Page 23 of A Linton Scandal

I shook my head at my mother’s nonsense. “I told you I would bring Juliette over at 7:30. Don’t tell me you didn’t see it.”

She stopped by my side and slapped my back. “You’re ruining my fun,” she chided me before looking at Juliette. “And you must be the fiancée.”

“That’s me,” Juliette said in a friendly manner. “And you must be the mother.”

Mother glanced at me, quirked a brow, and mouthed. “Cute.” Before she offered us both a bright smile. “Well come inside, your brothers and your father are already seated and waiting. I’m lucky we’re rich, because if we weren’t you all would eat me out of house and home.”

Together we followed her inside, and Juliette tightened her hold on my hand. I placed my friend hand over hers. “It’s okay.”

Her hold relaxed, but she remained close to me, and I didn’t complain. The only time we parted was when the staff took our coats, and her purse. I took her hand once more, despite her seeming to be fine now.

I was relieved she didn’t ask me any questions about it, though my mother noticed. I avoided her probing stare as we entered the dining room. When I saw the setup of the chairs, I shot her an annoyed look.

One chair was open next to her and my brother Castor, while another was open beside my father and Sofario. She feigned ignorance and went to her seat at the end of the table. Dammit, I didn’t need her making my job harder. The goal had been to eat dinner and I answer most of the questions but with us separated my mother could easily probe Juliette without my interference.

Before I could think of something, my father spoke up. “Is there a reason you haven’t taken a seat yet?”

His eyes met mine and there was a certain amusement in them. “You should sit down, so we can start eating.”

Shit, they both had planned this.

I turned to say something to Juliette, but she’d already released my hand to walked toward the open seat next to my mother. I pressed my lips together, and quickly took my seat next to my father.

“You both planned this,” I whispered.

He shrugged as the servants began to place the food. “Your mother wants to ask her questions, without you intervening. And frankly, I have a few questions of my own. We aren’t the type of people to associate with a cook.”

“Chocolatier.”

He paused, eyeing me for a second before he continued. “I can’t see where you’d have met her, especially when you knew what was at stake. It smells fishy to me.”

“Whether it smells like shit or not, I’m over the age where my parents can hinder my choices,” I said coldly as I took a sip of water glancing toward Juliette who was currently speaking with my mother.

“You’re not just anyone, and you know this. Our culture isn’t incredibly open to outsiders. Don’t forget that Mihai.” I frowned, looking away from Juliette to my father.

“I know, which is why I’m determined to protect her no matter what.”

Seeing how serious I was, he nodded. “Then as a man, I will respect your choice to marry this girl. And I will leave the other issue to you.”

“Did you have a choice?”

He laughed and gave me a challenging look. “It seems like I’ll have to reteach your respect, I’m not too old that I can’t pound it into your bones once more.”

Juliette

I really wished that Mihai was sitting next to me. All the courage I had before went up in smoke the minute I faced his mother and two brothers alone.

“Since Mihai isn’t here to interrupt, I want to know everything. How you both met, and when you knew he was the one,” Audrey said eagerly.

“Mom, couldn’t you wait for at least the second course before you started interrogating her,” One of Mihai’s brothers said from beside me, from his hair cut I assumed he was Castor, the one who was in the military. “I’m sure, they’d tell us their story when we gather after dinner anyway.”

Audrey waved him off giving him an annoyed look, she reminded me of Audrey Hepburn. With her every movement I could only think of one word, grace. She pursed her lips. “That’s the point of asking now, I’m sure your brother would try to block her from answering my questions, especially since she’s—” She pressed her lips together and glanced at me, before she continued. “Anyway, I want to know everything without your brother’s interference.”

Castor laughed. “Fine, I won’t stop you.” Mischievously he said to me, “Tap my arm twice and I’ll wave Mihai down so that he can save you.”

Feeling awkward I tried to think of a story that would make sense. “Well, the way we met wasn’t really all that exciting,” I said a bit louder than necessary, relieved when I saw Mihai look in my direction.

“I think it was around two to three months ago, I had left my friend’s wedding and instead of going home as I originally planned, I went to a bar with a friend.” I laughed, hoping that he wasn’t only listening to what I was saying, but also thinking of what to add to make the story more plausible.”

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