Chapter 11
Wrath
I ’m seething inside. Not because of the woman’s stupidity. It’s something I’ve sadly dealt with my entire life. I’m angry because the woman upset Millie. She’s shaking. We continue down the sidewalk, stopping only at intersections.
We’re maybe a block and a half away when she stops.
“I need apple butter and fried biscuits. Let’s stop at the Nashville House.”
“I’ll try it,” I say with a smile.
“You’ll love it.”
She practically drags me inside. We’re seated immediately. Our server is a friendly young man a few years younger than me. He has a smile on his face and a great attitude.
I start with an entrée sized cobb salad while Millie orders their French onion soup. I go for the salmon for lunch, and she chooses a roast beef Manhattan. I’ve never heard of such a thing. It’s basically a massive sandwich made with slow roasted beef. They slice it in half, put a huge portion of mashed potatoes in between the two sandwich halves, and pour brown gravy over the whole thing. I steal a few bites while we talk. For dessert, she orders fried biscuits with apple butter and a slice of lemon chiffon cake.
After we polish off our delicious food and I pay the bill, leaving a generous tip, we head back outside to walk off the meal. We wind up walking for another hour before she pulls me into an old-time photo place, and we dress up like an outlaw and a saloon girl. In the end, we chose three different photos. One for us. One for her parents and one for mine.
It may seem to others like this is moving fast, but I think it’s moving at a perfect pace. When a King falls, we fall hard, and we know almost immediately when we meet the woman we’re supposed to be with. Another couple hours of walking around and window shopping and my woman is ready to call it a day.
We take the few bags we have, retrieve our cinnamon roll order, and load up. The ride back to her parents' place is amazing. I love the feel of her wrapped around me as we hug the curves of the hilly roads.
?
I’m in the living room with the Barnes men waiting for the Barnes women. We’re going out to a show, then dinner at the family’s favorite Italian restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana. A noise on the stairs draws my attention and I hurry from the living room in time to see my woman and her mother come down the stairs.
They’re both wearing dresses. Lisa’s is a naval floral dress that ends above her knees. She’s pinned her long dark hair up in a twist of some kind. My woman is wearing a dress that buttons up the front. It ends a few scant inches below her ass. The predominately white shirt has a deep pink floral pattern. A wide pink belt accentuates her tiny waist.
Damn, my woman has killer curves. Ass and tits for days, not to mention those long ass legs. She’s wearing impossibly high heels that add four inches to her five-foot eight-inch frame. The dress has long sheer sleeves that flow gracefully down her arms and button at her wrists. Her long blonde hair is cascading down her back and shoulders.
I resist the urge to run my fingers through it, then crush her to me and devour her mouth. She rarely wears her hair down. Seeing it this way has my cock at half-mast saluting her beauty. I make my way to the bottom of the stairs, taking her hand and holding it the last few steps. I draw her into my arms and give her a soft kiss.
“You look incredible.”
“Get a room,” Tyler shouts.
Everyone chuckles.
“We have one, but you might need ear plugs anyway,” Millie says to her brother with a wink.
“Is everyone ready?” Brian asks.
Millie
D ad and Lisa took us all to see MJ, the show based on Micheal Jackson. I had a huge crush on him when I was a little girl. I still love his music and own every album. We no sooner pull into the parking lot of my favorite restaurant, Bella Luna, than my stomach growls loudly.
“You’re hungry?” Micah asks incredulously. “I know you ate your way through Nashville.”
“We did a lot of walking, and I shared all my treats with Wrath.”
“Is that true?” Tyler asks. “She never shares with us.”
“That’s because when I share, you eat nearly all of it.”
Wrath gets out of the SUV and comes around to open my door. My brothers are in the third-row seat. They get out after I do. Wrath takes my hand as we walk. It feels amazing to be out with my family and my man. My man. I weigh those words in my head. They feel right. It’s too soon to say it out loud, but I know it already.
To be honest, I was already half in love with him from taking care of him in the hospital. These last few days. Seeing him with my family. I’m head over heels.
By the time I come back from my thoughts, we’re seated, and everyone is looking over the menus. I lean closer to Wrath.
“They serve family style. We always each pick a dish.”
“Then I add a few more,” Dad says, with a laugh. `
“Then I order appetizers,” Micah adds.
“And I pile on the dessert,” Lisa adds with a smile.
“I just eat everything,” Tyler says.
Wrath looks around the table. His face was serious. Then he breaks out into a huge smile. “This is my kind of family.”
A server comes with ice water and our normal drinks. After sitting the drinks in front of us. He turns to Wrath.
“What can I get you, sir?”
“I’ll have chianti.”
The server hurries away, returning in a few moments with chianti.
“Good evening, my name is Stefan. I’ll be your server for the evening. Can I get you started with an appetizer?”
My dad smiles at the server. “Our girl is visiting from New Orleans. She’ll order everything now if you don’t mind.”
Stefan smiles, “I’d be happy to take your order.”
“Let’s hope I remember everything,” I say with a laugh. “To start, we’ll take the spicy shrimp, calamari, fried mozzarella, and prosciutto stuffed mushrooms. We’d like two Italian chop salads, a gorgonzola walnut salad, and two Caprese salads. All dressing on the side.
“For mains we’ll take linguine with clams, spaghetti, and meatballs with two extra orders of meatballs, lasagna, salmon Sorrento, chicken carbonara, quattro al forno, shrimp fra diavolo, one of each of your vegetables and two orders of garlic bread.
“Oh! I almost forgot about dessert. My father would never forgive me. Two tiramisu and two dolce platters, please. And yes, we’ll need to go boxes later.”
Stefan takes it all in stride. “I’ll be back with your appetizers in a few minutes.”
No sooner is our server out of sight than a thought hits me. “Wrath, I’m so sorry. I forgot to ask what you wanted. I was trying to get the family order.”
My man throws back his head and laughs hard.
“I like everything you ordered. No need to order more,” he leans over and drops a kiss on my forehead. “Thank you for thinking of me, Nightingale.”
“Why do you call her that?” Tyler asks.
“Because she’s, my Florence Nightingale. Millie took care of me in the hospital after I got shot.”
“How did you get shot?” Micah asks.
“My brothers and I were ambushed not far from the super dome. I took a hit early on. Millie took excellent care of me. My family adores her.”
“You met his family?” Micah asks.
“They were at the hospital every day.”
“Do they live close by?” Dad asks.
“They live in New Orleans. My dad started a construction company in his early twenties. He retired seven years ago. My brothers and I took over the business. The club owns part of the business now. We’ve tripled in size since then.”
“How many brothers do you have?” Lisa asks.
“I have two brothers. An identical twin and a Kentucky triplet.”
“What’s a Kentucky triplet?” Tyler asks.
“Something we made up as kids. I don’t even know why Kentucky. Wesley was born on the same day in the same hospital as Walker and me. His parents surrendered him. My dad fell in love when he went to see us in the nursery, and he came home with us the next day. We’re all the same height and build. I also have a little sister, Willow. She turns twenty-six this year.”
“She’s really nice. Your whole family is,” I add.
Wrath’s hand finds mine under the table. He interlocks his fingers with mine. Our appetizers arrive as we trade childhood stories. Dad has us all laughing so hard tears are streaming down my face.
“Did someone forget to invite me to a family dinner?”
What the fuck is Aaron doing here?
“You stopped coming to family functions years ago,” My dad says.
“Still, you’re my dad. Shouldn’t you at least try?”
“The last time I tried, you called me a bitch and told me to mind my own business,” Lisa states.
I hear the men around the table growl.