She leads me into the formal dining room, where I take a seat between Darcy and my younger brother, Nolan, before Silvia can force me into a seat beside her. My father is already seated at one end of the table, Darius Huntington at the other, and their wives beside them. Silvia ends up next to her mother and directly across from me, looking pleased.
My father glares at me coldly, mustache bristling. “Glad you could join us,” he states thinly.
Without hesitation, I say silkily, “Sorry for the delay, I was taking an important call.”
Interest crosses his expression, but Mom leans forward before he can ask. “No business talk at the table.” She smiles at me, her eyes warm. “It’s so nice to see you, darling.” She blinks, her eyes widening. “What happened to your eye?”
Everyone looks at me, and Silvia gasps dramatically, “Oh my god! I didn’t even notice.”
“It’s nothing,” I say. “Just an accident at the gym.”
Darcy narrows her eyes, and I shrug her off. Before anyone else can ask more questions, a hired server appears behind me, asking for my drink order.
When I face my mother again, I smile, “Nice to see you, too, Mom. We’ll have to do lunch next week.” The server sets my bourbon down in front of me and I murmur a quiet thank you.
My mother’s eyes sparkle with delight. “I’d love that. And bring Lily, of course.” Her brows dip, forming a tiny furrow between them. “Where is she, darling? I was looking forward to catching up and asking about your honeymoon, as short as it was.” The last words are chiding.
I sip my drink, choosing my words carefully. “She wasn’t feeling well. I left her lying in bed with a nasty headache and some painkillers.” Out of the corner of my eye, Silvia frowns but I don’t look in her direction.
“That’s too bad,” Mom says sympathetically.
“I’ll join you for lunch,” Darcy pipes in. “We should go to that new Parisian cafe we were talking about yesterday.”
“Oh, lovely!” Mom trills happily, and then peeks at Nolan, who pretends not to notice. After a second, she shrugs delicately, “Two out of three isn’t bad.”
I hide my smile behind my glass, even as Nolan huffs. “I’m busy that day.”
“But Nolan…” Darcy leans around me to shoot wide-eyes at him. “We didn’t say a day.”
“Shut up,” he whisper-hisses back.
“That’s enough,” Mom says. “I know Nolan doesn’t enjoy spending time with his mother. It’s okay, I understand.” Her voice drops with disappointment, and Nolan groans, throwing his head back, but the conversation shifts away when Darius starts telling everyone about his newest acquisition, a 200-foot yacht that he’s planning on taking out over the weekend.
Nolan leans toward me, whispering out of the side of his mouth, “Where’s Lily really? I’ve heard rumors.” He shoots a pointed look at Silvia and I frown.
“What rumors?”
“Declan, Nolan,” my father suddenly snaps, cutting Darius off mid-sentence. “Stop whispering like children.”
Nolan leans back in his chair, resentment simmering in his eyes as he watches our father, but there’s no point in engaging. Not here. It’s what he wants, a public way of dressing us down, to prove he still controls the leashes he’s wrapped around our necks.
We get through the first course without further incident, but when the staff are setting the second course down, Darius leans forward, keen eyes on me.
“I’m surprised your honeymoon was so brief,” he tells me, an undercurrent to his words. “I could’ve sworn that your mother told me you’d be gone for two weeks, not three days.”
Mom interjects. “Oh, you know how business can be, Darius. I’m sure Lily understood.” She looks at me questioningly, and I just nod.
“Of course, of course,” Darius says smoothly. “I just would hate for there to be trouble in paradise already.”
His wife, Elena, snaps her fingers and a server appears from behind her, a wine bottle already ready to top up her glass. “I know it had tongues wagging, you rushing back so suddenly.” She lifts her eyebrows.
Before I can respond, Silvia lifts her own wine glass, declaring, “Well, I know I wouldn’t be happy with my husband treating me like that. But Lily’s always been a little different.” I stiffen, but it’s Nolan who speaks up.
“Stay in your lane, Silvy.”
Her eyes flash. “My name is Silvia.”
Nolan leans back in his seat, saying drolly, “And I’m aware of that fact.”
