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I glance at Briar, who is white as a sheet, and I have to clench my fist to stop myself from reaching out to her.
"Boys," Pops starts. "Take your seats."
He pauses a beat for them to be seated, before turning his gaze to their mom and waiting for her to sit. "Tonight is about family and joy so, with all due respect, your mother is right, this is not the time or place. That said, we do not deal in human trafficking or arranged marriages. Not under any circumstances."
Pops pauses again, making eye contact with every ‘adult’ at the table. "Do I make myself clear?"
CHAPTERSEVEN
BRIAR
Sitting at this table between Travis and Cole gives me all kinds of flashbacks, but they asked me to trust them. And I'm trying.
Which is why when the twins stand up and start full-on arguing with their parents across the table from me, I keep my mouth shut and my eyes down on my plate. I am absolutely not getting in the middle of this.
I didn't want any of this. I might not have been happy with my life before, but it was at least mine to dictate. I had my freedom and I got to choose my own path.
Even if they were shitty options, they were stillmyoptions.
Being thrown to the sharks in the form of the wealthy and crazy is not something I ever expected to have to learn to swim through, but what I'm learning right now is that these waters are not calm and still. They are choppy, with animals lurking beneath the surface that you can't see trying to drown you every moment.
"Boys," the man who I assume is Travis's pops says as he stares at them. "Take your seats."
He pauses a beat while they sit, before turning his gaze to their mom and waiting for her to do the same. "Tonight is about family and joy so, with all due respect, your mother is right, this is not the time or place. That said, we do not deal in human trafficking or arranged marriages. Not under any circumstances."
Pops pauses again, making eye contact with every ‘adult’ at the table. "Do I make myself clear? Arranged marriages are not the way that we do things. If the boys have said no, then the boys have said no." He glares at the twins' parents, who seem to cower beneath the glower of the old man.
I don't know what sort of power it is that Travis’ grandfather holds over these people, but I sure am glad that he's on our side.
To be fair, if that glare was pointed in my direction, I'm pretty sure that I would cower too.
The twins nod at Travis' pops and stand, moving behind their dad until he scoots along a seat so that they're sitting next to each other rather than between their parents.
"And with that in mind," Pops says. "No arranged marriages will be happening for anybody at this table." He glares directly at Chase, who grips his cutlery so tight I think he might actually throw his fork at his old man.
"I will not stand for it. That isn't how we do business. We don't traffic in people. We never have and we're not about to start now. Am I making myself clear?"
Chase stares at Travis, who isn't looking at his father, but I'm pretty sure from the tensing of his hands under the table, he can feel the glare on his head.
"Understood," Chase responds before Pops glances around the table, smiles at me, and nods again.
"Good. Now that's cleared up. Let's have dinner, shall we? This is meant to be the season for family and happiness."
The rest of the evening passes in a blur. Considering this is a pre-Christmas get together, it couldn't be further from festive. The house isn't even really decorated, which I find absurd for people who have this much money.
I thought they'd like to put on a show for everything, but my mom was quick to inform me when I arrived that the decorators are coming tomorrow, despite the fact that Christmas is only three days away. Something about them being busy and her not being able to decorate in her condition.
Decorators who, since I'm not around, they had to hire at the last minute.
It took everything I had not to roll my eyes so far back into my head that I could see brain matter at her dig. Christmas isn’t my thing and we haven’t decorated for Christmas since Iris, so why she thinks that I was going to decorate this year is absolutely perplexing to me.
By the time Tobias comes to collect the dessert dishes with the other staff, I'm full, anxious, and beyond ready to be out of this house. Knowing that we're going to have to stay here over the Christmas break fills me with dread, but at least we have the weekend before we have to come back here on Monday, ready for Christmas on Tuesday. Especially since, apparently, Travis' grandparents are staying at the house.
This seems like a walking disaster if you ask me. It's the perfect recipe for any kind of nuclear bomb to go off, and I'm very glad that we are not going to be around for the start of it.
Hopefully, anything that goes off happens before we get here, then maybe Christmas will be canceled and all of my dreams will come true.
My ideal Christmas is just staying in bed, hiding under my duvet and not having to move, but I get the feeling that isn't going to happen this year, despite the fact that that's how I spent Christmas the last few years.
