ChapterSeventeen
Jacinta
By the time we get to the kitchen, my teeth are chattering. Although all the rooms are heated, the corridors are not, and a stone building in December in Romania isnota warm place to be. We’ve yet to replace all the moth-eaten tapestries and carpets that lined the walls and floors, all of which helped to warm things up a little bit. I’m hoping a trip to London in the near future will help with that. That’s part of my surprise for Ash.
“Holy shit, it’s colder than a witch’s tit out there.” The two of us stumble into the kitchen, which has a blazing fire in the hearth, and beeline toward the flames, holding out our hands to ward off some of the chill. Riku, Andrei, and Ana Marie laugh at us.
“It’s only going to get colder,” she warns me in her strongly accented voice.
“I know.” Now that I’m warm, I take a seat at the large wooden table where the others are sitting, Ash taking the other place setting. The two of us dig into the hearty stew Ana has prepared. It’s rich and meaty and full of vegetables. There’s a glass of red wine, so I take a sip of that, letting the warmth of it all run over me. I really am going to miss this place once we leave. It has been everything I’ve needed.
“How did your session with the therapist go today?” Riku asks as he leans back in his chair.
“Really good,” I reply, a smile spreading across my lips. “She says I’ve made huge progress, and she approves of me trying to go out in public again.”
“Is that a good idea?” Ash purses his lips with worry, and I pat his hand.
“Yeah, I feel really good, and I don’t have any of the crippling anxiety that I had before. Mind you, the medication she prescribed me is probably helping with that.”
She and I both acknowledged that a little help wasn’t a bad thing, so she started me on a relatively low dose. We’ll see if I need more, especially when going out in public becomes a bigger part of my life again, but for now, in the wilds of Romania, I feel pretty good. Plus, I know I can pick up the phone and call her, and she’ll help me. I also know that I can lean on either of these two men. They’ll be there for me no matter what.
“That’s really good.” Riku’s smile is encouraging, and it gives me the extra boost to bring up what I wanted to discuss.
“So that leads me to what I wanted to talk to everyone about. I’ve made some decisions.” I see Ana Marie and Andrei exchange a glance. I guess it hasn’t been fair to them, making them wait to find out what the fate of this place would be. When I first arrived, all I wanted to do was put it on the market, but now I couldn’t part with it. I’ve grown attached and want it to always be in our family. I want Jax’s kids to be able to come spend summers and winters here. Andrei said the lakes are good for fishing during the summer, and there’s so much gorgeous wilderness to explore. Even my kids could eventually come here… sooner rather than later if Alex gets his way. I squirm on my seat when I think about what he said.
A pinch on my leg has me jumping. “You zoned out for a moment,” Ash says casually while eating his food.
“Ah yes, sorry, where was I? Oh, this place. I want to finish renovating it, but it’s a bigger job than I can handle, so I’m going to have to appoint more staff. Maybe I can get the two of you to do that?” Andrei and Ana Marie exchange another glance.
“Does this mean you’re going to keep the property?” she asks, practically holding her breath, waiting for my answer.
“Yeah.” They clap their hands and start talking fast in Romanian. “Whoa, slow down. Let me finish.” They break off, but neither of them can control their grins.
“We can’t live here year-round since we all have lives and businesses to run, so I was thinking maybe we can turn a small section into a catered and staffed Airbnb. That way you guys will stay employed and busy, and the castle will see life in it when we’re not here. There are so many rooms, I’m sure we can work out how to do it so that when we’re here, guests aren’t impacted, and we aren’t impacted by them.”
Andrei is nodding. “Yes, how about we use the east wing for that? There’s only one door coming and going to the rest of the castle from that wing, and we can lock it to keep guests out of other areas.”
“How about we put a kitchen over there and a movie room and whatever else a house like this could want?” I suggest, and the others agree.
“Oh, we haven’t shown you, but the east wing is where the dungeon is. They couldn’t put it under the rest of the house because of the thermal pools. The guests will get a kick out of that. Maybe we could even turn some of the cells into rooms,” Ana Marie says, and I exchange a look with Ash as he smothers a grin. My lovely English lord is having dirty thoughts. I mean, I don’t blame him. Willow Castle had a sex room, so why couldn’t this have a sex dungeon?
“Great, so before we leave, we need to hire some staff and start some renovations. I want to keep all the decor in this medieval style. I’m going to do some shopping while I’m in London, but I won’t have time to do it all, so I’ll leave it to the two of you to make decisions. Just email it through for approval, okay?” The older couple preen like peacocks, proud to be given such an enormous responsibility. I’m glad they are pleased because it really is a daunting task. I’m not sure what I’d do if they had declined being involved with this plan.
“London?” Ash asks, losing the smirk, and Riku raises an eyebrow too.
“Yes, London. I thought you’d like to spend Christmas with your sister. Aunt Merideth is heading to the US to spend Christmas break at our cabin with the rest of the family, but I’m not ready to return yet, so we’re going to stay at her place. Jace, Alex, Shane, and Cole will be flying out because Spencer is spending Christmas with his mom before she relocates to Australia. I was thinking Edie could come and stay with us for a few days too.”
“Doesn’t your aunt live in a brothel?” Riku asks.
I wince and shrug. “Technically, it’s a gentleman’s club. Most of the time, she lives above it, but she’s recently purchased a house in the country.” I don’t give them any of the details since that would spoil the surprise.
“Thank you so much.” Ash gives me a kiss. Ana Marie titters, and Andrei blushes red. They know that my relationship with the guys is unconventional, but they haven’t been judgmental at all. I guess if their families know of the count’s history, then nothing could be really all that surprising. After going through the library in the castle, I learned my grandfather wasn’t the first deviant in the line. “I’m going to call Edie now. She’s going to be thrilled.”
“Oh, suss out what she wants for Christmas. I have no idea what fourteen-year-old girls are into now,” I call after him, and he waves a hand as he leaves the kitchen.
Ana Marie and Andrei clear the table and make Riku and me a coffee before telling us they are going to the east wing to make plans.
“What about you? Do you want to return home for Christmas?” I ask my silent bodyguard as he watches the flames flicker in the fireplace. Thesnapandpopof the wood are the only sounds in the quiet room.
