Page 223 of Mayhem and Minnie

“You’re pretty,” my little sister gushes. “Now I see how you got Marlowe to propose. You’re so put together, and he’s a freak about cleanliness. The best match!”

“Your brother is not a freak,” Minnie suddenly says, her tone harsher than I expected from her.

“Come on, you don’t have to hide it,” Irene continues, chuckling. “We all know how bad he can get. I don’t even know how you can stand him, to be honest.”

“We’ve all been wondering,” Christopher adds. “Ever since Mom said he was bringing home a girl, we’ve been making bets.” He wiggles his brows suggestively. “Although… Why are you wearing a veil? This isn’t a funeral.” He reaches with his hand to touch her veil, but I stop him.

“I believe you’ll need this hand if you’re to ever find a job. Careful so you don’t lose it,” I say in a strained voice.

“Easy, bro. I was just kidding.”

“He was, Marlowe! You’re no fun!” Irene whines. “See, this is what I mean. He wouldn’t know the meaning of a joke if it hit him in the face,” she says to Minnie.

“You’re being too harsh with your brother. He has a wicked sense of humor,” Minnie replies.

“Marlowe? Are we talking about the same Marlowe?” Both Irene and Cristopher laugh.

“Nah,” Cristopher adds. “Even when we were kids, every time we’d play, he’d just sit in his room and watch us from his window like a creep. There was this one time we played a prank on him and replaced his liquid soap with water. Harmless, no? Wrong. He threw a fit about it and then he got revenge.”

“By replacing our soap with glue! How are those two even equal?” Irene chimes in. “Ours was a harmless little prank, but his went too far.”

“It was antibacterial soap,” I mumble drily. “I spent two whole sleepless nights until Giles bought me another bottle.”

“See? Freak.” Cristopher laughs. “He can’t take a joke.”

Minnie looks between my two siblings, her lips pursed.

“I don’t see how that’s harmless if you know your brother’s concern about cleanliness. In fact, I find it rather cruel that you’d do that,” Minnie points out in a stern voice.

My brows go up in surprise at her words.

“No… That…” Irene stammers.

“Marlowe? Could I have a tour of the house? I find the current company rather lacking,” she says in a haughty voice.

My heart pounds in my chest as I realize this is her way of defending me.

Me.

After I fucked up.

She’s still taking my side.

“Indeed,” I say with a smile. “If you’ll excuse us…”

As we turn to leave, Minnie grabs a glass of champagne from one of the waiters and dips one finger inside. She swirls it around the liquid, muttering something in a low, barely audible voice.

“What are you doing?” I frown.

“Come with me,” she says, her voice tinged with worry.

30

“Where are you going?” I ask as I trail after her.

She leaves the drawing room and goes into the foyer. She stops, looking right and left before proceeding to the stairs.

“Minnie?” I call out.

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