Page 82 of An Inevitable Marriage

His eyes turned to me, and the immediate hint of unease slithering down my spine startled me.

“Especially since so much has happened since we last saw each other.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Liam’s fingers curling into a fist before he shoved his hand into his pocket.

“You neverjuststop by. What do you want?”

Liam’s body tensed with every angry word leaving his body. I had this crazy urge to put my hand between his shoulder blades just to ease some of his tension.

I couldn’t even think about acting on that particular impulse, Liam’s grandfather spoke again.

“Oh, hush. I didn’t come here for your attitude.” The older man’s attention was back on me. The unease from earlier multiplied. “I’m here to meet yourwife.”

Mr. Maxwell smiled. It should have made me feel comfortable, but for reasons I couldn’t explain, it didn’t. And when he moved around Liam and held out his hand for me, only the manners my mother instilled in me had me pressing my palm against his instead of shrinking back like I wanted to.

“You must be Everlee Sutton.” He clicked his tongue and widened his smile. “I beg your pardon, it’s Maxwell now, right?” Without warning, he flipped my hand and brought my fingers to his lips.

Next to him, Liam looked ready to commit murder.

“Welcome to the family, dear,” Mr. Maxwell cooed.

He was still holding on to my hand. I really,reallywanted it back. With a gentle tug, I hoped he’d get the message and let go. He didn’t. I tugged again, harder this time, and thankfully, he released my hand.

I could barely contain a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.” Smiling as sweet as I could, I clasped my hands behind me.

Mr. Maxwell eyed me for a few more uncomfortable moments then his gaze shifted back to Liam. With another click of his tongue, he shook his head. “A Maxwell exchanging vows at a courthouse…what were you thinking?”

Liam opened his mouth, but his grandfather kept going.

“And then you don’t even invite your family.”

The muscle in Liam’s jaw jumped furiously. “Because I didn’t want you there.”

Something changed. It wasn’t big, and if I wasn’t standing so close, I wouldn’t have seen the slight narrowing in Mr. Maxwell’s eyes or the way his lip curled.

“You might not like it, but youarea Maxwell. We have standards to uphold. Never before has a Maxwell done something so…” His eyes locked with mine. “…utterly beneath us.”

My heart all but sank to the floor. Was he talking about the courthouse wedding or me?

An overwhelming urge to turn around and run slammed into me. But showing weakness to a man like this was like a helpless animal showing its belly to the predator chasing it. It was the same as me just standing there while Anthony bombarded me with insults.

No more.

Holding his stare, I took a deep, steadying breath. “I’m so sorry you feel that way. Liam and I were so excited to make it official, we didn’t want to wait.”

I tried to catch Liam’s eye, but he was too busy staring daggers at his grandfather to notice me.

“Hmm.” Mr. Maxwell wrinkled his nose and studied me for a couple more heartbeats, then his focus shifted back to his grandson. “When will you accept being a Maxwell is in your blood? You can’t escape it.”

“Don’t fucking start,” Liam growled.

With a sharp shake of his head, the older man tsked. “Language, son.”

“I’m not your fucking anything.”

Okay, this was weird. Especially when Liam’s grandfather’s mouth lifted into a smarmy smile. The mere sight of it sent shivers down my spine.