Instead of ripping his head off as I may have done a year ago, I surprise myself by saying, “Thank you, Todd. I’ll think about it.”
Todd’s genuine smile surprises me.
“I’m popping out,” I say again.
Todd’s grin widens. “Not a problem. I won’t keep you.”
I give him a curt nod, and he turns to leave.
It can’t be Todd.
However, with a significant client release launching early next week. I need to know what’s going on, and I’m not sure who I can trust with what I’ve just uncovered. I should call a board meeting, but—I dismiss the thought as soon as it enters my head. What the hell do I tell them?
I download a copy of the files I was reviewing before he came in, sliding the memory stick into my pocket. I make my way across the city to my brother’s office in the financial district. Gabriel is the sensible one. Maybe he can tell me I’m overreacting.
CHAPTER 7
PEN
Isit across the table from Kris’s mother, Cybil Lansdown, and his younger sister, Freya. Kris has once again abandoned me for a work meeting, leaving me to deal with our wedding plans and his mother.
“As for bridesmaids?—”
“I’ve already told you I’m not having any. I shall walk down the aisle with my mother, and that’s it.” When it became clear Lottie couldn’t make it, I decided I would forgo bridesmaids.
Cybil looks over her glasses and tuts.
“The photographs won’t look right without bridesmaids. I’ve asked Kris’s cousins’ children to step in. It’s fine. I’ve seen to their dress fittings and they’ll match the flowers.”
I grit my teeth as my heart rate picks up, a bubbling forming in my chest. I draw in a breath and try to form a smile.
“Thank you, but again, my answer is still no. I will not be having bridesmaids.”
Freya takes a sip of her drink to hide her smirk. She’s twenty-five years younger than Kris.A welcome mistakeis how she’s described in their family.
I bite my lip against the retort I want to make. Kris is a wonderful man, but his mother needs a hobby other thansticking her nose into her children’s business. Poor Freya can’t blow her nose without running it past her mother first.
“I’m afraid Cybil, this is one area I won’t be backing down on.”
“We shall see. I’ll speak to Kris.”
“You can speak to Kris, but at the end of the day, he’ll back me up.”
Or at least he damn well better.
If his mother hadn’t jumped the gun and sent out the save-the-date notices, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
She harrumphs, and Freya lets out a little cough. I look over as she winks. There may be hope for her yet.
“I think Pen’s right. If she doesn’t want bridesmaids, why would she want some children she’s met once to walk down the aisle with her. I know I wouldn’t.”
Cybil shoots her daughter a look that tells her to shut up.
Freya simply shrugs and shoots me a wink. I like Kris’s baby sister a lot. At twenty-one, she’s young and has lived a sheltered life. Her upbringing is the complete opposite of my own. Something tells me she’s waiting for her moment.
“As I said, I’ll speak to Kris. This just isn’t right.”
She busies herself with the file she’s created containing all the wedding plans.
