“Oh, she’ll eat anything! Don’t worry about that, Mom,” Dominic says with a chuckle.
I dig my fingers into his back until he hisses.
“Young man, Katerina can speak for herself. And she can do it a whole lot better than you can. I raised you better than this!”Evelyn uses such a motherly-scolding tone it almost brings tears to my eyes.
“Steak sounds lovely. Thank you,” I tell Evelyn with a sweet smile, when what I really want to do is applaud her for putting Dominic in his place.
“Everyone’s in the sitting room,” Damien says as he ushers us down the hallway.
I look around and note just how homey everything feels. How homey the house feels. How homey this family feels. How full of love it is. I’ve never experienced anything like this.
“Did you grow up here?” I whisper to Dominic.
“Yes. My parents’ have lived here since they got married.” He says it like it’s no big deal, but he isn’t seeing what I am.
I may have grown up in a big mansion too, but it was never like this. I push past my envy to excitement. They’re treating me like one of their own. Maybe I’m actually welcome in this family.
We walk into the living room, and I finally see people I recognize. Margot and Matthias, Cecilia and her husband whose name I can’t remember, and Bash.
“Kat! I’m so glad you’re here!” Margot jumps up from her spot next to Matthias and gives me a hug. I hug her back awkwardly, still not used to any form of affection. Cecilia waves at me from her spot practically in her husband’s lap. She’s showing even more than when I saw her at the wedding. I can’t imagine what it’s like being pregnant with triplets.
“Hey, Margot! What’ve you been up to?” I ask to be polite. She jumps into a story about the wild alien romance book she’s narrating. It sounds… interesting.
Once she’s told her story, it becomes almost a Q&A for me. I’m fielding questions about myself. They don’t seem judgmental, just curious. Dominic gets scolded more than oncefor interrupting me, correcting me, or refuting my answers. He’s taken to just sulking next to me.
Everyone has been more than welcoming, and by the time Evelyn rises and ushers us to dinner, my nerves have dissipated.
I realize I love the Montclair family, and I love being a Montclair.
Chapter 34
Katerina
Damien sits at one head of the table and Dominic beelines to the other. I try not to roll my eyes at the patriarchal seating.
I stand behind the seat next to my husband as he pulls out his chair obliviously. I kick his foot to grab his attention. His head snaps in my direction, and he looks at me questioningly. I gesture to my chair, but his eyebrows scrunch in confusion.
“Pull out my chair, husband,” I hiss under my breath and nod at the other husbands doing it for their wives.
“Of course, my lady,” he says sarcastically and pulls out my chair.
I flash him a wide smile as I take my seat.
I look down and smirk at my utensils. For the first time since I stabbed him, I have a real knife instead of a plastic one.
My smirk isn’t long lasting though. It falls when a large hand confiscates my steak knife and replaces it with one of those damn fake silver plastic ones.
I glare at my husband as he pockets my real knife. He smirks at me and pats his jacket.
“Safety measure. You understand,” he whispers mockingly.
“Don’t trust that false sense of security. I will make this plastic knife hurt just as much as a real one,” I promise quietly with a sweet smile on my face, so his family doesn’t suspect anything.
A few servers enter and place our meals in front of us, and my stomach drops.
Steak.
We’re eating steak.
