Dangerous Secrets (Dangerous Series: Book 1)

Chapter 8 - The first warning

Stella soared the entire way home from her first date with Tristan. When she reached the parking lot she noted a new car. There were laughter coming from inside and the terrace table was made for six people.

She was not in the mood to meet new people. There had already been too many new impression the last few days. Just as she was about to turn around Winston started barking and ran up to the door. Ugh, Winston, why do you always have to be so friendly?

Ed opened the front door and Winston quickly ran in to greet the strangers.

"Hi darling," he said with a big smile on his face. "We were just talking about you."

"Hi," Stella said and walked towards him. When she reached the doorway she could see her mom, Ben, a man around her mom's age and a girl looking like ten years old in the hallway. "I didn't know we were expecting guests today."

Ben came up to Stella. He laid his arm around her shoulders and whispered in her ear:

"I'm sorry you keep getting surprised by strangers every day. But I promise, this was not my doing."

"Stella bella, these are your new family members," Diana said and squeezed the young girl's cheek.

"I'm eleven, not three," the girls said, grimaced and pushed away Diana's hand.

The girl had an attitude. Stella liked her.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart."

The man walked up to Stella and reached out his hand. He had dark and sharp features and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, showing his strong, tattooed arms. He had the same authority and charming aura as Ed and Ben.

"Hi Stella. Nice to meet you. I'm Jasper, Ed's oldest son and one of your new brothers." Stella shook his hand. He turned around and stretched out his arm to the young girl. "And this firecracker is my daughter Viola. Come say hi."

Viola seemed happy to leave Diana's side. She walked up and hugged Stella.

"Welcome to the family."

Stella never stopped being surprised by how nice everyone was to her. They all welcomed her to the family with open arms. Literally.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you."

Viola let go of Stella and sat down next to Winston.

"Now, most important of all - do we finally have a dog in the family?"

They all went out to the terrace. The table had beautiful decorations and food packages from a restaurant. Ed had ordered them the brunch package. When Stella asked what a brunch was Diana almost cried with laughter. Ben kindly explained that it was a fancy hybrid between breakfast and lunch.

They all sat down and enjoyed the food. Stella sat next to Viola. She also loved animals and had Winston in her lap the entire brunch. Diana usually hated having Winston at the table, but she was eager to get Viola and Jasper's approval. She even gave Winston a plate of his own.

Jason was just as impressive as Ed and Ben, but in a completely different way. He also lived in Alvik with his wife and two kids. They lived in the nice part of town, but Jason worked as a high school teacher in a rough area. Ed bragged on Jasper's behalf and told everyone that he had been offered high paid jobs in ivy league schools but declined them to contribute to the community. Even in his free time he volunteered to help lost youths.

Everyone except Stella and Viola drank mimosas - orange juice mixed with champagne. They just had orange juice in their glasses. But when nobody looked, Ben poured some champagne in Stella's glass and gave her a wink. She liked having secrets with him. It made her feel special.