Page 55 of The Marriage Deal
"Do they know our marriage is a sham?"
"They do. They don't care. Two of my siblings got married in a similar way, so of course everyone thinks it's true love."
"I don't mind meeting your family since mine barged into your house. It's only fair."
His eyes brightened. "You want to go? You don't have to. It's not that important."
"Do you want me to go or not?"
"I do! I would love it."
"Then it's a date."
???
OPULENT DID NOT BEGIN to describe his brother's home. The brunch was being hosted at Levi's eldest brother's New York townhouse, and it was the most beautiful place I've ever been in. It hit me then how rich Levi was. While his house in Northride town was nice, it was a functional place designed for one man to live in. This was like walking into a modern-day palace. His brother's wife, Aire, greeted us when we came in.
"You must be Elvira," the brunette woman said as we came in. She gave me a big, warm hug. "We have heard a lot about you."
Levi chuckled nervously. "Where's Nolan?"
"Putting Forrest to sleep. The others are already here. We are on the terrace."
Levi took my hand and led me inside. Walking confidently, like he knew the place. When we reached the terrace, we saw pretty much all of Levi's siblings together with what I assumed to be their spouses and girlfriends spread around in groups.
Raine was the first to notice our arrival. The moment he waved, everyone around him and the rest on the terrace turned to face us. I felt like a spotlight was shone on me. I reached for Levi's hand. He squeezed me and led me to his family. We went to Raine's group first. "I thought you'd never arrive," hesaid in a voice tinged with an upper-class British accent. "Who is this you're with, Levi?" The playful note in his voice was unmistakable, and I might have played along if it weren't for my nervousness.
"Elle, say hi to Raine. That's hisfiancée,Willow." Levi motioned to a beautiful Raven haired woman. "And that's Tyler," he said, pointing to a man slightly younger than Levi but older than Raine. "My brother. The second of my mother's sons and the fourth in our family overall."
"Hi," Tyler said, vigorously shaking my hand. "We've heard alotabout you."
"Interesting," I said. "Aire said the same thing."
Levi nudged Tyler and moved on to the man standing next to him. He was a lot closer in age and looked very similar to Tyler. "That's Sebastian, or Seb as we call him. Fifth on the Hawthorne family tree, but third and last child of my mother's."
Seb gave me a handshake, though his was much gentler. He flashed a bright smile. I'm so glad to meet you at last.
Levi dragged me away to the other group, where four other people were chatting together. Two men and two women. They were clearly couples. Each man had a hand on the woman's waist. One couple—a blonde woman with a tall man I had vaguely seen before in the news—were in the middle of sharing a story to the other couple: a man who looked similar to Levi and a light-skinned black woman.
The man with the black wife was Carey. The second oldest Hawthorne. His mother, according to Levi, died. And his wife's name was Thalia. She was very warm, and so was Ivy, the second to last sibling before Raine. And the man she was with was Damien Sinclair, her husband.
As soon as he finished the introductions, who I assumed was the eldest sibling, Nolan, came out to the terrace, a train ofservers carrying trays of food following him. "There's Nolan," Levi said.
"How do you all keep track?" I said, watching Aire instruct the servers where and how to place the food.
"We're used to it," Levi said.
"Don't be fooled," Damien said. "Ivy sent the wrong gift to Tyler last Christmas."
"Well, Ty and Seb are one person, really," Ivy pouted. "Who can blame me?"
"I still have a hard time keeping up with the birthdays," Thalia said.
"But you never forget mine," Ivy said. "Sometimes when I am feeling tired, I still think about that spa you sent me. Ah," she closed her eyes, a smile on her face.
"So you're doing your PhD, I hear?" Thalia said. "What's your thesis about?"
I nodded. "It's about Africans in medieval Europe. Your brother-in-law has been of great help."
