Page 15 of My Haven (Bewitched and Bewildered #16)

Genevieve watched the dark woods fly by as they drove. Saying yes to dessert seemed like a good idea two glasses of wine ago.

Her phone pinged. Arlo- They’d never find our bodies out here.

Glancing over she studied Caiden’s profile. Defined jaw, strong nose, and full lips. “Please, don’t be a killer,” she whispered.

He smiled, then pushed some buttons on his steering wheel. After a moment a voice came through the speakers. “Hello, this is Pip.”

“Hey, Pip. Genevieve is feeling nervous, wanna talk to her while we drive?”

“Of course! Hi Genevieve. I know that it’s really dark outside, but we’re perfectly safe with the warriors.”

“Warriors?” she asked.

“Me and the guys are military, of sorts,” Caiden explained.

“Yum,” she heard Arlo say from Pip’s phone.

“What dessert will we have?” she asked.

“Meryn said she’s willing to share her dark truffle brownies, you made a great impression. It was probably the taser,” Pip said.

“Good to know. Tell me about yourself Pip. I’m curious about how you became brothers with Meryn, Nigel and Neil,” she asked.

“Well, I was living with my dad, who was a bad man. He made me eat out of a bowl on the floor, when I was lucky enough to get food that is. Then, he was arrested, and Meryn found me. She taught me about soft bread and chocolate!”

“What the actual fuck?” Arlo exclaimed. “Please tell me someone did something about that asshole.”

“He was totally handled,” Meryn assured them.

“I met Nigel and Neil when I met Meryn, and they helped me learn… stuff and looked after me. Meryn said she was adopting us, and our other brothers back home, Noah and Jaxon. Noah’s family didn’t like him because he liked boys and Jaxon’s family didn’t know what to do with him because he has to use wheels to move around. ”

“That’s fucked up,” Arlo said.

“It is!” Pip agreed. “But then we found out she really, like really adopted us, so we’re a big family now.”

“You don’t know how lucky you are, little man. Many never meet someone as accepting as Meryn or Genevieve,” Arlo said, sounding sad.

“Did Genevieve adopt you too? That’s what sisters do,” Pip said.

“Nothing official like what Meryn did, but we’ll never be apart,” Genevieve said.

“Maybe we should make it official,” Arlo suggested.

“Mike would love that,” she said, laughing.

“Who’s Mike?” Caiden asked, quickly.

“My sister, Mikayla. She’s also military and has been looking out for me and Arlo since our late teens,” she explained.

“Where is she now?” he asked.

“No idea. Her missions are always classified. I just wait for her to pop back up,” she said. “Meryn you’ll have to tell me how you adopted Pip, was the paperwork hard?” Genevieve asked.

“Not really, but I had a friend do it for me,” Meryn answered.

Genevieve turned to Caiden. “How are you the new big brother? Did she adopt you too?” she asked.

Caiden chuckled. “Last year we found out that Meryn’s mother is my sister Amelia’s aunt.”

“Wait, your sister’s aunt, not your aunt?”

He shook his head. “Lily Camden, Amelia’s mother didn’t give birth to me and my brothers. Our biological mother is Abrielle Silverwood. She and my father were together before Lily. But, before my father, Abrielle had triplets with Ewald Ashleigh, who has tragically passed on.”

“Holy crap,” she exclaimed.

He continued. “So, technically, I have three half-brothers on the Ashleigh side, Thane, Justice, and Law. On the Ironwood side, I have two brothers Tristan and Kyran and a half-sister Amelia. But, we never make any distinction, we’re just brothers and sisters amongst us.”

“And Amelia is Meryn’s cousin?” she asked.

“Exactly.”

“How convoluted,” she remarked.

“Don’t even get me started trying to explain my dad’s side,” Meryn teased.

“Meryn’s husband is also our boss,” Caiden added.

“Military right?”

“Yeah, he’s our commander.”

“Why do you have an assistant Meryn?” she asked, genuinely curious.

“Aiden, my hubs, his family is kinda social elite, so his mom thought I’d need someone to help me. He feeds me, reminds me to change my underwear and shows me how to address invitations to assholes I don’t want to see, to events I don’t want to host.”

“Sounds like my ex-family,” Arlo said. “The social elite assholes you don’t want to see part,” he clarified.

“You’re with us now,” Pip said. “And we’ll help you make Genevieve your sister.”

“Meryn, can we get split custody of Pip?” Arlo asked.

“No way, he’s mine,” Meryn answered.

“Had to try,” Arlo replied.

“I am in charge of cuddles,” Pip informed them.

“I bet you’re amazing at that,” Genevieve said.

“He is,” Meryn confirmed.

“We’re here! Time for brownies!” Pip exclaimed, excitedly.

“We’re disconnecting,” Caiden said, then hung up the phone.

