Page 40 of Imperial: The Corvidae Family
“You good?”
“Yeah, I just didn’t expectthis.”
“You said you wanted to know me, right?”
I nodded and he reached for my hand leading the way to the door. I had no idea what I was walking into but I followed him anyway. The second we were inside, I smiled. There was the smell of food in the air that made my stomach growl.
The space was nice. Dark hardwood floors, an open-concept kitchen with matte black fixtures. There was a massive sectional taking up most of the living room but it wasn’t just aesthetics that felt good. The vibe was welcoming.
I followed Emir through the living room, feeling the shift in the atmosphere the second his brothers acknowledged my presence. Okay not just two of them, there were three, fine ass brothers. This was entirely unfair.
One was at the kitchen counter, sleeves pushed up exposing muscles and skin littered with ink while his fingers moved over his phone like he was handling something urgent. He glanced up and his brown eyes assessed me in an intimidating way.
The one who opened the door had already dropped onto the sectional, stretching out with a drink in his hand, his expression was vaguely amused. “Yair.” Emir motioned to the brother in the kitchen. “Kades.” He eyed the one on the sofa. “She’s with me,” he stated and neither of them questioned me being there.
His brothers exchanged a look before Yair slid his phone onto the counter and stood, stretching lazily before he spoke.
“Damn. Guess you’re special, huh?”
I raised a brow. “Why do you say that?”
Kades’ smirk deepened. “Because this doesn’t happen.”
Emir delivered a warning look to both of them but was smiling.
“The fuck you looking at us like that for. You don’t do this.” Kades pointed at me.
“Shut the fuck up,” Emir muttered to his brother before turning to me. “You hungry?”
“Um, yes but shouldn’t you give them more than she’s with me?”
Kades chuckled. “Yeah, you’re definitely special.”
I glared at Emir walking toward the kitchen because not only did he bring me to meet his brothers, this wasn’t normal for him.
“So what’s the deal?” Yair asked, pouring a drink from the open bottle on the counter.
Emir lifted a shoulder. “No deal.”
Yair took down some of his drink and his eyes darted between me and Emir.
After a minute, he nodded with a smirk. “Yeah, aight.”
That was it. No interrogation. Emir leaned against the counter, watching with that cocky grin.
“What?”
“You expected something else?” he asked, like he was in my head.
I shrugged. “Yeah. I did.”
He chuckled and I had a feeling this was only the beginning. Dinner with Emir’s brothers was normal. I was entertained watching the three of them laughing and joking in ways that exposed that they knew each other so well they barely had to speak to communicate. Kades spent the first half hour atthe stove, flipping steaks in a cast-iron pan while Yair moved between the kitchen island and fridge, grabbing things without having to ask where they were. Emir had settled onto the sofa and I was tucked comfortably at his side, and when I said tucked, I meant fully wrapped in his space.
His arm was draped over my shoulder and he tugged my leg over his thigh. A constant reminder that I was here with him. He kept me close which felt natural andeasy.
“Damn, Mir, she’s not gonna disappear. Let her breathe for a minute.” Kades turned from the stove, smirking. “How the hell did you manage to pull this one anyway? She’s pretty as fuck.”
Emir grinned lifting a glass to his mouth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
