Chapter 19 - Anton #2
“Can’t believe you left me alone to deal with Alara’s cooking all on my own,” he complains, taunting his sister as he drops Izabel to her feet.
“Whatever! I am never forgiving you guys, by the way. I can’t believe they politely asked me to leave cooking classes because it wasn’t the right fit for me, ugh. Everyone is mean!” Alara complains.
Izabel laughs harder as she stands next to the guy. He keeps one arm around her waist. She stands right at his side when she turns to introduce me.
“Isaak, this is Anton, Anton, Isaak,” she says, finally stepping away from him.
I step forward and take his hand in mine, perhaps a little too firmly.
He chuckles and glances down at my hand. “That’s a solid grip you’ve got there, Anton. Good to meet you,” he says without a trace of malice. “What are you drinking? Whiskey? Vodka or beer?”
“Whiskey, thanks,” I say, releasing his hand.
Izabel returns to my side, artfully dodging Isaak, who reaches out to playfully punch her in the arm.
I pull her close to me. She’s laughing at him.
“You owe me ten bucks!” he calls from ahead of her.
“No, I don’t! You lost that bet fair and square.”
“He hasn’t stopped going on about the damn ten bucks. You know he deals with, um, difficult situations by making jokes…” Alara glances sheepishly at me. “Well, he kept saying we have to find you because you owe him ten bucks,” she whispers to Izabel with a giggle.
“That terror,” Izabel shakes her head. “He isn’t getting it. I won fair and square.”
We walk into the living room, and I am reluctant to let her go again in case Isaak moves closer to her. I don’t like how comfortable he is around her. And she seems just as comfortable with him. I wonder if there's history between them.
“Anton, Izzie, welcome! Sorry, I meant to greet you guys at the door. Had a little mishap here,” Josiah says, dabbing at the white rug that has a big red wine stain on it.
“It wasn’t me who knocked Mom’s glass over!” Kira says immediately, clearly indicating that it was, in fact, her. I chuckle, laughing at her horrible ability to feign innocence.
“I never would have suspected,” I tell her seriously.
“Good,” she says sternly, then turns to bolt away.
Josiah tosses the cloth away and wipes his hands on his pants, checking them before offering me a hand to shake. I take it firmly and shake politely.
“Thanks for coming over, guys. It’s good to see you.” He holds out one arm and gives Izabel an intimate, half-side hug. You can see he cares deeply for her.
But him I get no additional senses about. He loves her like a sister. Nothing more.
My eyes drift back to Isaak, who is walking towards us with our drinks.
“Whiskey for the man in black,” he says, handing me a glass.
“And blue gin for…oh, shit, I forgot!” His brows shoot up. “Jeez, I’m already the worst uncle on the planet and the kid isn’t even born yet,” he laughs, pulling her drink back and hurrying away.
“You are not the worst uncle!” Kelsey says, running after Isaak. He picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. “Thanks, Muffin, I appreciate that,” I hear him say.
Isaak returns later while Izabel and I are talking to Kayla. He hands her a blue drink. “Tonic, blueberry, a dash of lime, soda, and uh…cucumber? Sorry, I can’t remember what the last thing was…but taste it. Tell me if it’s okay,” he says, watching her expectantly.
She takes a sip and immediately pulls a sour face. “Ugh,” she complains.
Isaak starts laughing. “Whatever. Suffer through it!”
Izabel giggles and shakes her head. “It’s actually lovely. Thank you.”
“I wasn’t going to make you another one, anyway. You were on your own after that,” he teases, waving his hand dismissively as he walks away.
My shoulders relax. My jaw unclenches. It’s not an intimate relationship they have. It’s more like siblings. I was wrong in my first assumption. But now I can see it with the way they tease each other.
“He’s insufferable!” Alara muses from behind us.
“He’s not so bad, we’ll let him stick around a little longer,” Izabel replies over her shoulder.
Surprisingly, the dinner is great. It’s far more relaxed than I expected it to be. The whole family vibe is really enjoyable, and I find myself actually having a good time. Although I’m still wary, it’s not at all what I expected.
After dinner, the girls are in the kitchen packing the leftovers into containers, and Isaak is roughhousing with the twins, pillow-fighting on the sofa.
Josiah comes to stand next to me, handing me a fresh drink. We stand in silence for a moment, watching Isaak.
“Thanks for having me over,” I say after a while.
“It’s all good, man. It was good to meet you, I mean properly…you know.”
I nod, smiling stiffly. “You too.”
“But listen, I did want to talk to you about her brother,” he says, gesturing with his chin in the direction of laughter bubbling from the kitchen.
“Illyin is still looking for her. I haven’t said anything to him.
It’s not my place to interfere with that.
But you should know that while Illyin and I are not enemies, he will find out that you and I are also no longer enemies.
Illyin and I are not friendly enough that I could hold him back from coming after you when he finds out—and he will find out—that you have her. ”
I nod, my chest tightening. “I know, I understand the dynamic, and I don’t expect you to put yourself in the middle of it. It’s something I’m going to have to face soon enough.”
Josiah nods. “I’m sorry that I can’t reason with the man. We just aren’t close enough. I think that approaching him will do more damage than good at this point, because he’s already furious.”
“No, don’t worry, I really understand. I will deal with it when the time comes. I’ll figure something out.”
The girls come back into the living room and bring with them that same bubble of laughter that was in the kitchen.
Izabel slips her way next to me and wraps her arm around my waist. Anton moves to Kayla’s side, and I stand listening to their conversation while my head is flooded with worry.
My biggest fear is that Illyin finds her and doesn’t even approach me—that he just takes her away.
I don’t think I can handle losing her at this point.
I can’t let go of her. I can’t deal with the idea of her being removed from my life and then her brother never letting her out of his sight, so I never get to see her again.
I hold her a little tighter and she looks up at me, her brows scrunched. “Are you okay?” she whispers quietly.
“I am, Pixie, I’m actually having a good time,” I tell her to reassure her.
She smiles and snuggles closer beneath the curve of my arm, and I hold her with worry still tracing my heart.