“Gregory,” Declan says with a smirk. “It’s a little nickname I gave him when we were kids.”
I hold back a smile. Of course Declan would gift a nickname like that to the cousin he hates.
“What is your plan?” Harrington asks Asher. “We need this taken care of.”
“We’re working on it now. We’ve only just had the last bits of information confirmed this morning.”
“I want to be kept in the loop, Son. As I said, I won’t have this danger threatening my family.”
Asher nods.
Harrington’s words seem to end the family meeting, and Declan and Asher stand. I follow suit.
Catherine turns to me. “I have something you can wear to bed, Ella.”
“No,” Asher barks, and then he shudders. “Sorry. That’s nice of you to offer, but I don’t want Ella in my bed wearing my mother’s clothes.”
Catherine rolls her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, darling.”
“He’s got a point, my love,” Harrington says with a smirk.
“So what, the poor girl will have nothing to wear . . .” She trails off at Asher’s shameless shrug and Declan’s sly grin. “Oh, never mind. I unfortunately know what the Langford men are like.”
I blush. And then blush even harder as Harrington slaps her ass and shoots her a lascivious grin. “Unfortunate, hmm?”
“Ugh!” Declan groans. “Not again! Keep it in your pants, Dad.”
“Oh please, Son. You’re all aware of how you were conceived.”
Declan makes a dramatic gagging sound. “The sooner my penthouse is finished, the sooner I can get out of this hell.”
I shoot Asher a quizzical look.
“Declan just started a remodel on his penthouse, so he’s living here with my parents.”
“Which means I get a front-row-seat to their disgusting ways,” Declan says with a shudder.
Asher snorts. “You act like it’s something new, like they haven’t been this way in front of us our whole lives.”
“Hush, you two,” Catherine admonishes. “Be grateful your parents love each other.”
“We just wish you’d keep your love a little more private,” Declan says with another shudder. Then he turns to Catherine, narrowing his eyes. “Especially you, you’re supposed to be proper and stiff like all good Brits. Outward affection isn’t supposed to be in your repertoire.”
“Well, I didn’t defect from the UK for no reason, did I? Your father’s charm and flagrant affection won me over. And rubbed off on me.”
“That’s not the only thing that rubbed off on you,” Harrington says, kissing her cheek.
“No!” Declan yells again, covering his ears. “That’s it, I’m going to bed before I lose my dinner.”
Harrington and Catherine giggle like teenagers as they watch their second son march out of the room with a huff.
“Let’s go,” Asher says, tugging on my arm. “Before they get even more gross.”
“Wait,” Catherine says, turning to me again. “I will stay out of the sleepwear situation, but if you’ll follow me, I’ll get you some toiletries. I don’t know what’s stocked in Asher’s old bedroom.”
Asher presses a kiss to my cheek. “I’ll meet you back upstairs in my old room.” But then he must be thinking about what we were just up to in his old room, because he shoots me his own lascivious grin, and I can’t help but agree with Catherine—it seems all the Langford men are insatiable red-blooded males.
I’m a bit nervous as I follow Catherine up the stairs and to the east wing of the house. I’ve spent most of the evening in hercompany, but this is the first time I’ve been alone with her, and the fangirl side of me is activating again. I’ve had weeks to come to terms with the fact that Asher’s mother is Catherine Rothschild Langford, but I’m still a bit starstruck.
