“Are you tired of smiling yet?” Sienna whispers in my ear. “My cheeks ache.”

“Mine too. And my feet hurt.”

My twin sister, sheathed in a navy blue strapless dress, stands with me in the back corner of the room. “At least we’re at the point where they’re drinking enough to want to talk to themselves and not us.”

“Excellent point,” I laugh.

“Who has an excellent point?”

We look over to see Mallory and Ellie headed our way. Ellie’s stomach is just starting to be noticeably more round than usual, but only if you’re looking for it.

“Ellie, you are beyond adorable,” I say.

“She is, isn’t she?” Mallory adds.

“Trust me, this doesn’t feel adorable,” she groans, her hand resting on her belly. “I’ve been sick for weeks straight. I’m over it. Can I have this baby yet?”

We laugh as she slumps into a chair and looks at us in defeat. “I’m not kidding, guys. I’m exhausted.”

“Just sit there and I’ll grab you some water. Okay?” Sienna asks.

Ellie looks grateful and Sienna takes that for a yes and disappears into the crowd. I feel Mallory’s eyes on me.

“What?” I ask, giving her a look.

“I just want to say I’m thrilled you and Graham made up,” she says. “He was this close to being thrown out of his own house.”

“You should’ve. He deserved it,” I huff. “But he acted like a man today and apologized, so I forgave him.”

She pulls her brows together. “You know why he apologized, right?”

“Don’t tell me you made him.”

“No, not me.” She flashes me a mischievous grin. “Dominic.”

“What?” I gasp. “What are you talking about?”

“Dominic called Graham.”

“When?”

“This morning. Graham let the cat out of the bag on the way over.”

“Oh, my God,” I breathe, only imagining that conversation. “Did he give you details?”

“No. Just that Dominic made some valid points and … I think he made an impression on your brother, Cam.”

Burying my face in my hands, not even bothering to worry my make-up will smudge, I wonder just what transpired and why no one bothered to tell me. “You know,” I say, dropping my hands, “Graham just went off. I’ve never seen him that mad and I get why. I do. But it was still so … weird.”

“He’s been that way recently,” she says, her voice dropping. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him. He’s rash, temperamental, not the Graham I know. I’m worried about him.”

“You have no idea what’s wrong?”

“None.” She looks down, inspecting her perfect manicure. “Maybe he’s trying to figure a way out.”

“Out of what? A business deal?”

“Me.”

The one-word answer is enough to have me reaching for her.

“Don’t hug me or I’ll cry,” she laughs, batting my hands away playfully. “Besides, it makes me feel all dramatic and I hate dramatic.”

“Since when?”

She just laughs in response. “I’m being dumb. I know. He probably has something going on at work and doesn’t want to weigh me down with it. I just need to be patient. This, too, shall pass.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

Looking up, I see Graham watching us from the other side of the room. He looks distinguished with his silver tie and perfect posture, holding a glass of something dark in his hand.

I flash him a look of shame and he holds his palms out as if to say, “What?” I huff a breath and look back to Mallory. “It’ll be fine. Like you said, just give him some time.”

“Where’s Dominic?” she asks, not-so-smoothly changing topics.

“He didn’t want to come.”

“That’s too bad. We all want to meet him.”

“Are we talking about Dominic?” Alison says from beside me. She leans forward, kissing my cheek, before pulling back and grimacing. “This pregnancy thing is for young people.”

“Like you’re old,” I laugh.

“Much older than I was when I had Huxley,” she admits. “Ellie? Care for some company?”

“Please,” she says, opening her eyes. “I think I just fell asleep.”

“Welcome to my world, sister.”

Sienna comes back with two bottles of water, one for Ellie and one for Alison. Mallory and I chat for a while about yoga and pizza, our two favorite things, before Huxley appears at our side.

“Miss Camilla,” he says, bowing. “My father would like to speak with you about an urgent matter.”

“Is that so?” I grin. “You are too cute in that suit, Mr. Huxley.”

“It’s Mr. Landry,” he winks, “and let’s use ‘handsome,’ please. ‘Cute’ is for kids.”

“Oh,” I say, making a face at his mother. “Handsome. Yes, Mr. Landry. Please lead me to your father.”

He offers his elbow, making me giggle. I take it and we wind through the room until we’re in a smaller room to the side. Barrett and Graham are chatting in the middle of the space.

“Oh, I get both of you?” I sigh, rolling my eyes. “Thanks for the escort, Hux.”

“No problem.”

I hear the door swing closed behind me as I look at my two oldest brothers. “What can I do for the two of you?”

It’s a rhetorical question. The look on Graham’s face tells me exactly what this is about. I shoot him a look and brace myself for another onslaught.

