Page 23 of The Wrong Fiancée

I smirked. "No. Looks like tonight they're pissed with their future son-in-law. He told them to just order and nodrama."

Makai chuckled. "He continues like that, he won't be their son-in-law."

And that would be okay with me!

I dropped the order at the pass-through, smiling widely as Chef Nalu raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's got you smiling?" he asked, checking the steaks lined up for grilling.

Dean Archer, the well-mannered, stoic fiancé of Felicity Thatcher, had just gone rogue. And, honestly, it was the funniest thing I'd seen in weeks. Watching him handle his future in-laws without actually being rude? That was an art form.

"It's a beautiful evening," I replied pleasantly.

"It's good to see you smile, Elika."

I stilled. I didn't smile much because I was rarely happy. It used to not be like this. I used to live life to the fullest. Now, I felt empty when I wasn't running to work or Noe—no surprise there; after all, my life was pretty hollow, with no time for anything but the grind.

Maybe once Noe rejoined society, even if she had to do it in a wheelchair, then I'd have time for myself. But as things stood, Noe was not in a headspace to work. She was still bitter.

Leilani thought it was wrong that I was still taking care of her. For the first two years after the accident, I didn’t have a choice—she needed physical therapy. But ever since we moved to Kauai, she could’ve gone to therapy as an outpatient at Ka Pono. Still, shewanted to live there. I didn’t blame her; the place was like a resort. Hell, I wanted to live there, too, not that I could afford it—I could barely manage to keep Noe there.

I went back to the dining area and took care of my guests, filling glasses with wine, making sure everyone had everything they needed, and ignoring Ginny's complaints.

Didn't it get exhausting to keep so much anger and bitterness inside her? I wondered. There was a rot inside Ginny, I knew, this insidious need to constantly feel better by making others feel bad. Noe had some of that. Felicity too.

When Chef told me the Thatcher table's service was ready, I got to work, game face on.

I was already exhausted, and I still had four more hours left on my shift.

Chapter Nine

DEAN

"You were sleeping with her, you son of a bitch?" Ginny screamed at her husband.

"Ginny, I need you to calm down." Sam looked at me uneasily.

"I won't calm down," she screeched. "You're such an asshole, Sam."

Holy fuck!I didn't want to be part of the Thatcher family soap opera, I thought as I tried to get the hell out of Ginny and Sam's bungalow. I'd been summoned by them because they wereverydisappointed with my behavior at dinner. I was a grown-ass man, and I had no idea why they thought they could treat me like an errant teenager—but Ginny was, as I had been noticing, completely batshit crazy.

"Mama, stop it," Felicity pleaded and glared at me. "This is all your fault."

"Mine?" I shook my head. Nope, the Thatchers were nothing like my family. This kind of drama was not who we were. The screaming and yelling and fighting. The humiliating of staff. Nope! If my mother was around, she'd bitch slap Ginny until she got a concussion, and that wasn't hyperbole.

I walked out of their bungalow, wanting to reach ours butunsure of what to do next. I'd had it up to here with Felicity and her family.

"Dean, please," Felicity called out. I didn't stop until we were at our doorstep. I held the door open and waited until she was inside.

I turned on the lights and felt a pang of hurt go through me. Felicity was crying. I didn't want to hurt this woman. She was going to be my wife. Right?

"Fee," I began.

She nodded. "I know. I know. You're thinking I'm being a bitch. But…Daddy had an affair with Iolana."

"Elika's mother?"

Felicity sniffled and sat down on a couch. "For a while, we wondered if Elika was Daddy's."

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