Page 102 of Buckled in Barbwire

“Babes,” Bianca murmurs from the corner of her lips.

My body jolts as if shocked by her gentle whisper beside me. “Um, yeah?”

She examines me for several seconds. “I don’t want to know what you did to my brother to get us this food, but bravo.”

I flush from head to toe, fighting the urge to squirm under Brody’s smolder while his sister talks to me. “Thanks, I guess.”

“If the portions were any bigger, you’d have to roll me out of here.” Dad pats his belly.

A chorus of agreement circles our full group.

Once the plates are cleared, we’re informed that dessert will be served shortly. I glance at Brody while my pulsekicks. This seems like an opportune moment to shatter the illusion. Brody tilts his head, allowing me to do the honors. Such a gentleman.

I clasp his hand, linking our fingers in solidarity. “There’s something we wanted to talk to you about.”

“You’re pregnant!” Mom claps in celebratory fashion.

An indignant puff escapes me when I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Not this again.”

She pouts. “Does that mean there’s no baby?”

“No baby,” I confirm. “And there probably won’t be.”

A sharp grunt from my left has me glancing at Brody. His brows are drawn tight to match his frown. I’m not sure why, but an image of this broody billionaire changing a dirty diaper pops into my mind. It’s adorable, and too endearing to resist. I roll my lips between my teeth to trap a laugh.

“Um, okay. Maybe we’ll have babies eventually,” I amend.

The noise that rumbles from him in response is pleased.

My mom is satisfied with that revision as well. She smiles while twirling her wrist. “What do you have to tell us?”

“Well… uh,” I stall and fidget with the tablecloth. “We have a confession.”

“It’s mostly mine to make,” Brody pipes in. His grip on my palm tightens while I gladly hand over the reins. “I needed a wife in order to secure ownership of Benson Farmstead. There was a very recent and bogus contractual obligation put in place before the company could be officially mine.”

Dennis clucks his tongue. “Just did what needed to be done.”

“And I followed by example,” Brody says gruffly. “I convinced Paisley to marry me using… unconventional methods.”

Bianca snorts. “Mhmm, and that’s just the half of it. He had Colton steal my phone so I couldn’t stop him.”

He gives her a stern glare. “Thanks, sis.”

“Just doing my part.” Her smile is gratified.

My dad’s stare pins Brody with violent intentions. “What kind of unconventional methods?”

“It wasn’t anything bad,” I rush to explain. “Well, it was bad, but not that bad.”

“Blackmail mostly,” my darling husband clarifies. “And I was never going to actually sell Echo.”

“Ah,” Dennis breathes. “That explains a lot.”

Mom appears puzzled. “Paisley wouldn’t agree to do something that she wasn’t comfortable doing. I’m sure she would’ve told us if she felt forced into it.”

My siblings exchange a glance and I glare at them to keep quiet. Those two have gotten me into a lot of trouble when I’ve spared them from it.

“I didn’t want to disappoint you.” My focus shifts between all three parents seated across from me.

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