“Nah,” James said. “I’m good.”
Isabella huffed.
And Matt actually laughed. Almost like he would have when all the Untouchables were still friends. It was the first time I’d seen him not hostile with them in ages.
Mason sat down next to me and laughed too. I was very much aware of the fact that I was still a Sanders sandwich…just between the Caldwells instead of the Hunters. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I would have been perfectly comfortable if Rob hadn’t kept winking at me.
“Is something wrong with your eye?” I asked Rob.
“Nope.” Rob lifted up the bowl of chocolate pudding in front of him. “Pudding, Wizzy?”
“Bite me.”
“But it’s a Hunter family tradition. The Thanksgiving pudding of…prosperity and health. If you don’t eat any, you’ll have a year of bad luck.”
“Stop talking to me or you’ll have a year of bad luck,” she said.
Rob winked at me again.
Stop it.
“What’s going on?” Matt asked as he looked back and forth between me and Rob.
“Nothing,” Rob and I both said at the same time.
Great, now it didn’t sound like nothing. I looked down the long dining room table, searching for a good distraction. There were dozens of people here. Surely someone could say something to shift the focus off me and Rob. I sighed with relief as my dad stood up at the head of the table. He lightly tapped his knife against his glass, easily silencing the room.
“Thank you all for coming tonight,” he said. “Once a year we all get together to celebrate our family. And tonight we have a new addition. Princess, I am so lucky that you’ve found your way back into my life.”
Everyone turned to stare at me. And despite what my dad said, I didn’t feel like part of the family. I felt like an intruder. Especially with the way Isabella was staring at me. And Poppy. And even a few of the “uncles.”
I tried to focus on my dad instead of on all the haters.
“And I expect everyone to welcome you with open arms,” he said.
It sounded more like a threat than a toast. I gulped.
“A toast. To family. To new beginnings. To a wonderful year ahead.” He lifted up his glass. “Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.” He tapped his glass against his wife’s.
For just a second my eyes locked with Mrs. Pruitt’s. She was staring at me in the same way that Isabella always did. Like my time had come. And I saw her in a whole new light now. She was the real mobster. My dad had married into this mess. Was she the one controlling the strings? Was that why there was unrest with the families? Was that why everyone was staring at me like I didn’t belong?
Matt tapped his glass against mine. “To family,” he whispered in my ear.
I tried to take a deep breath. It didn’t matter if this family hated me. The family I was marrying into didn’t. “To family,” I said and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. Matt was my real family.
Everyone started clinking glasses and drinking their champagne.
I turned to watch Isabella take a sip of hers. And I couldn’t help but smile. It was game time.
Betrayal - Chapter 37
Thursday
The first signs of Isabella’s discomfort were her wiggling in her chair. I swore I even saw a gleam of sweat on her forehead.
I didn’t think anyone else noticed.
But when her stomach started gurgling? A few people at the table started to look over at her.
