Your Fierce Love (The Bennett Family 7)

The four brothers guffaw just as a waiter appears with a tray of glasses filled with a fizzy drink. I take a sip from mine. It’s champagne, as I guessed, and it’s delicious. As the waiter leaves, the lights turn dimmer, and the screens at the side of the runway light up.

“Where’s Sebastian?” I ask.

“See that mirror at the back of the room?” Logan asks. “It’s a see-through glass. A room is behind it, and Sebastian watches from there. Too much press around here for him. He did attend at some point, but I swear the reporters have only become nosier over time.”

“I can imagine that,” I say, my stomach twisting as I remember my conversations with Quentin.

“Ava will be here. She’s backstage with Pippa now,” Daniel adds.

Everyone sits down, Blake and me included. As an energetic, upbeat song replaces the soft background music, I realize this is the first time we’re together in front of the family, or at the very least the brothers (Will’s party doesn’t count since we were still on shaky ground). But I know how this works. Everyone will know about this by the time the evening ends.

Ava joins us, sitting in one of the two remaining chairs. She grins at me, giving me a thumbs-up.

“How come you’re not watching with Sebastian from the back room?” I ask quietly.

“I like to tease him.” Even in the dim light, I can tell Ava’s blushing. “Besides, I need to concentrate on the show, put out any fires if needed, and Sebastian is very good at distracting me.”

“Oh yeah, the Bennett men should come with a warning sign.”

When I turn to face the runway, out of the corner of my eye I see Ava furiously typing on her phone. Correction: everyone will know about me being here within an hour.

Blake takes my hand, kisses my knuckles, then puts our interlinked hands on the table as the show starts.

I watch with rapt attention, not wanting to miss one detail.

The girls strutting up and down the runway are gorgeous. They’re all wearing simple clothes so the jewelry stands out.

I have to admit, I have a hard time seeing the jewelry on the runway, so I glance at the screens often, but many in the audience appear to do the same.

At midpoint, there is a break, and I excuse myself because I desperately need to go to the bathroom. As I walk away, I catch two women sitting a few tables away watching me. They have their heads together, and one is pointing at me, but she quickly withdraws her hand when I look her way. I rack my mind, wondering if I’ve met them before. Maybe in passing at work? I really can’t place them, and considering they pretended to look away when I caught them staring, I don’t care about placing them. If people lack manners, I won’t spend any of my energy being pissed and annoyed about it.

To my surprise, the toilets are empty. Thank goodness. I practically sprint to a stall.

When I dress up minutes later, I have to rearrange my boobs. It’s the type of dress that has the unfortunate tendency of sliding up from too much movement, and now the tight part of the fabric meant to highlight my waist is squishing the underside of my boobs. I remain in the stall, one hand in my neckline, when I hear the bathroom door swing open.

“Oh please, Blake’s lowered his standards. That woman is so insipid she’s practically invisible. All I’m saying is he’d better not expect me to jump in his bed once he’s done with her. Once standards drop, I’m out.”

My hand freezes in the act of rearranging my breasts. My blood, on the other hand, is starting to boil. I’m not sure that the glass of champagne I had is helping.

“She seemed to be friendly with everyone in the family.” This is another speaker. “He never asked you to sit with his family at the shows.”

“Maybe she wanted to snag a Bennett and realized Blake and Daniel are the only ones left. As if anyone’s gonna make those settle. Goodness knows I tried.”

“You should switch brothers. Daniel’s here tonight.”

“Nah, they talk. The one thing they’re not sharing is women.”

“Why would you want to marry into that god-awful family anyway? I mean, they’re rich, but they’re all over each other all the time. I can’t understand how anyone can live like that.”

Try living without a family for a change.

My hackles rise. I can’t believe anyone would trash Blake and his family like this. Then there’s also the small fact that they insulted me. I feel like punching the door, but then again, the poor door hasn’t done anything to upset me. These women, on the other hand...

“Rich trumps annoying. Blake was always generous. Maybe I’ll give him another go after he stops running around with that twat. If I can’t get a ring, at least I’ll get myself some more jewelry. You’re right about the family, though. And now so many of them have kids. It’s a nightmare. Blake was spending time with them almost every weekend. I think he was hoping I’d join him, but he never straight-up asked. I think my eye rolls were a dead giveaway. Like there aren’t a million better things to do in a weekend than waste them with brats.”

What the hell? Who talks like that about kids? What kind of person picks on innocents? Bullies, that’s who. Now I understand why Blake waited a while before asking me to join him during his time with the kids.

Right, it’s time to step out and face the music. I quickly rearrange the dress over my chest and open the door of the cubicle. The two women smirk when they see me, then return to refreshing their makeup. Since they’re silent, I can’t tell who’s who. Time to find out.