Page 108 of Lovestruck at Sundown
William plated the food on service dishes, and I ushered everything to the table. Aaron helped too. A few minutes later, Lily, Joel, and Naomi were done signing the papers and offered to help too.
We all sat down for dinner and enjoyed ourselves and the company. We ate, drank, made toasts, and laughed. Aaron and Naomi bickered at every chance they got.
When we were starting with dessert, Naomi asked William a few questions about one of the dishes. As William began to explain, Aaron’s eyes widened. He jumped up from his seat, pulled out his gun, and pointed it toward the front door.
Lily and Naomi let out short, terrified shrieks, and William stood and placed himself in front of me. “William, get down!” I whisper-shouted.
“Silence,” Aaron ordered, his hands holding his gun firmly as he took slow steps toward the front door. “I heard footsteps.” His voice was steady. “There’s someone out there.”
“I didn’t hear any—” Lily started to say.
“Silence,” Aaron cut her off. Joel took a similar stance to William’s, standing protectively in front of Lily. Naomi was frozen in her seat, her attention glued to Aaron’s back.
That’s when two silhouettes appeared behind the front door’s frosted glass panels, casting scattered shadows into the room.
“Get down!” Aaron shouted.
We dropped tothe floor at Aaron’s command and took cover under the table. My hands were shaking, and I couldn’t speak. Instead, I searched for William’s hand and squeezed it.
Bang, bang, bang!
“It’s us!” a familiar voice shouted from the other side. Liam. The tension building inside every muscle of my body relaxed, and I summoned my lungs to resume their function.
Aaron slid the door open, his gun aimed at Nina and Liam. They stood with their palms raised as snowflakes poured heavily around them, dusting their shoulders with flurries. “Geez! Settle down, mate,” Liam said. “It’s us.”
Aaron lowered his gun and cursed under his breath. William stood and helped me up to my feet while Joel did the same with Lily and Naomi.
“You scared us to death,” I said, rushing to get them inside. It was freezing out, and Nina wasn’t appropriately dressed for it. She was shaking, and her nose and cheeks were red. I closed the door behind them. “Is everything okay?”
“We tried calling.” Liam brushed the snowflakes off his shoulders as he walked further inside. “But none of you were answering your phones.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. We all agreed to leave our phones in silent mode and away from the dining room table for the rest of the evening to avoid getting distracted.
“Shoes,” William warned, pointing at Liam’s feet. His shoes were covered in melting snow, leaving a trail of water behind him. Nina had taken off her knee-length boots already. She crossed her arms at her chest and shivered. Liam stood behind her, gently kneading her arms to warm her up. The gesture looked natural and comfortable, like they’d been doing that for years.
The Prince Federico Hoax had worked, though. Since that day, Liam had been texting Nina daily and asking to hang out on their own instead of using me as an excuse to see her. Nina was tempted to tell Liam that Prince Federico didn’t exist a few days after that happened, but William convinced her to let him suffer a bit longer.
“So what happened?” Lily asked as we all took a seat at the table. Aaron marched toward the kitchen to fix himself a cup of coffee. Naomi followed him with her eyes as he walked away.
“Nina and I were attending Elias Sterling’s party tonight,” Liam explained. “But some of the roads are blocked. We came here before it got bad. It was safer than attempting to drive back to Manhattan.”
“Oh, man,” Naomi said. “Elias is my client. I’m supposed to be at his party tonight.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to make it,” Nina added. “We were lucky Liam’s car could get us this far.”
Liam had recently purchased a small sports car, which could easily get stuck in the snow. They made a good call by coming here.
“Damn it.” Naomi pulled out her phone and walked away to make a call.
Aaron came back with his coffee and took a seat at the table.A few minutes later, Naomi returned, blowing an exasperated breath through her mouth. “The driver that was supposed to pick me up and take me there just confirmed he won’t be able to make it.” Naomi typed frantically on her phone.
“You are more than welcome to spend the night here,” William said to Naomi. “There are enough beds for everyone. Same goes for you two.” He turned to Liam and Nina.
“Are you sure it’s okay?” Nina asked.
“Of course.” I smiled and grabbed her hand. “God, you’re freezing!” I stood. “Let’s get you warmed up. Can I get you some wine?”
Liam and Nina accepted the offer, so I fetched a couple of wine glasses from the cupboard and filled them halfway with merlot.
