Page 68 of Morally Black Betrothal
I didn’t need to count the seconds to know the kiss lasted exactly ten.
Why, then, did it feel like something had been taken from me when he stepped away?
Brendan grabbed my hand and led me from the office into a crowd of onlookers. “Everyone, this won’t come as a surprise now, but I’m delighted to announce this beautiful woman has just agreed to be my wife. Please meet Simone Bishop, my fiancée.”
Cheers and chants broke out as people swept toward us, though most stepped aside for his siblings. I remembered them from the hospital. The woman and one of the men had dark hair tinted with red and similar coloring to Brendan, while the other man had hair and an expression to match his last name.
“Congrats, brother.” The black-haired man shook Brendan’s hand like everyone else, but when he spoke, ice tipped every word. “Simone, it’s lovely to meet you.”
His lips were cold as they brushed my cheek.
“Simone, this is Owen,” Brendan said. “And this is my other brother, Ronan, and my sister, Shea.”
I accepted perfunctory kisses and congratulations from the other Black siblings, both of whom were looking at me like I was a snake with two heads.
I didn’t blame them. Obviously, this was a surprise. Of course it was, since I’d only met my fiancé a few weeks ago?
“Charmed,” said Ronan, whose slicked hairstyle couldn’t quite tame the curl in his hair and the humor in his expression his siblings didn’t appear to share. “Candy striper, right?”
I blinked at Brendan, who just chuckled as he pulled me closer. “That’s right.”
Ronan smiled in a way that didn’t entirely meet his eyes. I was frankly shocked any of them recognized me. Brendan was the only one of their family members I’d actually spoken to besides their dad, and none of them had been paying attention.
Ronan was smart. That much was already apparent.
And the others were catching on quickly.
“Welcome to the family.” Shea reached out a manicured hand to shake mine. Diamonds twinkled on a bracelet on her wrist, and her lips curved into a mischievous red smile.
Owen, however, was still watching me with a barely hidden sneer that sent goose bumps racing up my back. “What an unexpected addition.” That cold, knife-sharp gaze turned to Brendan. “Dad will be thrilled.”
Brendan drew me closer. I wasn’t entirely disappointed to be there, protected by his imposing frame.
He kissed the top of my head and slipped a hand around my nape. “Dad likes anything special, and Simone is priceless. He couldn’t ask for a better daughter-in-law.”
All three siblings turned with speculative looks that made me feel like a perp walking into a lineup, not their brother’s newly betrothed.
Brendan brushed his lips against my ear. “I knew you’d be perfect.”
I looked up. “Perfect what?”
His smile was blinding. “A perfect fiancée.”
As he turned away to accept more congratulations, doubt stabbed through every smile I was forced to make.
A perfect fiancée?
No, a perfectfakefiancée.
And with his family looking at me like I was a puzzle they were dying to solve, a challenge they were ready to conquer, God, I hoped he was right.
16
A WAKE-UP CALL
Simone
Rap rap rap.
