Total pages in book: 225
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 218500 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1093(@200wpm)___ 874(@250wpm)___ 728(@300wpm)
I look over my shoulder and see a young landscaper wearing headphones, trimming a hedge while obviously feeling the song by the way he’s erratically doing his work while his lips move like he’s singing along. He’s kind of slaughtering the hedge.
“Go ahead,” Derek waves and we watch Carson rush to the young man trying to get his attention with waving arms. Derek tugs my hand and leads me in and down the hall the same way we went on Sunday. Only we walk past the solarium and I’m thinking semi-formal dining room? Why have multiple dining rooms with levels of formality? Especially for breakfast with your son.
“And you called my parents formal,” I mutter. “Yours are, I guess, semi-formal.”
“What’s more formal than formal?” he asks.
I shrug. “Ceremonialistic?”
He laughs, taking me into a room that looks beyond formal.
“This?” I try.
He laughs harder.
His parents are seated at a table for twelve, dressed up, and looking at us curiously.
By the time we’re back in his SUV, I’m itching to rant.
But I won’t rant to him since he’s the enemy.
As we leave the property, he looks at me. “You good?” he asks, and he’s amused.
“Fine,” I say through tight teeth.
He laughs. He knows how frustrated I am.
“I don’t know what’s funny,” I mutter.
“You’re funny,” he says, leaning over and trying to kiss me.
“Drive the car, sheesh,” I lean away so he can’t get me. He brakes and grabs my face with both hands and plants a wet one on me. “That was fuckin’ funny. I think my father wants to fire my mother’s media bitch and hire you. But no matter how much money and perks he offers you, don’t accept.”
“Oh, there are Steele family members I’m allowed to say no to?” I ask, haughtily.
“You can say no to anyone, wife, but if you say it to me there might be consequences. If you feel strongly about the need to say no to my father, chances are that I’ll back you up.”
“What if he offers me an annulment and the ability to not have to deal with your nonsense anymore?” I quip.
Derek’s expression darkens. “Do you wanna watch your husband commit patricide?”
I immediately lose every ounce of smartass. Because he looks serious.
His grip tightens on the steering wheel.
I stare out the window. Uncomfortable.
It’s halfway through the afternoon by the time we get back to the house. I was starting to wonder if I’d ever get out of there.
During breakfast, Derek’s mother seemed sober. And kind of bitchy. She wasn’t nearly as fun as she was when she was drunk. She was not happy about the gossip blog, about people finding out we’d gotten married, about not getting to organize a bunch of hoopla for her son’s wedding, and at first seemed like she had plans to take it out on me.
Derek quickly set her straight about that. Despite that the offending blog post had apparently already been taken down, she inundated me with questions about Adam and his accident and that seemed to me like it was out of concern for how someone in the Steele family would be seen, not about any semblance of concern for Adam.
Any question or comment from her that was even remotely bitchy, Derek would answer, sticking up for me and assuring her none of this was my fault.
If she was even-tempered with a question, he’d let me answer.
I hate to admit it, but it was kind of refreshing to have someone stick up for me.
He declared, “I saw her and wanted her, Mom. I’ve already explained that I made it happen. Me. All this is on me. Except for the bitch that posted about it – I’m dealing with that. Chloe’s innocent in all of this.”
Derek’s father vacillated from being preoccupied with his phone to paying close attention to me and how I was handling everything. His eyes were cold the entire time except that each time his attention strayed to his wife, that coldness vanished. It was intriguing to watch.
When Derek’s mother switched gears and began talking about the upcoming anniversary party, asking what I would be wearing and letting me know I would be photographed with the family, Derek told her Grace’s friend Nicola was going to outfit me. She seemed decided she’s have her designer work with Nicola to make sure I was dressed well. She requested that if I’m unhappy and want to change my outfit, I should reach out to Carson with that information and that Carson would interface with her assistant. Talk about a waste of resources. But it wasn’t a bad thing that I wouldn’t have to deal with my new mother-in-law directly all that much outside of public Steele family functions, which Derek already assured were few and far between.
She had quite the preoccupation with whether or not I was capable of presenting myself as a member of the Steele family. I was ready to remind these people that I was now only a member of their family by a marriage I’d been forced into and the word family did not come to mind as a group descriptor, but didn’t think that me biting back at a mother who was disappointed she didn’t see her son get married would be productive, so I kept my mouth shut.