Page 30 of My Horrible Arranged Marriage (Bancroft Billionaire Brothers #20)

ISAAC

I was brushing my teeth when I got the first ping on my phone. Then another. Then four more. By the time I spat into the sink and wiped my mouth with a towel, my lock screen was flooded with messages. Bancrofts, all of them.

The family group chat was always a little wild.

With a family the size of ours, there was always someone doing something.

We had subsets to try and keep from completely spamming the hell out of the huge chat.

We had our side of the Bancroft and Kathy’s side had their own.

Then there was the one me and my single brothers kept running.

Then there was me and just my brothers. It was always chaos, but this was more than normal.

Something was up.

One of my brothers would have called if something had happened with my dad. So whatever it was, it was text worthy but not call worthy. I wiped my hands and unlocked my screen to see what the hell was going on.

Hayes: Is this for real?

Zayn: Holy shit, you’re engaged?

Kent: About damn time one of us did something interesting.

Hudson: Call me.

I didn’t call any of them. Instead, I stared at myself in the mirror for a long moment.

The ring on Mina’s finger had felt like a fever dream up until now.

It had been intimate and protected. It was our thing.

Our families weren’t involved. Yes, my father had a bit of a hand in getting us together, but that wasn’t what mattered now.

But my brothers and dad would think I proposed to save the family.

I knew I would have to tell them eventually, but I was kind of hoping to sit with it for a minute.

Mina and I had such a wild relationship.

We did better when it was just the two of us.

I liked that we lived in our own little impenetrable world.

At least back in Vegas, that was what it felt like.

When it was just me and her, it felt like I was invincible.

We were invincible. We didn’t have all the pressure and outside influences intruding on our little bubble.

But now the entire world knew. Or at least, the part of the world that cared enough to track our lives. I had no idea how they found out. We’d only been back from Vegas for a few hours. I knew there was no way she was blabbing.

Shit. She probably told her dad, who would have called my dad, and my dad would have put out the word to my brothers.

“Dammit,” I cursed.

Zayn had been kind enough to include a link to a story. I groaned when I saw the social media post.

“What the hell?” I muttered.

I clicked the link, my stomach tightening as the page loaded.

The headline hit me first: “Mina Duvall and Isaac Bancroft: A Whirlwind Vegas Engagement!” Below it was a photo of Mina and me from last night.

We were standing outside the Bellagio, her hand resting on my chest, her left hand—and the ring—front and center.

The diamond caught the light perfectly, practically screaming for attention.

My jaw clenched. I didn’t even know someone had known who we were. I certainly didn’t know they were taking pictures. We’d been laughing, caught up in our own little world, completely oblivious to the paparazzi lurking in the shadows. Typical Vegas. I should’ve known better.

The article was short but packed with speculation. There was a blip about us taking a helicopter ride. That was another dumb move. I should have been smarter about that. Used a private pilot instead of a commercial one.

There was a lot of bullshit about my family and hers with a brief mention of her broken engagement to Sampson. And then of course, there was the bullshit about the engagement being nothing more than a strategic move.

I got dressed without bothering to text my family back. I was trying to figure out what to say when I heard the loud knock on the door.

“Shit,” I muttered.

I grabbed a T-shirt and walked to the door to let them in.

I knew who it was. Well, I suspected I knew who it was, but given the size of my family, it could be one to ten of my brothers.

Add in cousins, and we could be dealing with upward of twenty men.

I assumed they wouldn’t bring wives and kids, but hell if I knew what the hell they were up to.

The knocks got louder, mixing with the sound of indistinct male voices. Then the unmistakable sound of someone using the key I hadn’t given out in months.

“Open up, lover boy,” Kent called. “You better have pants on.”

I barely had time to pull on my shirt before the front door swung open and all hell descended.

Zayn was first through the door, carrying a case of beer. Behind him came Kent with takeout bags dangling from both hands. Hayes didn’t even bother announcing himself—he just walked in, took off his sunglasses, and scanned the room like he was doing recon.

“What the hell,” I muttered. “Did someone die?”

“Only your bachelorhood,” Zayn said cheerfully. “We’re here to mourn.”

“And investigate,” Hayes added.

“Mostly eat.” Kent shrugged. “You got plates?”

“As if you need them,” I said. “You’re an animal. I doubt you’ll even need utensils.”

I watched as they took over my place like it was a fraternity house instead of a multi-million-dollar penthouse in the sky.

“Let’s hear it,” Hayes said. He opened a beer and then tossed one my way. Thankfully, I reacted quickly enough to catch it.

“Little brother has some ‘splainin to do,” Zayn teased.

“How in the hell did you guys find out?” I asked. “I’ve been in town less than three hours.”

“Marigold saw that post and she’s already planning your engagement party,” Zayn replied. “One of her friends sent it to her and then she sent it to me and then I sent it to Hayes and?—”

“I get it,” I said.

“Diana and Zara already texted to ask how they could help,” Zayn said.

“You guys, slow the hell down!” I snapped. “She doesn’t need to be bombarded with the family welcoming committee.”

“Too late.” Kent smiled. “Reese is talking about coming as well.”

“And Liam texted me on the way here,” Hayes said.