She looked out the window. “Caiden, this is a freaking mansion.”

“Kinda. A lot of people are staying here, so we need the space.”

“Like who?”

“Well, my unit lives here. Plus, Aiden, Meryn, Ryuu, Pierce and the boys are visiting,” he said, listing people.

“Who is Pierce?”

“Meryn’s bodyguard.”

“She needs a bodyguard?”

He thought it over. “I think he helps protect other people from her most days.”

“I was expecting maybe a larger house in the burbs, but this is huge!”

“Too much?”

“No, just unexpected.” She watched as multiple persons moved past the window by the door. “Your unit?”

He winced. “Worse, my parents. If I didn’t think you’d freak out and Arlo would call the police, I’d take you somewhere else for dessert and coffee,” he admitted.

“Will they not like you bringing home a random woman and her friend home?”

“No, they’ll love you.” He took a deep breath. “I apologize in advance for any and all awkward conversations that may happen.”

“Do you really not date? You’re gorgeous.”

Even in the dim light, she could see him blush. “I helped raise my sister and work keeps me busy.”

She took in his worried expression, how he kept gripping and releasing the steering wheel and felt her worry melt away.

He was really trying to make a good first impression.

She reached over and pat his leg. “Get me those brownies and a liqueur of some kind and I can almost guarantee this will have been the best first date I’ve had in months. ”

“Really?” he asked, hopefully.

“My last date, the guy admitted to having handcuffs, you’re nowhere near as bad,” she said, then winked.

He went from looking concerned to smiling at her wink. “He doesn’t need taking care of, does he?”

She rolled her eyes and opened the door. “Now you sound like my sister,” she said and hopped out.

Caiden got out and met her at the front of his truck. He offered his arm and once again, accepting just felt right.

He opened the door and led her inside to the kitchen where everyone she met earlier at dinner now sat either at the counter or table.

“And this is?” a lovely woman with brown hair and green eyes asked, the second they walked in.

“You’re Meryn’s aunt, aren’t you?”

The woman looked surprised. “I am, how did you know?”

“You both have green eyes and almost the same shade of brown for hair.” She looked around the room and spotted an older, but no less handsome version of Caiden. “You’re his dad?”

The man stepped forward. “We didn’t want to bombard you right when you walked in.” He looked down at his wife. “Some of us were impatient.”

The woman held out her hand. “Lily Camden, very nice to meet you.”

She shook Lily’s hand, “Genevieve Taylor,” then Caiden’s father’s hand when it was offered. “That’s my best friend Arlo Sommer.”

His father stretched out his arm, inviting her in. “Marshall Ironwood. Make yourself at home.”

“I was promised brownies and some kind of liqueur or coffee for a nightcap,” she said, smiling at them both.

Lily looped her arm through hers and walked her to a chair next to Meryn at the counter bar. “I have a coffee liqueur that may tick both of those boxes. I’ll be right back,” she said, before she walked out of the kitchen.

Meryn turned to her. “Auntie is nice.”

She smiled at the simple statement, then looked around. Arlo was sitting with Pip, Nigel and Neil at the table. Pip was explaining in detail, how to play Uno . Arlo, bless him, just nodded along, as if he hadn’t been playing Uno his whole life.

Meryn poked her arm. “So, you eat food for a living? How’d you manage to land a dream job like that?”

Genevieve sat back. It was a familiar question.

“I got sick of working for other people, so I decided if I was going to work for myself, it would be doing something I loved. I lucked out that people really wanted to hear what I had to say. I had money saved and just took the plunge. Now, I get to travel and eat the best food this country has to offer.”

“What’s your favorite so far?” Meryn asked.

“Honestly, tonight’s boar surprised the hell out of me.”

Meryn sighed. “I know right? It was even better off the spit.”

Genevieve felt her mouth began to water. “Off a spit?”

Meryn nodded happily. “They just cut a chunk off with like a machete and hand it to you, juices dripping. I still dream about that boar.”

“What do you do?” she asked.

“I’m a hacker and help with security stuff,” Meryn said.

Behind them Arlo laughed. “Now you know how she used your real email.”

Meryn shrugged. “I thought the invite would be missed if it got sent to the channel email.”

“You’re right, it probably would have been. I don’t check it nearly as often as I should.”

She turned to look at the man, who all evening, had been trying to flirt with her, but kept failing in the most adorable ways possible. “And you’re military. You said your unit lives here, it doesn’t really look like a barracks.”

“I lead the men of my unit, there are five of us. Aiden commands all the units. He’s visiting to check on how we’re doing before Meryn gives birth.” He pointed around the house. “It’s not exactly a barracks, we live here sure, but we also have a training ground out back.”

“Where’s your unit?” she asked.

“You’ve met some of them.” He inhaled, then yelled loudly. “It’s okay guys!”