Page 38 of Royally Drawn

Betty shrugged, also suspect.

“Are you just waiting for Mamma and Pappa to arrive?” Cici asked.

“What do you think?” Uncle Ed chuckled.

“Are they coming in?” I asked. No one told me anything, either.

“Yes,” Aunt Natalie answered. “Tonight, your aunt and uncle will be by.”

“For what?” I asked.

“Badminton, you idiot!” Betty laughed. “Good God, Keir! Catch up.”

“When is that?” I asked.

Complete with unison eye rolls, the girls answered, “This weekend.”

“Oh, apologies, ladies. I was unaware.”

“I was going, of course. So why not wait around for Kiersten? I figured Olav would prefer Ed to come with.”

“I do not care. My job is to be arm candy, darling.”

Ingrid giggled.

“Dear, Ingrid is a bit overwhelmed by us,” I explained. “We’re unhinged. She finally got a taste of all of us together last weekend, and I fear we might have frightened her.”

“Give me more credit than that, Keir,” Ingrid said, staring me in the eye with that intense, sultry stare she always gave.

Her gaze sent a shiver down my spine. We were still doing this, weren’t we? And why the hell was that jumper emphasising her tits? Even out on a hack, she looked goddamn perfect.

“We werea lot.”

“I assume Duncan and Leah outdid everyone in that competition?” Aunt Natalie sighed.

I wanted to say that her son was the worst behaved of all the lot, but that honour went to Lars. Of course, feeling guilty about what provoked our brother didn’t seem right. At the same time, Duncan didn’t deserve the blame for once. Betty spoke as I debated things, outing Lars.

“Oh, no. I mean, Leah was Leah to the nth degree, and Duncan was an ass to Ingrid at the beginning, but it was Lars who took the cake.”

“Poor Ingrid. What did our son do?” Uncle Ed asked.

“Shenanigans,” Cici sighed. “He threw her overboard.”

“He felt it was a joke,” Ingrid said, blushing.

“Not a funny one,” Cici groaned. “But Lars nearly ruined everything.”

“Lars?” Aunt Natalie was surprised. Yes, even perfect Lars could misbehave.

“He had a crush that got out of hand,” Cici said. “And we’ll leave it there.”

Betty didn’t pipe up, and I said nothing.

“Fighting over women. Men are daft,” Aunt Natalie sighed. “Neither of you should argue with me.”

My uncle shook his head.

I raised my hands as if backing out. “I won’t argue with you. I can get quite whipped up against my own better judgement.”

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