“Please don’t ask when the result speaks for itself.” Mom gestures at us.
“The only reason we weren’t taken away by child protective services is that you’re too well connected,” Xavier mutters, barely loud enough for me and a few other brothers to hear.
Grandmother inhales slowly. The slight tremor of her cheeks betrays her agitation. Finally, she turns back to me. “What about Selena Chesterfield?” she says, her voice calmer now.
Max tenses, her knuckles whitening around her fork. I run a soothing hand down her arm, but it doesn’t seem to help.
Grandmother continues, “She’s free now. Didn’t you know each other?”
“Yeah, fourteen years ago,” I say. “She moved on. So did I.”
Grandmother smiles serenely. “So you can try again with more maturity.”
“Hold on.” Mom frowns. “Is this the girl who freaked out over Chava’s penis?”
I grind my teeth. Max cocks an eyebrow, and I need to stop Mom from elaborating. “Yes,” I say quickly before she can add more details to jog my memory.
Dad lets out a horrified gasp. “Oh, no. She’s waaay too uptight. She’d be a terrible lay. Type who insists on missionary in the dark with double condoms. You won’t be able to feel anything, if you can even get it up in the first place—”
I interrupt. “Why don’t you—”
“Exactly,” Mom says. She turns to address all of us brothers. “Don’t worry if you’ve ever had that experience. It isn’t erectile dysfunction if your penis stays limp with only one particular woman.”
Grandmother loses her composure. “Auric! Elita!”
“Mother, you know it’s true!” Dad says defensively. “I don’t want Rhys scarred!”
Too late!But it isn’t me he’s scarring, it’s Max. He’s never been this outspoken in the office. Or at least not in front of her, because I try to get her out of the room as much as possible when he and Mom visit.
But now, they’re being so embarrassing that nausea roils inside me. I reach over and place my hand on her forearm, needing the physical connection to anchor my spiraling emotions.
“Selena is British nobility!” Grandmother says.
“Her aunt is a baroness,” Mom scoffs. “Hardly worth mentioning. For all we know, Max’s mother could be related to a British earl.”
“Mom was an everyday American woman,” Max says with a soulless smile.
Dad leans forward. “Your father?”
Her eyes turn icy. “Dead.”
I look at her in shock. I didn’t expect her to be so decisive and cold in cutting him out. Normally I’d admire her, but right now, my stomach knots painfully.What if she decides to cut her losses and let me go?Am I going to be dead to her then?
“A long-lost princess is a possibility,” Dad persists.
“Pedigree matters,” Grandmother says, wanting to make a point—and control my life.
“Rhys isn’t buying a horse,” Roarke says.
“And Max is smart. Don’t you want smart great-grandbabies?” Liam says, trying to defuse the tension.
Max jerks her head up, sudden tension radiating from her in waves.
Fuck. I knew it. They went too far!
“Rhys is smart enough,” Grandfather says.
Grandmother nods. “I never expected his wife to contribute much in that regard.”
