Just like the old man to come here, Gianna mused, a smile slithering across her lips as she watched old Mr. Thorne open the sleek car's door and step out with an amused expression softening the fine lines around his eyes.
"Surprise!" he whisper-yelled, opening his arms wide without the slightest concern for the stares or attention he was garnering.
This was the patriarch of the Thorne family after all—he walked as if the world itself should make room for him.
Gianna rolled her eyes, but a laugh slipped out anyway as she walked into his waiting arms, breathing in deeply his familiar scent of musk—of home—her arms nestling warmly around his back.
"Would have preferred to meet you at home…" she said after they had broken the hug and exchanged pleasantries, her voice laced with affectionate complaint.
Her eyes ran to the four cars that followed the one he had come with, and she held back a sigh, especially as he scoffed.
