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He laughed. “They’re underserved. Very much so.”
“Then it sounds good. And you know what’s even better? You telling me these things.”
“I’m really surprised you care, considering how little you liked your parents’ company.”
“I disliked it because they steamrolled me. You’re not doing that.” I checked the time. “I would talk longer, but I do need to get dressed. At least I already did my hair.”
I had quite a few cute things, but one of my favorites was a dress with lemons on it. It had a fitted waist and made my curves look even better than they usually did. I’d yet to have a place to wear it, and Levi told me to wear something nice, so I threw it on and did my makeup while Levi grabbed a dress shirt and slacks and got changed in the bathroom.
Levi waited in the living room in his new outfit and watched me as I walked down the stairs.
He froze. “You look . . .”
“Is it too much?”
“I was gonna say incredible.”
“I’ve had this dress forever and?—”
He crossed the room and pulled me into his arms. “And you’ll have to wear it more often. This is my favorite thing you’ve ever worn.”
“What about my wedding dress?”
“Ah. Well. I suppose this is a close second.” He looked down. “Maybe it takes the number one spot. I can’t tell.”
A giggle escaped me and I grabbed my purse. “You’ll have all night to figure it out, I guess. Ready to go?”
“More than anything.”
Going to Calvin’s house always solidified my confusion on why he wanted Gram’s so bad. And why she had given it to him in the first place. To say he had a mansion wasn’t enough. He had more than that, all sprawled out on perfectly mowed land. Cars were parked on the grass and people were everywhere, reminding me just how many people he’d gotten in his corner over the years.
I took a shaky breath. I was dreading how poorly this could go. I was dreading even seeing Levi and Calvin in the same room, because when my brother wasn’t present, it was easier to pretend that Levi was here formeand no one else.
When we got out of the car, I felt like I couldn’t move.
Then a hand grabbed mine.
“Say the word and we’ll leave.”
I shook my head. “We have people to piss off.”
“I don’t give a fuck. You’re my wife and you come first.”
I loved it when he called me his wife, but I also hated it. Deep down, I knew more than anything that I wanted to be someone’ssomething. Whether it be wife or a friend, or even a partner. For far too long, everything was about Calvin, and I wanted Levi to bemine.
But all roads led to Calvin in the end. This had been the way of the world for so long that I didn’t feel sad about it anymore. It was only a fact of life. I was not as important as my brother.
Still, Levi’s hand helped as we walked through the front door.
We waded through the people, all there for him. Did other people throw a party like this over rising stocks? I had no clue.
“Son of a bitch,” Levi muttered. “He has five of my practitioners here.”
Levi was looking at a group of guys huddled in the corner, all talking among themselves. I hadn’t seen him look this irritated in a while. It was a sore reminder of his competitiveness, no matter what he had said previously.
“We should go say hi. I bet they wouldn’t expect to see you here.”
“Are you sure?”