Page 30 of Forever King

11

Marius

Lily smilesup at me as I fasten her into her car seat, and I grumble, “Thanks for saving me from another night with her. I’ll make you a deal. You keep doing that, and when you want to drive, I’ll buy you a car for your sixteen birthday. Sound good?”

She sticks her fingers into her mouth, which I take as agreement with my deal, and I lean over and kiss her on the tip of her nose. “You know who the good guys are, don’t you?”

Happy to be away from my mother-in-law, I settle into the driver’s seat and wait while Duck makes her way to the car. She doesn’t look happy, which could mean we’re about to fight or her mother irritated her as much as she got on my damn nerves.

Either way, it’s nothing different than usual after having to spend time with Janine. How the woman I love could come from such a harpy I simply can’t fathom.

Duck opens the car door and sits down in the passenger seat without saying a word. She doesn’t even look back at the baby sitting behind me. She must be angry with me.

“Well, that was fun. Maybe next time, we can include bamboo shoots up underneath our fingernails for some extra torture,” I say, only half joking, as the car begins to roll down the circular driveway from her parents’ house.

I feel her stare on the side of my head for a few moments before she responds, “I know my mother is making this wedding a challenge, but do you have to be so direct with her? She really doesn’t do well with that kind of thing.”

What I want to say to that is she doesn’t do well with anyone putting her in her place, which should have happened years ago. If it had, none of the rest of the world would have to deal with her behaving like such a goddamned dictator.

What I actually say is entirely more diplomatic. “Duck, she insults me every time I’m anywhere near her. She doesn’t like that I don’t have a job, despite the fact that I have money enough to give her daughter and granddaughter whatever their hearts desire. She doesn’t respect the work I do with Ronan at the foundation, which I why I never mention it anymore, even though I’m proud of it. She thinks there’s something wrong with a father taking care of his daughter, which is utterly ridiculous. And with all of that, I’ve never told her exactly what I think of her. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed you don’t thank me after every time we go there because I’ve never said what I’d like to Janine.”

She sighs and mumbles, “Thanks.”

I get the sense she doesn’t mean that, though. I don’t know why. I deal with everything her mother throws at me, and I’m never as rude as she deserves. In fact, I try not to be rude at all, even when she’s accusing me of mistreating my child when I spend time with her. As if I’d smoke a fucking cigar around a baby. I’m not an asshole. I know that’s not something you do with a child.

We travel over the roads to our house in silence, even though I have a lot to say after that painful hour with her parents. Well, not both of them. Nico isn’t bad. I thought he’d be the one who didn’t like me, but it turns out he wasn’t like what my brothers said he’d be. Oh, he’s a mobster, but when it comes to his daughter’s happiness, his tendency to want to break heads takes a backseat.

The same can’t be said for Janine.

I don’t know if she doesn’t like me simply because of who I am, or if there’s some prejudice against me in her because of my family. Whatever her problem is with me, she never fails to let me know about it every time she sees me. You’d think her daughter being happy and my taking care of Lily would impress her, but neither seem to.

As all of this runs through my mind, Duck quietly says, “I hope you noticed I tried to rein her in on the whole guest list. We’re on the same side, Marius. I just take a different approach with my mother than you do.”

I stop the car at a stop sign and look over at her. “Has it ever occurred to any of you that dealing with her like she’s some deity you have to appease has created this problem? Why don’t you, your father, or your brothers tell her to mind her own business?”

Duck looks down at her hands in her lap and sighs. “That’s not how things are done in my family, baby. My mother is the boss. That’s just how it’s always been.”

With a smile, I reach over and touch her arm. She looks over at me, and I see this night has taken its toll on her.

“That must be where you get it from then. I thought it came from your father.”

“My father doesn’t even pay attention to her most of the time. Either do my brothers. They let her talk, and then they do what they want. I wish you could do that. I think it would be easier on everyone.”

“Would all those people be added to the guest list?” I ask, curious to know how this not listening to someone but doing everything they demand concept works.

She doesn’t answer, so I make the right turn onto our street and continue on to the house. I assume the silence means she would get what she wants, which pisses me off. Why is it we’re expected to have little to no say in our wedding plans? I know for a fact that Ronan and Kate didn’t have to deal with this bullshit. I asked him point blank one day right before their wedding, and he didn’t hesitate to tell me Kate’s parents made no demands regarding the guest list. They asked for a certain number of people to be invited, and they accepted that not all of them could be when Kate and Ronan told them it wasn’t possible since the wedding would be taking place at the estate.

Too bad I got stuck with a mother-in-law who has no intention of being that nice.

We don’t talk again until we pull into the driveway and Duck turns around to say something to Lily. I don’t hear what it is since I’m still sulking about having such a shitty in-law to deal with, but I can tell by the tone of her voice it’s something sweet.

That’s something I can say about Duck. She’s nothing like her mother. Thank God for that.

“I’ll get the baby. You go inside.”

She begins to say something, but the car door shuts before I can make out what it is. By the time I open the back door to get Lily out of her car seat, Duck is on her way inside.

For her part, Lily can barely keep her eyes open since it’s late and way after her bedtime. Or maybe it was all that screaming and crying that wore her out. Whatever it is, I rest her head against my shoulder and close the door with my foot before heading into the house.