Page 49 of Acquisition
The little boy tugged his sister. "Hot chocolate. Hot chocolate," he squealed, and his sister abandoned her assaults on Ariel immediately to follow her brother.
Penny called out, "Please don't run. Not in socks, at least."
A nanny materialized from some other room. "I've got them."
Penny gave a thankful smile to the short, round Latino woman.
Once the kids saw their nanny, they took off squealing even more.
She called out to them in Spanish, but neither one of the children were listening to a word. Penny and Sebastian looked at each other immediately, and at the same time said, "Those are your kids." They were an utterly normal family, which made me smile so hard.
Once we were all seated, the room filled up with other guests. A tall man with dark hair and a jaw that was similar to Sebastian's went over to Ariel and kissed her lips softly before rubbing a hand over her belly.
He was introduced as Tristan, Sebastian's cousin.
Before I knew it, there were others joining us. Lucas and Bryna, Roone and Jessa. Lucas was the king's brother, and Jessa was his sister. And the three of them looked hardly alike at all. Jessa was black, so there was that. Lucas had a more olive tone to his skin and could have easily passed for Latin American or even Greek. I figured there would be a much better way to get caught up on how exactly everyone was related later.
The rest of Royal Elite showed up, too. Jax, Zia, and a couple of others. Penny saw my confusion and smiled. "Don't worry, this is basically, Team Winston Isles. Tristan is here mostly because he won't let Ariel out of his sight now that she's pregnant. Lucas is here in case anything needs to be stolen, For your safety, obviously,” she said with a wink. “And Bryna and Jessa are here for moral support.
The princess grinned and waved. "Anything you need. I might have to slip out for a call though. I’m on London time."
"Oh, you work in London?" I asked.
She nodded. "We should have met last week. We could have gone shopping or something. I'm always looking for new friends in London."
"Oh, it would be nice to know someone there."
She gave me a big smile. "Well, next time you're there, look me up. We'll have lunch."
The room was loud and boisterous. And despite being terrified and still tense with Atticus, who sat next to me like a statue, the warmth enveloped me like I'd been sucked into a massive family.
The king checked his watch and frowned. "We have one more coming, right?"
I lifted my brows. "Someone else? Let me guess, a security expert?"
Penny shook her head. “No, someone who's going to make you feel a lot more comfortable."
I turned to Atticus, and he shrugged. "You haven't seen your sister in months."
When Morgan was led in by an older white man in full butler's livery, I sprang up. "Morgan,” I squealed.
"Oh my God, Gwen, it’s so good to see you!” She turned to Atticus. “What’s the deal here anyway?"
He merely muttered, "It's complicated."
My sister ignored him and wrapped her arms around me, squeezing tight. "I've been worried about you. Lance said you were fine, but it's better to be able to see you myself. And what's with all the security protocols? This morning, I had six men at my door and was riding around in a bulletproof car. Not that I minded, because, oh my God, every flavor, Gwen. They have every single flavor here. I might never leave."
"No, you have school to finish."
"They have college here."
Bryna spoke up with a, "Here, here, sister."
"See? The cute brunette agrees." Morgan stuck her tongue out at me.
I rolled my eyes. "Jesus. You're not leaving school. Three more years at NYU, then you can move to the islands."
"Ugh, you're ruining my fun. But I will have fun while I'm here.” She turned to Atticus again. “Hey, asshole, why all the security?"
