Page 364 of The Christmas Wife

"Doesn’t mean you have to agree to marry him," Gio points out.

I set my jaw. "But what if I want to?"

"Do you?" Summer asks.

I nod slowly.

"If you do, then make sure you negotiate with him, before the wedding." Gio brushes off a speck of dirt from her Prada jacket. "Make sure you get what you want out of it before giving in to him."

"Like what?"

"Money? Houses. Whatever you want out of it."

"But how—" A knock on the door interrupts me. I glance toward it; so do the girls.

"Don’t you have an intercom system?" Penny frowns.

"I do." I begin to walk toward the door when whoever is at the door knocks on it again. I look toward the peephole, then step back and pivot around to face them. "It’s him."

"Who?" Gio asks.

"Edward," I whisper. Not that he can hear my voice through the door, but he’s right there on the other side of it. "What should I do?" I wring my hands. "I’m not ready to see him.

"Belle?" He bangs on the door again. "I know you’re in there."

I freeze, and I’m sure the look on my face is that of pure panic, for Gio rises to her feet. She marches past me and grips the door handle, before turning to me. "Should I tell him to leave?"

I shake my head.

She sighs. "You want me to buy you some time?"

I nod.

"Why don’t you go on into the bedroom?"

"Thank you" I race past the other girls.

Behind me, I hear her throw open the door. "Edward, what are you doing here?"

16

Edward

"I’m here for Mira."

"Hmm." Gio purses her lips. "What are your intentions toward her."

I glance past her to where the other women look at me with varying expressions of displeasure and mistrust.

"Can I come in?" I hold up my hands. "I mean no harm."

"That’s debatable." She purses her lips, then finally, stands aside.

I stalk past her and into the center of the rom. "Ladies." I tilt my head. "I’m glad Mira has friends looking out for her."

"Can we say the same about you?" Summer asks in a serious tone.

Of everyone in this room, I’ve known her the longest. I attended her wedding to Sinclair. I’ve seen the bond between them grow. Sinclair loves her more than his own life, and she reciprocates their sentiment. She’s aware of my past. Of the incident that binds Sinclair and me and the rest of the Seventogether. No one else in my family knows the true extent to which that incident scarred me. It’s a secret, known to us, and now the wives of the Seven.

---