Page 32 of The Princess, the Prick & the Priest (Confessions 4)

When Julien glanced at him, Robbie knew he was testing to see how he felt about that. And how did he feel? Less panicked, that was for sure, and he wanted his family to get to know Julien and Priest. So Robbie found himself nodding, and Julien said, “In that case, we’d love to stay. I’ll cancel the hotel.”

“Perfect,” she said. “It’s all ready and made up for you. We can show you there if you like.”

“Actually, Ma?” Robbie said. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take them and make sure they know where everything is. It’s been a long day, and I think we’d like to all freshen up a little.” And maybe have a shot of alcohol.

“Of course,” she said, as his father gave Robbie’s shoulder a final squeeze and then let him go. “Dinner will be ready around six. Let us know if you need anything.”

Julien, Priest, and Robbie nodded at his parents, and Robbie didn’t miss the quizzical looks on their faces as they looked at the three of them.

His father nodded in their direction, and as his parents disappeared down the hall, Robbie heard his father say, “Felicity, I saw you standing there the entire time. Didn’t I teach you to be stealthier than that?”

His sister’s ringing laughter echoed up the hall, and Robbie looked at his men and said, “Well, now you’ve met my family.”

JULIEN AND PRIEST followed Robbie up some outside stairs that were connected to the double-car garage of his parents’ house.

It hadn’t escaped either of their attention that their princesse had become extremely tight-lipped after his mother and father had left them to settle in. But Julien had suggested that they give Robbie a minute or two to digest the fact that he’d just told his parents he was dating a married couple.

Considering how unusual that situation actually was, Julien thought Robbie’s parents had handled the news extremely well. They had suspected that Robbie’s mother would after meeting her back in Chicago, but since neither of them had met his father, they hadn’t been sure what to expect—and what they got was better than they could’ve ever imagined.

A tall, burly man, Antonio Bianchi had a full head of thick salt-and-pepper hair and eyes that were both intelligent and shrewd. He was an intimidating presence until he cracked a smile. But what had blown Julien and Priest away was how he’d come into the room, sized them up man-to-man, but then taken the time to reel in his obvious curiosity, to first put his son’s anxiety at ease.

The hug and genuine care he’d shown as he kissed Robbie on the cheek and greeted him had spoken volumes, and it was that moment that told them that, even if it took years, they would eventually win this man over, because all he wanted was for his family to be happy—and one thing Julien and Priest knew they did well was make Robbie happy. Something they planned to work on right now.

“This is nice,” Julien said, as Priest shut the door and put their final bags by it.

Robbie had sat on the edge of the mattress, and Julien sat down beside him.

“How you holding up, princesse?”

Robbie shrugged but wouldn’t look at him, and Julien suspected Robbie was feeling a little bit overwhelmed by everything that had happened today.

Julien glanced across the space to Priest, who was watching the two of them. He was leaning up against the door with his hands in his jeans pockets and had a frown on his face. He was letting Julien take the reins here, and Julien swayed into Robbie’s side, bumping their shoulders up against each other.

“Hey?” Julien said, and this time Robbie looked at him. “Thank you for bringing us here this weekend. You have a lovely family.”

“You’re welcome,” Robbie said, and then his lips quirked. “Sometimes I think they’re a little nuts.”

“They are,” Priest said, and when Robbie looked at him, Priest grinned and pushed off the door. “But to us, that’s wonderful.”

As Priest took a seat on the other side of Robbie, he took his hand and laced their fingers together.

“Yeah?” Robbie said, and he sounded almost shy. “I thought they might be a bit, I don’t know, much?”

Wait, Julien thought. Is he worried about our feelings right now? After he just told his parents what he did? Sweet, sweet man.

“They’re parfait,” Julien said. “I wish my parents had one ounce of the acceptance I felt in that house today. If they did, I might have some kind of relationship with them.”

Robbie blinked, and his eyes misted over a little. “They are pretty amazing, aren’t they?”

Julien nodded. “Oui, they are. But we aren’t surprised.”

“No?” Robbie said.

“No.” Priest shook his head. “You are a very special man, Robert. It’s no surprise to anyone in this room that your family is also.”

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