“Have you eaten there, Mother?”El asked with interest.
“Yes.Frequently.”She smiled.“Your maître d’ is a lovely woman.She always manages to get me the table I want.”
“My cousin,” Ryan told Annabel.“She’s very good at her job.Most of the people who work there are family, in fact.”
“That’s the best way,” Annabel murmured softly, and as the door opened and her husband appeared, she called out, “Isn’t it, Joseph?Keeping business all in the family?”
Her father, still handsome as he approached sixty, walked toward the seating area with a loose gait.He avoided Annabel, but headed for El.She tilted her cheek for him to kiss, which he did, then he approached Ryan who stood, hand held out.
“Ryan DeSoto,” he informed Joseph.“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
El’s lips twitched as she wondered how weird it was for Ryan to tag on ‘sir’ when he was probably older than her dad.
Something he was probably accustomed to doing, but still, it would undoubtedly amuse her for a long time to come.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ryan.Call me Joseph.We don’t stand on formality with friends of the family.”They shook hands, and Joseph cocked a brow at what El could only assume was Ryan’s strong handshake.Joseph backed off, took the seat beside El, and reached for the coffee pot as he poured himself a cup.“And yes, Annabel’s quite right.Family knows best where business is concerned.Although, which business are we talking about?”
“Ryan here owns Feral.”
Joseph’s brows rose.“Even I’ve heard of Feral.Very nice, very nice.”He cut El a glance.“You’re here with El for… business?”
She frowned.“No, Dad.Jeez.I’m not in business with Ryan.”Because that was the only way she and Ryan could possibly be together?
Joseph held up his hands in surrender.“He’s your boyfriend?”
“Fiancée, actually,” she told him saccharine sweet.“Well, after he asks your permission.Ryan’s old fashioned like that.”
“You want to get married?”Joseph demanded, eyes widening.
“Yes.I do.We do.”
“How long have even known this man?”
She narrowed her eyes, trying to look convincing as she told her father a bald-faced lie because there was no way she was telling him the truth; “Eight months.”More like eight days.
Joseph frowned.“Ryan, it might be wise if you leave us while I discuss this with my daughter.”He placed his coffee cup on the table and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.“I don’t wish to offend you or insult you with my rudeness, but El knows the implications.She should have come to me alone.”
Though Joseph spoke as though he fully intended to be obeyed,immediately, Ryan shook his head.“No, sir.Respectfully, anything you have to say can be spoken in front of me.If it’s about a pre-nuptial agreement, then I’ve already agreed to sign one.It can be as iron clad as El’s lawyers can make it.I have no interest in her trust fund.I’m quite wealthy on my own.”
“Your wealth and El’s are in a whole different stratosphere,” Joseph pointed out with a sneer.“Your restaurants are child’s play in comparison to the might of the Forsythe-Drew empire.”
“Dad!”El snapped.
“Joseph, that’s entirely unnecessary,” Annabel retorted coolly.“The boy has agreed to sign a pre-nuptial agreement, as long as that’s in place, El’s free to do whatever she wants with whomever she wants.And I, for one, am relieved about that.We feared she’d forever be on the shelf.”
Could the earth just swallow her up?
Her father cut his wife a glance, but though it was supposed to be withering, Annabel just cocked a brow at him with disinterest.The power dynamic between her parents was one she’d never been able to understand.Though her father was the one with the money, Annabel had never acted beholden to him for it.They often had these little internal battles with one another.Staring contests like two dogs glowering at one another over possession of a fire hydrant they both wished to piss on.
Ryan cleared his throat to break up the battle of wills.“I’m aware that you might think this is hasty, but I love your daughter, and I wish to marry her.”
“Isn’t that sweet?”Annabel cooed, but her gaze was hard as she carried on glowering at her husband.“I’ll assume you’ve been in touch with the lawyers, El?”
“No.But I will.I wanted to wait for today.”What else could she say?Ryan had sprung this news of the pre-nuptial agreement on her.
“What on earth for?”Annabel murmured.“You didn’t think your father would stop you from marrying, did you?”
“Ryan wanted to do things right.Who am I to argue?”She shot her mate a look, and saw his lips were twitching.
