”

“Amber.”

They both looked to Rob as he suddenly appeared.

Aidan’s answering scowl was fierce, his irritation clear. Once, the pair of them had been thicker than thieves, Aidan looking up to him as the big brother he never had, but after what he did to Amber, Aidan had made it very clear that he wasn’t to even breathe in either of their directions.