“That’s him,” Aaron said, his gaze never leaving me.
“Who?” I asked but had already moved toward the door to open it. My instinct to always be the first to open the door, in case there was a problem on the other side, was ever present.
“Jeremiah?” Jeremiah Guilia was the family’s jeweler. He had a prominent store not too far from Townsend Industries, but he made house calls for the family. Jeremiah often paid a visit when anniversaries or holidays would come up or just when one of the Townsends wanted to buy a new piece of jewelry for his wife, which wasn’t an uncommon occurrence.
“Brutus.” His smile was affable as his eyes wrinkled at the edges. His tan seemed to become even more pronounced when he smiled. The man had no doubt just returned from some sort of vacation. With as much as the Townsends tended to splurge with him, he could retire on a private island somewhere.
“Gentleman,” Jeremiah greeted as he entered the office.
I shut the door again and watched as Jeremiah rolled a small suitcase over to the long table in Aaron’s office.
Tyler strolled over and peeked over Jeremiah’s shoulder as he set up the display of jewelry he brought with him. Tyler whistled. “You pulled out the big guns for this one.” He slapped Jeremiah’s shoulder.
“That was what I was instructed to do,” Jeremiah returned.
“That you were,” Carter interjected.
I cleared my throat. “Would someone like to tell me what this is all about?” There was a tension in my voice that I tried to suppress. Yes, this was part of my job sometimes, but I felt slightly uncomfortable watching one of the brothers pick out a necklace or whatever for his wife, while I still craved to get home to mine.
Not my wife,the reminder in my head growled.
Not yet.
A situation I planned to change soon enough.
“It’s for you,” Joshua said, bringing my attention back to the men in the room.
I creased my brows and waited for further explanation.
“Come on, big guy,” Tyler urged, moving closer and pulling me by the arm toward Jeremiah’s setup.
When Jeremiah stepped aside, I spotted the array of engagement rings that he’d brought with him.
“What the hell is this?” I asked, still eyeing all of the differently cut diamond and other precious jewels.
“It’s our gift to you,” Aaron said as he moved to stand beside me.
Joshua flanked my other side while Tyler and Carter moved to the other side of the table, standing across from me.
“I knew you were a goner the minute you extended your trip in Mexico,” Tyler said. He chuckled. “I told Aaron Brutus would only ask for more time off because he found the woman he’s going to marry.”
Aaron grunted, which for him meant he was cosigning what his brother said.
“That day in the office when you asked Aaron about being a father was when I knew,” Joshua said.
“And then we met her at the gala,” Carter added.
All four of them looked between one another and then their gazes landed on me.
“She’s legitimate,” Aaron surprised me by saying. “She loves you.” He cleared his throat and looked as if he wanted to say something else.
“What Aaron is trying to get at is that we love you, too,” Joshua started. “We haven’t done the best job of letting you know that you’re more than just our bodyguard.”
“Personal protection specialist,” I corrected.
They all chuckled.
“You’re as much a part of our family as any one of us is. We’d be lost without you. So …” Tyler outstretched his hand over the rings. “We also know you’re shit at picking out jewelry.”
