Page 14 of Killian
The doorbell gonged at nine-thirty, and I put my hand on Jules’ head before leaving him to answer it.
Indy Bonnie stood on the other side of the glass with the twins, Alex and Rhys, who were the same age as Jules. I let them in and then grabbed the three bags sitting on the porch.
Enzo sent us to play,Indy thought, wrinkling his nose.Cassandra has commandeered Gio, Killy.
Ah.
Jules stood on the threshold of the open French doors leading to the kitchen, having a quiet standoff with Alex and Rhys.
“Jules, these are your, um, cousins. Rhys is a Cendres like Granpa, and Alex is a Flèche like you,” I said.
“Enzo can touch Jules?” Indy whispered.
“He can, yeah,” I said.
Jules held out the chalk in his left hand, and Rhys crept closer, looked back at Indy to be sure, and then took it from Jules’ palm. Rhys giggled then, hugging Jules, and they walked back to the other side of the pool, with Jules telling them the house rules.
“That’s why Enzo sent us,” Indy nodded. “So, you’re the new King of the MacLaden Pride.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “Sophie is my First. She’s taking care of things for me.”
She’d left the boys to draw when Rhys and Alex were afraid to sit down.
The boys were now chattering to each other in rapid French, and Jules was thrilled to have playmates.
I handed Indy his things and pointed to the row of French doors. “All those lead to bedrooms. Pick one.”
“Thank you, Killy,” Indy smiled, told the boys what he was doing, and I stood there to keep an eye on the little ones. He walked out a few minutes later dressed to swim, holding towels and the twins’ suits. “Jules, do you want to swim with me?”
“Papa?” Jules whispered.
“You can do that. Count spaces to the tiles if you get tired, and stay with Indy. Let me get your suit?” I raised my eyebrows, and he grinned.
It took me five minutes to get him ready, and when we made it to the pool again, Indy had three floats. The twins were waiting on Jules, and Indy walked them in, talking the whole time about being careful and telling him when they were tired. I didn’t have to tell Indy Jules was still learning. He’d figured it out.
“Killy,” Sophie called me from the kitchen, and Indy told me to go. He was just as happy his sons had a new friend as they were. She held out her phone to me as soon as I entered the room.
“This is Killy,” I greeted.
“Gio won’t let me have the penthouse!” Cassandra whined.
I rubbed my forehead. “Cass, someone lives there. He’s not moving anyone for you.”
“Oh. He didn’t say that. He just said no,” Cass grumbled.
“Gio doesn’t owe you an explanation.”
“Oh.”
I took a deep breath and smiled, hoping it sounded in my voice. “Cass, you have a new home, you’re downtown, and you can get your nails done. You have a clothing allowance at Styles, and Josh will deliver your food. You’re getting a housekeeper who cooks.”
“I can’t go home?” she whispered.
“No. Gio has other things to do now, so listen to him and do as he tells you.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” The call ended, and my cell phone vibrated in my back pocket as I handed Sophie’s back to her.