My stomach sank. “You’re joking.”

“Not even a little,” Hayes said. “Barbecue. Zayn’s house. Next weekend.”

“Marigold and Dixie are already planning it,” Hayes said.

“She barely knows Mina,” I argued.

“She wants to,” Zayn said. “We all do. You’ve been keeping her to yourself like a state secret.”

I shrugged, suddenly guarded. “Didn’t realize I owed the family a press release.”

“You don’t,” Kent said, popping open a box of wings.

“But a picture like that, and the Bancroft machine kicks into high gear. It’s like lighting a flare.

You know there’s always tinder waiting to go up at the first sign of trouble.

The Bancroft bat signal. Thank God for technology.

Remember when we had to use pagers and telephones? ”

I rolled my eyes. “No, because that was before our time.”

“Not mine,” Hayes said.

I didn’t know what I expected—maybe some ribbing, a sarcastic toast, a half-hearted “finally” from one of them—but not this.

Not the sudden wave of everyone wants in on this part of my life.

Because the truth was, I hadn’t thought this far ahead.

I’d been swept up in Mina. In her laugh and her chaos and the way she looked at me like I was more than the sum of my screwups.

I wanted her. I knew that.

But inviting her into the Bancroft fold?

That was something else entirely. I wasn’t sure she was going to be ready for all that.

I mean, we weren’t a bad group, but we were a lot .

Like a lot, a lot. Mina was an only child.

I didn’t think she had any idea the chaos that was my family.

She thought I was chaotic. My family was like a Cat 5 meeting an F-5.

“You look pale,” Hayes said, narrowing his eyes. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not,” he said. “You look like you’re about to hurl.”

“I’m just thinking,” I said, twisting off the cap off my beer with more force than necessary.

Kent glanced at me. “About what?”

I hesitated. Then I said it. “What if this makes everything worse?”

“Define this ,” Hayes said.

“Her. The wedding. All of it. I’ve spent my whole life being the screwup little brother who can’t keep his shit together. What if dragging her into that just exposes how out of my league she is?”

There was a pause. Then Zayn leaned back on the couch and whistled. “Damn. I thought this was a party. I didn’t realize we were getting real tonight.”

“I’m serious,” I said.

“So are we,” Kent said. “You think you’re the black sheep, but you’re not. You’re just the only one of us who had the balls to be different.”

I scoffed. “That’s a generous interpretation.”

“Is it?” Hayes said, his tone softer than I expected. “Look, you didn’t take the path Dad wanted for you. But you’ve also been real with us in a way none of the rest of us have. You don’t pretend to be perfect.”

“That’s because I’m not,” I said.

“None of us are,” Zayn replied. “We just fake it better.”

I looked down at the condensation on my bottle, suddenly unsure of everything. I had been so certain when I slipped the ring on Mina’s finger. But this was different. This was opening a door I hadn’t been sure I ever wanted her to walk through.

“I just don’t want her to regret this,” I said quietly.

Hayes studied me. “Then don’t give her a reason to.”

I nodded slowly, but my chest still felt tight.

Because I knew my family. I knew how opinionated they were, how fast they formed judgments, how a single slip-up could follow you for years.

And I wasn’t scared of them—not really. But I was scared of how Mina might feel afterward.

What if she didn’t fit in? What if they didn’t like her?

What if this whole fairytale we’d been living unraveled under the pressure of real life?

Mina and I joked that we matched each other’s crazy. That worked perfectly for us and my family was used to my bullshit. They had to accept me. But what if they had opinions about me and Mina together? A match and kerosene.

“She’s going to be fine,” Kent said, like he could read my mind.

“She’s not the one I’m worried about,” I muttered.

Zayn stood and stretched. “We’ll help make it easy. BBQ, a few games, some drinks. You two show up, let everyone coo over the ring, and just be normal. It’s not like we haven’t had a million get-togethers.”

“Guys, Mina is… I mean…” I struggled to find the right words. “She’s fun. A little wild and definitely the life of the party, but I don’t want you guys judging her.”

“No one is going to judge her.” Zayn scoffed. “None of us are innocent.”

“My ass is super innocent,” Kent retorted.

We all looked at him because we all knew that was bullshit.

“Alright, fine,” I said, shaking my head. “But if anyone makes her uncomfortable, I’m out. And I’m taking her with me.”

“Fair enough,” Hayes said, raising his beer in a toast. “But I think you’re underestimating her. She’s a Duvall. She’s probably used to this kind of thing.”

“She’s not like that,” I said quickly. “She’s not some society princess who knows how to play the game. She’s… real.”

“And that’s why you love her,” Kent said, grinning. “So stop overthinking it. Let her meet the family. Let her see what she’s getting into. If she can handle you, she can handle us.”

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “You guys are a lot.”

“And yet, here we are,” Zayn said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Now, let’s eat before Kent inhales all the wings.”

I laughed despite myself, grabbing a plate and piling it with food.

As we ate, the conversation shifted to lighter topics.

I listened half-heartedly to the latest family drama.

My mind kept drifting back to Mina. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something much bigger than either of us had anticipated.

After they left and the penthouse fell quiet again, I stared out at the skyline and felt something I hadn’t in a long time.

Dread.