“Easy, Swink,” Barrett laughs, setting his glass on a table. “You’re getting that killer look in your eye I’ve been hearing about.”

I shoot another blast of it towards Graham for good measure. They both laugh, which only puts me more on edge.

“Look, before you two go—”

“Cam,” Barrett interjects. “Wait a second.” He walks towards me and stops a few feet in front of where I’m standing. “I know about Dominic. I know about Nolan.”

“He can’t help who he’s related to. Look,” I say, almost frantically, “I know Nolan tried to bomb you, Barrett, and I hate him for that. But Dom—”

“Stop,” he laughs.

My shoulder slump as I heave in a breath and watch my brother’s face.

“Graham and I have been talking about it. I’ll admit, I was pissed off at first. But then, you know what?”

“What?”

“I remembered back when I started dating Alison and how annoyed I was at everyone saying she was wrong for me because of what it could do to my campaign. How her background looked crappy, because it did, and how she was a single mother and all that. I remember thinking, ‘Why doesn’t anyone care if I’m happy?’ I almost lost her because of that.”

“That’s the same thing I’m thinking,” I say, looking over his shoulder at Graham before resting my eyes on Barrett again.

“If he turns out to be like Nolan, we’ll kill him.”

“Barrett!”

“I’m kidding.”

“I’m not,” Graham says, causing Barrett to shake his head. “And don’t think we don’t know about what happened to his father. We do. Nick Parker found out for us.”

“You hired a private investigator?” I ask, my jaw dropping. “That’s too far, G. Too far.”

“Hey, that was Dad’s directive,” Graham says, holding up his hands. “He trumped me on that.”

“Oh, shit,” I say, looking at the ceiling and fake crying.

Barrett laughs, moving away and picking up his drink again. “I’ll handle the old man. He’s mellowing out in his old age. I think you’ll be fine.”

“Mellowing out?” I ask. “Maybe to you! He’s as uptight as ever with me and Sienna.”

“He remembered when that happened,” Graham says, coming forward. “I guess Nolan had talked about what an asshole his brother was—Dominic’s dad. He said it was better off that he was dead.”

“But Dom has to live with that,” I point out. “You think that’s easy for him?”

“It couldn’t be,” Barrett admits. “But Dad will be fine. I got you on this.”

“Why are you so supportive?”

He shrugs. “Maybe I’m mellowing out in my old age. Maybe I know how it feels to be in your situation. Either way, I want you happy, Swink, and everyone I’ve talked to says you’re happier than you’ve ever been. Except for Graham. He says you’re meaner,” he winks.

My heart leaps with joy, tears wetting my eyes. “I am happy, Barrett. I really am. And I’m only mean to G when he deserves it.”

Before he can say a word, Huxley is opening the door. “Hey, Dad. Mom wants you.”

“The boss needs me,” he says, shaking my shoulder as he walks by.

It’s just Graham and I, both fighting a smile. “I heard Dom called you.”

“Mallory has a big mouth.”

“That she does. She also told me you’ve been acting weird. Like, weirder than normal.”

He blows out a breath, leaning on one of the round tables in the room. He starts to talk, then stops.

“Spill it, G. What’s going on?”

“Lots of decisions to be made.”

I bite the side of my cheek, trying not to smile. “The answer is yes.”

“What answer?”

“The answer to the question you’re thinking.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking.”

“Because you’re my big brother and I spent my entire childhood observing you. Granted, back then it was so I could use that information to my advantage. It’s just handy now too sometimes.”

“You’re too much,” he scoffs, shoving off the table.

I shrug. “Okay, so you aren’t wondering whether you’d make a good husband? You aren’t curious, at least a little bit, whether it’s too early to marry Mallory or if you should wait and be really, really sure? Because this definitely goes against the plan you made when you were ten years old,” I say, rolling my eyes.

He doesn’t flinch.

“You are,” I say, wagging a finger at him. “You’re thinking both of those things and the answer to the first is yes, even though you’re a dick, and the answer to the second is no, because you’ll never be more sure than you are right now.”

“She leaves her clothes on the floor.”

“Pick them up.”

“She doesn’t rinse the plates before putting them in the dishwasher.”

“Does the world come crashing down?”

“She wants a puppy.”

“Oh, I’m with you on this one,” I laugh. “Puppies are a lot of work.”

He cracks a grin. “I just worry … what if I can’t handle it? What if we go into this with different expectations and all of a sudden realize it’s wrong?”

“That’s impossible,” I scoff, heading to the door.

“How do you figure?”

“You love her, right?”

“Right.”

“Then how can it ever be wrong?”

He opens the door for me. “Not bad, little sister. Not bad.”