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“Morning, Angel. How did you sleep?” he asks, as he leans over to press a sweet kiss to my lips.

We’ve woken up together the same way since the day things changed, and still my stomach flips like it’s the first time. I answer him the same way too. “I slept well, like I always do when I’m with you.”

I mean every word. Before I started sleeping in his bed, my nights were plagued by nightmares, and I’d barely get any sleep before the terrifying dreams would wake me up.

Now, it’s like I have my own personal protector who keeps them away. And if, for whatever reason, I do have a nightmare, Evan takes care of me and helps me through it, holding me in his arms to remind me I’m safe.

His phone rings again, reminding us both of what woke him up in the first place. With a soft groan, he rolls over and grabs it off his bedside table, where it’s on charge. He takes a look at the screen, grumbling something I can’t hear under his breath, before he finally answers it.

“Why the fuck are you calling me at seven in the morning?” Evan snaps at whoever is on the other end of the phone.

I look at him questioningly, my brow furrowed in confusion, and he quickly puts the phone on speaker, so I can hear the conversation.

“Good morning to you too, you miserable bastard,” Kian says, sounding far too chirpy for this time in the morning.

“Seriously, Kian. There better be a damn good reason why you just woke me up,” Evan snaps, his knuckles turning white as he grips the phone tightly.

Even though I know he quite likes Kian, the guy is far too perky most of the time, and that drives Evan crazy. Personally, I think Kian acts worse just because he enjoys winding Evan up—he does it in a slightly different way with Kellan too— but I keep that little bit of information to myself. It’s cute watching Evan get irritable, and then have to rein it in when he remembers they’re family.

“Do you remember what today is?” Kian asks cryptically, and Evan groans.

“No, asshole. I don’t even know what fucking day it is, so why don’t you enlighten me?”

“It’s Wednesday. In three days, it will be two months since the auction. Today is the day we agreed to have the family meeting about that,” Kian replies, sounding far more cryptic than I would have liked.

Evan’s eyes widen dramatically as what Kian is saying registers with his tired brain, and when he casts his tentative gaze over to me, I can tell there’s more not being said.

I clear my throat, making my presence known. “Morning, Kian. Are you talking in riddles on purpose, or because you took a wild guess that I’d be able to hear your conversation?” I snap, my glare flicking between the phone and Evan.

“Morning, Tee. Lovely to hear from you again. How are you? And to answer your question… I’m gonna go with a bit of both,” Kian sings jovially in a way that makes Evan wince from the volume.

“I’m fine, Kian. But I don’t want to be kept in the dark, so tell me what you’re talking about.” My voice raises as panic starts to set in. Sometimes imagining the worst case scenario can be so much worse than knowing the truth.

Evan lets out a sigh next to me, before he speaks to the phone. “I will tell her, Kian. What time’s the meeting?”

“Nine. So I’m guessing people will start arriving anytime after eight. Will that be okay, or do you want me to delay?” Kian replies.

Evan shakes his head, then remembers Kian can’t see him. “No, that will be fine. We will be ready.”

“Good. And, Teigan, when Evan is explaining all of this to you, please remember that we’re your family, and we will always have your back,” Kian responds, sounding completely sincere and professional, which is so startling compared to his relaxed, ‘I don’t take anything seriously’ side.

“Thanks,” I say, though I’m still somewhat confused as to what the hell I’m thanking him for. Though, hearing him say we’re family, so the Doughtys will protect me, means everything.

Evan hangs up the phone after saying bye to Kian, a sheepish look on his face. He holds his hands out, as if to stop me before I launch into my barrage of questions.

“Before we get into this, we don’t have time to have a massive argument. We have less than an hour before my whole family will start arriving for a big meeting. Before they get here, I’d liketo shower, get some food, and have at least two cups of coffee, to help dull the grating sensation that comes from hearing Kian’s fucking annoying voice this early in the morning. So, I will keep this short and sweet, but I promise you, as you’ll be part of the meeting, you will be fully involved. There will be more than enough time for you to argue about this later. Is that okay?”

I glare at him, trying to decide if he’s trying to get out of something with his smooth words. But since he is including me, I can’t argue with that.

“Fine. I’d like to do all those things too. Plus, I’d like to clean the house a little so your family don’t think we live in a hovel.”

Evan chuckles, his cheeks heating a little. “Actually, the house will most likely be clean by now. I had one of my family’s cleaners come in early this morning. The only thing we will need to do is hoover, as I didn’t want to risk waking you by having her do that.”

I look at him with a mixture of confusion and anger. “You let someone come into our house while we were sleeping?”

The corner of his mouth tips into that cocky smirk of his. “She’s been coming once a week the whole time you’ve been here. How did you think the house gets so clean each time?”

“You! I thought you were cleaning,” I snap, looking at him like he’s lost his damn mind.