Page 39 of Flame True

“I don’t know,” she’d told Nick.

He’d frowned. “I think after the gala, you should come to stay with me.”

Mulberry saw his point that it’d be hard to keep up the pretense of a relationship if she was photographed walking into the building of the company that made headlines for rescuing her. She sighed. There was no escaping that moment in her past “Are you sure it’s safe to be in the house?” Mulberry asked, watching Grace’s expression closely.

“I have a detail from Stone Security, and the police seem to think it’s unlikely someone would try again because they think it’s a break-in,” Grace squeezed her arm. “Anyways, tonight is about you. Are you excited?”

Mulberry grinned. “I don’t know. I feel all kinds of nervous.”

“Hello, gorgeous!” Emma strolled into the room, followed by Aunt Cassie.

Mulberry smiled. “Hi. Thanks for coming.”

“Like I’d miss it? I still can’t believe you kept Nick from me” Emma grinned.

“She kept it from me, too,” Aunt Cassie said, coming to hug Mulberry.

Her aunt and her mother looked so much alike, side by side.

“We wanted to keep it a secret. I didn’t want any media attention” her stomach tightened with how easily the lie rolled off her tongue. Noticing the thin smile on her mom’s face, her stomach dropped to the floor.

“I know, but you deserve some happiness, and I’d thought you would have told me about something good,” Emma said.

Mulberry shifted on the vanity bench. “I know. I’m sorry. I guess I couldn’t believe it myself.”

“It’s okay,” Aunt Cassie said.

“Well, Nick is super yummy. He’s a little standoffish tough,” Emma said, passing Mulberry a bronze lipstick.

“Yeah, he is,” Mulberry said. “I met his parents yesterday.”

“Oh?” Her mom paused while brushing her hair. “How was that?”

Mulberry applied a layer of gloss over her lipstick, frowning, thinking of how to put her impressions of the Laurent family into words.

Through her mom, she’d met many people. Many wealthy, well-connected people. People who thought they were important talked loudly and made demands, and people who were stuck up and pretentious.

To be fair, her mom’s circle of friends was like Grace, who did their best to have everyday lives despite having jobs that made them famous.

But she never had met people like Livia, Henri and Colette Laurent. It was like being a snob was part of their personality. Or bloodline, or something.

It’s like they all walked into a room and expected it to be clean and to have someone serve them.

“Awkward, but it was fine,” Mulberry said.

Her mom hummed as she brushed her hair, pulling some of it back into a twist, letting the rest fall in waves past her shoulders.

“He pulled out her chair for her at the restaurant.” Emma rolled her eyes.

“What’s wrong with chivalry?” Cassie asked.

“Boring,” Emma said.

Mulberry applied a quick sweep of blush on her cheeks, feeling a bit like the princess going to the ball.

She giggled.

“What?” Aunt Cassie gave her hair a quick spray.

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