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“What were you being bossy about?” Garrick followed Bastian to the fridge.
“I wanted to know what they were talking about.” Bastian grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
“How close is she to this guy?”
Bastian raised an eyebrow.
“He’s nothing to be jealous over,” Bastian assured him. “He’s closer to her in age, that’s all. And he never stops her from doing stupid shit, like sneaking out to sing at a club instead of going to the party where she’s supposed to meet her father.” He wasn’t completely irritated by that action anymore, he could admit. If she’d gone to that party, she might be engaged to Chad right now instead of being here with him and Garrick.
“That doesn’t make me feel better.” Garrick went back to the window to watch her.
“Isn’t your brother on his way over? Shouldn’t you be in your office working yourself into a frenzy of anger and unreasonable stubbornness?”
“All three of them are on their way here,” Garrick grumbled. “And it’s not unreasonable to expect things to go my way.”
“Oh, no. Perfectly normal.” Bastian nodded.
The back door opened, and Ariella, along with a cold gust of wind, entered the kitchen. She placed her phone on the table.
“Did you have a nice conversation?” Bastian asked, sipping his water.
She looked up at him with narrowed eyes and a sweet pink tint to her cheeks where the wind kissed her.
“Not really. He’s busy or something. I just wanted to double-check that no one has alerted my father that I’m not there. But he wouldn’t take my call. He finally texted to say he was working on something, and he’d call later.”
“Henry hasn’t called me. If he knew you weren’t home, he’d call me.” Bastian helped her out of her coat and took it to the mudroom to hang up.
“Why wouldn’t he take your call?” Garrick asked.
“He said he was in a meeting.” She shrugged. “A vague answer, but one I get a lot.” She shot Bastian a look as she rubbed her hands together, probably trying to warm them.
“Talking about meetings,” Mrs. Antoinette’s cheerful voice carried from the entranceway. “Mr. Titon? Your cousins and your brother are here. They’re in your office.”
“Already?” Ariella glanced at the clock on the wall.
“Well, let’s get this over with.” Garrick walked past her, pawing her hand into his.
Bastian stepped ahead of Garrick and stopped them just outside the office door. “Before we go in there, promise me you’ll behave.” He moved his gaze from Garrick to Ariella. “We’re all going to discuss what’s happening, but you can’t lose your temper if you’re not getting your way.”
Her mouth dropped open. “What are you talking about? I don’t do that.”
“You’re right. Temper tantrums aren’t your thing.” He swung his eyes up to Garrick. “You promise.”
Garrick’s jaw clicked. “Bastian.” A warning. Bastian was getting close to the line with Garrick. While their relationship had always been close, neither had ever tried to take the dominant role. But the tension in Garrick’s tone suggested that could change if Bastian snuck any closer to the trigger.
“He’ll behave,” Ariella promised as she patted Garrick’s forearm. “We both will.” She quickly added when Garrick turned a dark glare down on her.
“I can easily take you upstairs and paddle that sweet ass of yours before the meeting.” Garrick threatened.
Bastian knew it was an empty threat. Garrick wanted his family far from his house as quickly as possible, but Bastian enjoyed watching her pupils dilating as her cheeks burned red with a new blush.
“Okay, no more teasing.” She vowed and let go of his hand.
Garrick opened the office door and gestured for Ariella to go first. When Bastian tried to step in front of him to go in after her, Garrick leaned into his ear.
“And you. Keep it up, and it won’t be your ass I fuck tonight.” He growled into Bastian’s ear. A tremor of excitement shot straight through his body at the threat.
“Empty threats don’t work on me,” Bastian shot back. “Besides, I can deny you just as easily as you can deny me.”
