“I don’t know—”
“But I do, Shan,” I interrupted. Man, he made it impossible not to get frustrated at times. “You can’t herd us all together and avoid us at the same time. I get that everything reminds you of Patrick, but that’s because we’re a close-knit family. You don’t wanna lose that.”
I was sure it would do him some good to stay in one of their guest rooms from time to time too. Not only could he relax and just be with his immediate family, he could be of use. Maybe he could talk to Autumn and see how she was handling the transition since Finn and Emilia had taken her in. I didn’t know how adoption processes went, but I bet Shannon did. Or maybe he could pick up a hobby. They definitely had the space for it. I’d seen the blueprints. Out in Villanova, you didn’t have a house. You had an estate.
“You could use a distraction,” I pointed out. “Or—hell, just sit in their garden, drink wine, and grow tomatoes when it gets warm again.”
He furrowed his brow. “I don’t know if you see me as an old woman or Marlon Brando in Godfather II.”
I grinned. “Perhaps a bit of both.”
He shook his head, but I focused on the flicker of mirth in his eyes.
The blueprints didn’t really prepare me for reality. Jesus Christ, I didn’t wanna know how many mil Finn had put into this place. It was a three-story mansion, surrounded by a large garden in the front and—well, I’d heard Emilia mentioning a big pool and a lawn in the back. A separate garage for four cars. Two guest studios on top of aforementioned garage.
Eight bedrooms, six and a half baths. A fully stocked safehouse in the basement, next to Finn’s surveillance room, which, in turn, had an elevator that went straight up into their bedroom on the third floor. So if the alarms went off, he could quickly make his way down to the basement to see what was going on.
I scratched my head and pulled over outside the gate. With my window rolled down, I pressed the button for the intercom.
“Have you been here yet?” I asked Shan.
He inclined his head. “A couple of times.”
I could be a billionaire and I still wouldn’t wanna live this large. On the other hand, Finn had plans to keep Emilia pregnant for the foreseeable future, so I had no doubts he’d find a way to fill all the rooms. I mean, there was a nursery adjacent to their bedroom. If that didn’t scream mass production of kids, I didn’t know what did.
“Hello!” Emilia’s voice rang out from the intercom.
“Hey, shortcake. Mind giving me the code?”
“Hmm, I don’t know… We reserve that for family members who visit at least once a week.”
I chuckled.
“It’s twenty-nine, seventy-three, eighty-four,” she said. “And hurry! Breakfast is ready.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I punched in the code and waited for the gate to open.
To be honest, I’d missed her the most while I was in Europe. Emilia had joined our family young and naïve, but damn, she’d risen to the occasion at Finn’s side. She was more than his wife, more than the mother of their two kids. She was the new Grace. A mother and fussing hostess to every member of the syndicate.
I mean, she was still young. Not even twenty. But after a shitty childhood, she didn’t take anything for granted, and she was way older than her years.
Finn had picked well. The traditionalist in him still abided by some rituals, and he’d hit the jackpot with Emilia.
I parked in the only available spot in the garage and wondered idly where Luna was parked. Maybe they’d picked her up in the city when it was decided that my sister was going to stay with them until she’d given birth.
“Let’s get some grub in us, old-timer.” I jumped out of my car and closed the door. I needed to have my chunky baby washed at some point soon. The Philadelphia fall was brutal on cars, not least of all my Expedition that happened to be white.
“You know how to make a man feel young, boy,” he muttered. He met me by the back of the SUV and smoothed down his fitted pullover. At least he looked better than yesterday. He’d showered and replaced the wrinkled suit with slacks and cashmere.
“You have no idea.” I shot him a smirk and folded up the sleeves of my button-down. Then we started our trek toward the house, past the generous-sized driveway, through a maze of hedges and bushes, past a damn fountain. Christ.
Emilia opened the door before we could ring the doorbell, and I couldn’t help but inspect it. Doors weren’t normally that large.
“Good morning! Kellan told me he was bringing you, Shan. I’m so happy to see you.”