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Jeremy nodded at him. “Mate.”
He took Riva by the hand and guided her out of the car, then he followed suit with me, while Cruz got out on the opposite side.
“Sir.” The butler bowed. “Please do come in from the cold, ladies and gentlemen.”
I shuffled into the opulent entrance hall with its large oak staircase decorated in garlands of holly and the intricate plaster designs on the ceiling, not to mention the beautiful chandelier that was the centerpiece of the room.
“Wow,” I whispered to myself. I tapped Ruben and pointed to the luxurious lighting.He was as in awe as I was.
“So where are the parents then? Their wayward son is home. Don’t they want to greet me?” Cruz raised his voice so it echoed around the foyer.
The butler didn’t react to Cruz’s slightly obnoxious behavior. He simply folded his hands behind his back and addressed him with the utmost politeness. “They are currently busy, sir. You mother with final preparations, and your father with work.”
Cruz rolled his eyes. “Working on his birthday and during the festive season. Why am I not surprised?”
“Cruz. Cut it out, will you?” Jeremy ordered.
The butler cleared his throat. “Your rooms are prepared and warmed. Allow me to show you to them now. The staff will bring your belongings to you soon.”
Cruz pushed off from where he’d been lazily leaning against the solid banister of the staircase. “Digby, please. Do you honestly think I need to be shown to a room? I grew up here, for Christ’s sake. I’ll take my friends upstairs.”
“Thank you,” I said to Digby as we filed up the stairs behind my new rock-star boyfriend.
I glanced at the old portrait paintings of people dressed in clothing from as far back as the Renaissance. “Are they your ancestors?”
“Yes,” Cruz said dismissively.
My jaw dropped. “How old is your family?”
“Something like six hundred years old.” He opened the door of a room. “Here we are.”
Riva hung back when we entered the room. “All of us? That won’t raise any questions?”
“This room is like an apartment. There’s an internal door to the next room,” Cruz explained. “We can be together as much as we like without any questions being asked.”
I walked across the plush carpet to a bed covered in a crimson and gold bedspread that matched many of the furniture pieces in the room. Cruz opened a door in the wall I would never have known was there. The room on the other side was even more over the top with its giant gilded mirror and four-poster bed, complete with full curtains.
“Holy shit, this place is insane. I feel like I’ve fallen through time somehow,” I said as I continued to look around.
“Uncle Harold has always liked gothic opulence,” Jeremy said.
Cruz swung the door slightly. “It’s my mother who tempers it with slightly more modern touches.”
Ruben repositioned his glasses. “Where are the modern touches?”
“Downstairs.” Cruz pointed at the floor.
“Right.”
There was a knock, and our bags were brought in by two staff members. I went and stared out the window at the exact same time I saw Augustus walking from his Austen Healey to the front door.
My stomach flipped.
I’d wanted to see him over the last few days to smooth things over, but now I was seeing him from a distance, and I was suddenly feeling anxious. He always messed up my insides. The effect he had on me wasn’t fair.
I forced myself to turn away from the window, only to find Ruben standing close to me.
“I’m going to kill him, you know.” Ruben jerked his chin toward the window.
