He chuckled. “You’d better get used to it.”
She wrapped her arm over him and pulled herself more tightly against him. She sighed contentedly and for a few minutes, they lay in silence as their heartbeats slowly returned to normal.
“Will you tell me about your new job?”
“Well, Ash has asked me to head up his security.”
“That sounds like an important role.”
“I expect it is.”
“What does it entail?”
“I have no idea.”
She lifted herself up to see his face. He was smiling, and she couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you teasing me?”
“No.” He shook his head and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I really don’t know what the job is. I expect I’ll know more tomorrow afternoon. I’m meeting with”—his eyes widened and he blew out a quick breath—“everyone.”
“Are you nervous?”
“A bit. These are very powerful men, but more than that, I worry that they may have overestimated my abilities and my value.”
“Well, I wouldn’t argue with Ash if I were you. I tried it once, and it didn’t go well.”
He chuckled, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Just when I think I can’t possibly love you any more, you make it happen.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
Simon’s stomach threatened to cast up his accounts as he walked into Raven House. Ash looked up with a smile, which was uncommon, but it fell when he saw Simon’s face.
“Did she say no?”
Simon shook his head and laughed nervously. Apparently, his trepidation was obvious. “She said yes. As of yesterday, marriage material or not, I’m officially a married man.”
“Congratulations.” Ash stood and shook his hand. “Everything is going to be alright, Allister. I know, especially as a group, we can be intimidating, but you don’t need to be worried. I wouldn’t have invited you in if I didn’t want you here.”
That did help a little. “Thank you.”
“Also, we’re heading over to the club, and there’s booze there.”
He followed Ash up a flight of stairs. “This is the door to my private quarters.” He tapped the raven top of his cane against the wooden surface.
Simon nodded.
“You’ll get a full tour today, so you can learn where everything and everyone is. You’re going to need to know all that.”
Simon’s heart beat a frenzied rhythm as his mind struggled to accept that this was real.
Ash pulled out a ring of keys and inserted one into another door. “This door remains locked at all times, unless someone is going through.” He pulled it open. On the other side was a long hall with a matching door at the other end. Ash locked the door after they passed through. “This is the bridge that crosses over to the Den.”
The other door was locked as well. On the other side, Ash led him to yet another door. He placed his hand on the solid surface. “This is our office. It’s where we take care of boring business stuff, but it’s also where we store all of our cash and chips.”
An important room, then. Simon nodded, cataloging each new piece of information. Ash led him to another room. That door was wide open. “I expect you’ll spend a fair amount of time up here.”
It was a balcony that overlooked the gaming floor. There was a group of men already down there, talking and moving about. Simon had never actually been into The Raven’s Den, and it was an impressive sight to behold.
