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Saint didn’t react, only stared at her.
“Sometimes my sense of humor is misplaced,” she admitted with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Now that you’ve found it, keep it,” he drawled, helping her down the final step. “It’ll help you get through dinner.”
“Because they’re going to hate me?” she asked with dread as they waited for the elevator.
“My father hates everyone. Don’t take it personally.”
“And your mother?” she asked as they stepped into the elevator.
He sighed. “Mother has always believed her looks are her only asset. Dad has never given her credit for bringing more to their marriage than beauty. As such, she despises any sign of aging. The title of grandmother will be a knife to her heart.”
“Do we have to do this in public?” she asked as they exited and stepped into the waiting car.
“We do,” he said firmly.
The drive wasn’t far. The restaurant was smallish, obviously very exclusive given the way they were escorted from the curb up carpeted steps that were protected by a black awning lit by fairy lights. They were handed off to a middle-aged maître d’ who had the air of someone who had made a career out of this work.
“Mr. Montgomery. Welcome. I just seated your parents. Please follow me.”
Saint had taken hold of Fliss’s hand as they’d left the car. He had to feel how clammy her palm was, but he forged the way, allowing her to trail behind him as they wound through the full tables. She tried not to crane her neck, even though she recognized a few celebrities. It was disconcerting to realize they were looking back, noticing Saint and maybe recognizing her from her photos.
She tried to focus on the clothes as a distraction, and it worked a little too well. She nearly crashed into Saint when he stopped walking. He steadied her as he brought her to stand beside him.
“Mom. Dad. I’d like you to meet Felicity.”
Fliss’s anxiety turned to the sort of morbid terror that came from facing something she knew wasn’t genuinely life-threatening but still turned her blood cold, like a giant spider.
The couple stole a moment to recover from their shock, then rose politely. Ted Montgomery was a peek at what Saint would look like in forty years—distinguished and even more stern, still wearing an aura of power that hadn’t diminished at all.
His mother was the source of his star power, though. Norma was easily fifteen years younger than her husband. Her figure was fit, not the least bit matronly. She wore a sequined drop-waist dress that glinted and shimmered in the candlelight. Her beauty would have been a standard blonde-and-blue-eyed variety if not for an intrinsic sparkle that might have dimmed with age, but it was still there, demanding she be noticed.
“How charming. Call me Norma,” his mother said, offering her hand in a very brief, weak shake. Her cool gaze skimmed down, taking in every detail of Fliss’s appearance, including coming back to the earrings before transferring a silent question toward Saint.
“Ted.” His father didn’t offer to shake hands. He moved to help Norma with her chair.
“A bottle of Dom,” Saint said to the hovering maître d’ as he held Fliss’s chair.
She sank gratefully into it, knees weak. Her throat had constricted so tightly she felt as though she sipped oxygen through a straw.
“This is why you went to London?” Ted asked with only a flickering glance toward Fliss before shifting his glare back to his son. “You didn’t say a word about her in our meeting this morning.”
“I was waiting on an email that I’ve forwarded to both of you,” Saint said blithely. “You can read it later, but the important piece is that you’re being informed of our happy news at the same time. I’m not playing favorites.”
“Hap—Saint.” His mother’s voice was a gust of betrayal.
“There’s no dispute?” His father reached for his phone.
“None,” Saint assured him. “I sent it to Elijah so he can begin making adjustments to my will.”
Ted sent her a look that was both accusation and disgust. His mother’s eyes gleamed with angry tears.
“Wow,” Fliss couldn’t help saying. “When you said your family dinners were a nightmare, you meant it.”
Shock slacked everyone’s jaws.
“Oh, did I say that out loud?” She facetiously touched her lips. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”
