Page 80 of The Billionaires

“Dad!” I feel like I might fall through my chair.

“When are the two of you getting hitched?” Mom asks excitedly.

“Mom!” Make that fall through my chair and the floor.

“And when can we expect great-grandkids?” my two grandmothers ask, somehow in unison.

“Could you make one of said kids a boy?” the grandfathers chime in—also in suspicious synchrony.

“Did you rehearse this?” I ask in a choked voice. I now want to fall through the whole fucking mountain and keep going to the center of the Earth.

Lucius smirks at me. I suppose that’s better than running away screaming, which is how a real boyfriend would react to all that marriage-and-kids noise.

Hiding the smirk, Lucius faces my family and solemnly says, “Thanks, John. I’ll keep your blessing in mind. For now, Juno and I aren’t there just yet.” He looks adoringly at me. “Right, sweetie?”

“Right, shnookums,” I say. “Unholy matrimony will have to wait.”

Is Mom pouting? And are my grandparents really that upset, or have they simply swallowed some paella?

Speaking of paella… Looking extremely uncomfortable at being in the middle of all this family stuff, Elijah grabs himself a plateful of my mom’s dish. What a huge mistake.

Lucius eyes his butler with pity, as do all the members of my family who aren’t Mom. However, as soon as Mom looks his way, Lucius’s expression changes to that of curiosity, and he asks her how she and Dad met.

Wow. If it was Elijah who suggested that ice-breaker, he deserves a raise—or to be saved from that paella. Left to his own devices, Lucius would’ve probably asked Mom some crazy question from that online list—like what type of clown she would like to eat.

Mom’s face becomes animated as she launches into the story of their meet-cute. She and Dad are childhood sweethearts, so their treacle tale starts back in middle school.

Because I’ve heard the story a million times, I tune it out and watch Elijah instead.

With great confidence, the butler shovels the first spoonful into his mouth.

As the paella assaults his poor tastebuds, his pupils dilate, and his face turns a greenish hue.

To Elijah’s credit—or that of his butler school—he doesn’t otherwise show his distaste. He just swallows the mouthful with a micro-expression that reminds me of how children take pills.

He chews the next spoonful in a style reminiscent of a camel. That doesn’t seem to help much. The torment is still noticeable on his face if you’re looking for it. Then, with the mien of a man headed for the gallows, he takes another spoonful, and another.

He must want the pain to be over with quickly. Makes sense. I would’ve done that in his shoes—assuming I couldn’t sneak some paella into my purse.

In the valiant fight against the paella, Elijah comes out the victor—and for the rest of the meal, he sticks exclusively to the items he brought from the limo.

CHAPTER 30

LUCIUS

“We hope to see you again soon,” Lily gushes as she kisses my cheeks, first one, then the other.

I tolerate the display of affection, though usually, my instinct would be to pull away. In general, to my surprise, the entire dinner was quite tolerable. Maybe even nice. The warm family atmosphere, the gentle ribbing, the way they pretended to like Lily’s terrible cooking—it all made me a little wistful. True, I’ve experienced some of this with Gram, but she’s only one woman and can’t create such a festive atmosphere all by herself.

Maybe I’ll make myself a big family like that one day.

Wait, what am I thinking?

“We should leave them alone,” Lily says, nodding at me and then Juno. “Let them say ‘goodbye.’” She puts the last word in air quotes, and Juno rolls her eyes.

“I’m not giving you a ride?” I ask Juno once everyone follows Lily’s suggestion and disappears inside the house.

She shakes her head. “Mom wants me to stay overnight.”

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