Chapter 9

Bryony stepped into the warehouse and looked around in awe. It was backed up to the Hudson River with a pier from the time it used to store goods. She could only imagine how busy it was when the river was the main mode of transportation.

It had been converted into a house.Taking everything in, she noticed there was a state of the art kitchen that was obviously well used with five men living in the house. The living room had leather couches arranged in front of a big screen television. There were three different gaming consoles on three different towers and their games stored below.

Turning a wide circle, she noticed there were five bedrooms spaced evenly apart. One of them had a piece of paper taped to the door. If she had to guess that was Petey's room. Even though she hadn't met him, she guessed he was the youngest and the easiest to amuse.

"Why a warehouse?" she asked.

"It's big enough to house the five of us. Austin's uncle bought the area and we took three months to convert it into a facility. We built a terminal to connect the house to the training facility. The rooms are big enough to accommodate families if we ever have them," Emery said as he moved to the kitchen.

She followed behind him, opening the fridge to see how five single men lived. "What do you mean if you ever have them? Don't you want a wife, children?"

Emery watched her putter around. He wasn't sure what she was looking for. If she was going to live here, she needed to know where everything was. If she was going to cook, she needed to know how much the five of them ate. Meaning Paycen tended to clear a whole pan by himself.

"We all do, especially Austin and Paycen," he said. She found a skillet and began pulling things from the fridge. "Those two have had it rough these last few years. Austin rescued both of us six months ago. We were going to be killed by a sadistic whack job in Pittsburgh. Ever since then we've been loyal to him and Aiden."

Bryony frowned. "Why Aiden?"

"Because she's Austin's friend and our Queen. She's good to us. We get a steady pay, more than you would at a lower level job. Our schooling is paid for and we get to take time off to do the jobs she asks us to do."

He turned around when she didn't say anything for a few minutes. All he heard was sizzling of bacon and sausage in the skillet. "What is it?"

"Has Austin told you anything about their past?"

Emery shrugged. "A little but not much. He's tightlipped about his family and Aiden. I don't care if he keeps secrets so I don't pry. Paycen, on the other hand, pried and pried until Austin decked him and bruised his jaw. Ever since then he hasn't said a word about it." He turned to the stove as he heated up biscuits from the fridge. "What do you know?"

"Aiden was attacked by the captain of the football during their freshman year of high school right before her fifteenth birthday. Her family pressed charges and he was convicted. After the verdict was handed down, the entire school turned against them, especially Aiden. She dropped out and went through homeschooling, Mikey and Keldin following her. I never saw Keldin again until Austin took over the company."

"I never knew about the high school incident. As for the company, that was a sudden thing he did. Keldin annoyed the hell out of him about it." He set two bowls on the bar before pouring steaming stew into them to go along with the meat she prepared. "We don't have much but here's dinner. Paycen made it."

Bryony made a face as she sat down on one of the stools. "Paycen cooks?"

"Rather well, actually. His mother is a five star chef in Cleveland. That's where we're from."

"You knew Paycen before you met Austin?"

Emery nodded as he pulled the spoon out of his mouth and swallowed the stew. "Yeah, we went to high school together. We decided to move to New York together when we got into NYU. Our senior year of college we were abducted and nearly killed. That's when Austin found us. He pulled some strings and got us back into school to finish out our last semester."

Bryony's respect for Austin skyrocketed. She knew the man was very protective of his friends and family, especially his twin brother Keldin. When the twins had arrived in Pittsburgh, Keldin hadn't been speaking. PTSD caused him to go mute. They had met the other sets of twins; Mikey, Aiden, Tyler, and Tyler's late twin Tallyn; and had opened up. Within a year they were crazy teenagers who loved life.

Then the attack happened and everyone closed himself or herself off. Aiden dropped out of high school and her brother followed her. Keldin fell into his silent days again and soon followed his friends. She remembered asking one day if anyone had seen them. Her boyfriend at the time had told her to forget about it.

And she had until Austin had bought her company. Being close to him again meant she would have to deal with everything that had gone on in the past because there was no way he was over any of it. People just didn't get over something so traumatic.

Then there was the who having powers and being able to kill someone without even touching them. Oh, and not to mention her only brother being an ass and basically selling her to the mob. Don't even get her started on finding out about the supernatural community.

But despite all of it and knowing what she did, she still wanted to help in whatever way possible. If not because of the innocent people who could possibly get hurt, but because she wanted to figure out what that zing meant. And the way he looked at her. She needed to figure it all out before she could make a decision to leave him and his world.

"What are you thinking about?" Emery asked.

"How can I help him?" she questioned.

He leaned forward on his elbows. "Austin hasn't changed much over the years. He's still the egotistical little prick everyone thinks he is, but he feels things deeper than most of us. It stems from his childhood and having to protect Keldin. He has the tendency to put everyone else's interests before his own."

"That doesn't answer my question on how I can help him."

Emery smiled. "Just be near him. You don't have to hang all over him because he will get seriously pissed over it, but just keep his interests in mind. Oh, and for the record, he doesn't have a girlfriend. You're in the clear." He smacked her hand when she reached for his bowl. "No. You're a guest. I'll clean up. Austin's room is in the east corner. He would kill me if you didn't know that."

Bryony was securely dismissed when he turned his back on her to wash the bowls. Taking the instructions, she walked across the open living room and to the door in the east corner.

Opening the door, she noticed his room was clean. There were no clothes on the floor and all the drawers were closed. The décor was tasteful, all blues and silvers. The silver reminded her of the lightning she had seen him wield merely hours before. His bed was a queen, meaning there was enough room for both of them if she ever decided to sleep with him.

Sleep with him? Where did that thought come from? She shook her head to get rid of it and decided she needed to find something to wear. Her bag was beside the door but the thought of putting on her clothes was awkward.

She decided she would steal Austin's clothes. Rummaging through a drawer she found a t-shirt. She quickly undressed from the dirty clothing she had received from the Elves and slipped into his shirt. She placed the fine woven material on the dresser and would figure out a way to clean it later. She'd hate for it to be ruined. It was one of the nicest things she had.

She sat down on the bed and thought about it. What did she feel about Austin? She had always thought he was good looking. He had always been with his auburn hair and piercing blue eyes. If she thought about it, he had pursued her in high school but she had had a boyfriend. She wondered if he remembered that.

But she knew he wasn't the boy she had watched in high school. He still had that same carefree smile, but behind it was something darker. He had seen so much in his twenty-one years that it was bound to color his perception whether for the good or the bad. It was the way he dealt with it that showed the color of the man.

Pulling back the covers she slipped into the bed and pulled them up to her chin. The bed was warm and she could tell Austin didn't sleep on this side. There wasn't a dip and his smell wasn't as prominent.

Once she was settled, she grabbed his pillow and tucked it under her chin. His scent wafted up to her gently, lulling her into sleep. She didn't realize how tired she actually was. Between the scent of his cologne or body wash and how heavy she felt, she was instantly asleep.