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“Wouldn’t someone have spotted me through the car windows if they were looking?” I ponder.
“They have a blackout coating to them. Meaning, we can see out, but nobody can see in,” he answers.
“That’s spectacular,” I praise. “I didn’t know that was a thing. Is it legal?”
“It is for us.” He chuckles. I’m not fixing to ask him to expand on that. It says enough. Apparently, these men have that clout I had originally been worried about. But there’s a difference between these men and my brothers. They may be just as lethal and scary, but their eyes aren’t dead.
Spying out the window, my jaw drops in awe. This isn’t a house—it’s a monstrosity. A castle. And it’s very well-guarded and protected if the high brick wall and solid steel gate is any indication.
“Wow,” I say as we pull up. I watch in fascination as men surround the vehicle. Some have mirrors on long poles and others lift the hood and check inside the engine. “What are they doing?”
“Checking to see if our vehicles are clean,” Luca answers in amusement.
“Clean of what?” Mera inquires, her face pressed against the opposite window from mine, watching the men’s every move with marvel.
“Bombs, bugs, drugs, or other paraphernalia that could be used against us as entrapment,” Luca nonchalantly remarks.
“People do that to others?” I grimace. How could others be so bold and cold as to put someone behind bars for life just to be vengeful?
“You’d be surprised to know what some would do to get ahead,” Julius laments.
“It’s uncouth and disparaging,” I say with an added huff. “Parents should be ashamed of themselves for not giving their children morals and values.”
“Everyone’s morals and values differ,” Luca excuses. “Depends on what lifestyle you're born into.”
“It takes more energy to be bad than it does to be good,” I defend.
“That it does,” Julius agrees.
Once the car is cleared, we slowly inch through the gates and the property. Even though it’s nighttime, I can see it is gloriously landscaped. The grass is a plush green. The bloomed flowers are a myriad of assorted colors, and the bushes as well as the trees are neatly trimmed.
“Your home is beautiful,” I tell the brothers.
“Thank you. Our father and mother designed the entire place. We’ve expanded it some, added in some extra protective details, but it still feels like home,” Julius quips. “The underground bunker, or city, as my son and crew call it, was started forty years ago. We’ve put our twist on it. It’s livable instead of being used only for a temporary hideout.”
“Is that where they’re going?” I watch as the second car drives into some sort of cargo elevator, designed only for cars to go up or down on. It’s marvelous, something I’d never thought was more than a fantasy.
“Yes. They’ll go down twenty feet and be dropped in the subsurface lot. After you girls get your bearings, we’ll take you down there and introduce you to the rest of our family,” Julius says as the car shuts off. “Ready to start the rest of your life?”
“More than you’ll ever know.”
Julius
Since we didn’t knowthe women’s sizes or preferences as far as clothing and essentials go, we had Stella, Star, and whoever else they recruited, do some catalog shopping for some generic things. They compiled a list, and I sent a few of my men and their wives to the stores.
From what trivial things we grabbed and had sent here ahead of us, their belongings are meager and lackluster, no colors or patterns. Everything is muted in shades of gray, black, and brown. I understand that they didn’t have many choices, but I wanted to let the ladies know that now, they do.
They won’t be able to personally shop at stores for themselves due to the danger following them, but the world is their oyster now, and I have people willing to do the footwork.
“We’ll do a thorough tour tomorrow. Breakfast will be brought to you as soon as you’ve woken,” I announce as we walk into the mudroom, which leads into the house directly off the garage.
“This room is as big as our dorm was back at the abbey,” Shayne states as she twirls around, taking everything in. She acts like our utility room is a five-star resort, reminding me how sheltered she’s been. “Even our laundry and commissary combined wasn’t this big.”
“So, we didn’t get a chance to talk, but Charlee made certain promises to us that we took her word on, and nobody’s discussed it,” Mera pipes in.
“Luca’s taking care of that for you,” I promise. “As soon as we get to the family suite, he’ll work those details out with you, Tammera.”
“Mera. My friends call me Mera.”
