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Both my parents looked like she’d slapped them in the face with that comment. Mrs. Nelson backpedaled, forcing out a laugh. “But yes, we are very proud of him. Brienna graduated at the top of her class. Hopefully Gary can follow in her footsteps.”

Gary said his family favored his sister, that she was the golden child who could do no wrong. He didn’t mention how much they hated him. It wasn’t enough to push him aside. They wanted to drag him through the mud. And I wanted to punch someone.

Jayden appeared at my side with a drink in his hand. I turned my back on the group, snatching it and tossing it back in one swallow. His eyebrows shot up, but the waiter luckily chose that moment to show up with my requested drink, so I swapped out the glasses and tipped that one back as well.

“Dude, are you okay?” Jayden murmured.

“Shh. Just listen,” I growled.

“Honestly, it’s a little disappointing that Brienna didn’t meet Easton sooner. They’ve got so much in common. And she could give him children in the future. It’d be a much better match.”

I bared my teeth and nearly turned around to snap at them, but Jayden stopped me, putting a hand on the back of my neck and leading me a few feet away.

“Jesus, Easton. No killing people at a charity gala. Take a deep breath. I’ll redirect the conversation.” He huffed a laugh and continued, “I get the feeling if I don’t, Dad will start hitting people before you do.”

When I glanced over my shoulder, my old man’s face was flushed red with anger, and he looked like he was speaking around gritted teeth. I stepped closer and caught the tail end of what he was saying.

“...Gary is a wonderful young man and has made my son happy. I don’t appreciate the implication that my son isn’t smart enough to choose the best partner for himself.”

“Oh, well, that wasn’t– What I meant was–” Gary’s mom stammered, looking a little pale.

“Hey, folks. Has everyone tried the hors d'oeuvres yet? They’re fantastic,” Jayden stepped in, beckoning a server with a silver tray crowded with appetizers.

Caviar wasn’t really my thing, but it wasn’t terrible.

I took the offered snack from Jayden, eating it in one bite.

My parents always went all out for things like this, so it was pretty good if you liked caviar.

“Oh, is that caviar? That looks lovely,” Mrs. Nelson said, leaping at the chance for a subject change.

She took a bite, smiling politely, but I saw the minute the flavor registered on her tongue.

Her face twisted into a grimace, and she spat the thing back out into the little napkin in her hand. “That’s awful! I–”

She must’ve forgotten who she was standing next to, because when she looked up to complain, my parents and my brother stared at her, shell-shocked. Even I knew it was fucking rude to spit out your food like that.

The sister came to the rescue, patting her mother’s shoulder with a fake frown. “Did you get a bad batch? We should complain to the staff. They’ll embarrass Easton’s family if they serve rotten food.”

Mrs. Nelson latched onto her daughter, nodding fiercely. “You’re absolutely right.” She turned to the server, who stood nearby with a worried frown. “You should be ashamed of yourself for serving things like that. I’ll be speaking to your manager.”

The server looked startled and deeply confused. Jayden stepped in before Mrs. Nelson could start on a tirade, leading the server away and leaning to whisper in their ear. Probably telling them to ignore the idiot woman. I would.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Warner. Servers are so disrespectful these days. They don’t even check the food they’re serving to others,” Mrs. Nelson said plaintively.

It looked like my old man had enough. He looked disgusted with the way Gary’s parents were acting, and Victoria was barely doing any better at hiding her expression. To help them out, I pulled out my phone and answered it like I’d received a call.

“Hello? Really? Yes, I’ll let him know. No, we’ll see to it right away. Thank you for letting me know.”

Faking hanging it up, I tucked my phone away and raised my eyebrows at my old man. “Evans called. There’s something happening with the Barton firm?”

My old man’s lips twitched like he thought that was funny, but masked the urge to laugh. “I’ll look into it. Let’s go. Victoria, dear, can you find Arthur for me? He’ll need to be looped in on this.”

He gave her a significant look, giving her a chance to escape. She took it with a relieved smile. “Absolutely. And I’ll check on the food after I’m through. If you’ll excuse us. It was…good to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson. We’ll see you tomorrow at the rehearsal dinner.”

Thank fuck. We all left, and after Victoria veered off to find Arthur and explain the situation to him, my old man and I stepped into the hall. He sighed heavily once we were out of sight.

“They were genuine pieces of work. It’s no wonder you wanted to protect yourselves from them. Are they purposely trying to get you to marry their daughter instead?”

I scowled. “Yes. This isn’t the first time they’ve tried to push her onto me. I hired security for the wedding to make sure they don’t cause trouble for Gary. He doesn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“No, he really doesn’t.” He sighed. “Alright, I’ll watch out for the behavior myself. I think I’m going to go find Gary. He looked upset, and I don’t want him thinking we agree with what his parents are saying. Are you coming with me?”

I couldn’t if I wanted to maintain the aloofness. I shook my head. “No. If I see him cry, I’m going to hurt someone. I’m going to find Jayden and take a walk.”

“Good idea. And son?” He stopped me before I could walk away with a hand on my shoulder. “I’m proud of you. Six months ago, you would’ve caused a fight, location be damned. You’ve grown a lot since you and Gary got together. He’s good for you.”

“Why do you think I’m marrying him?”

For real this time. No more playing pretend. Gary was mine, and I was going to shove it so far down his family’s throats that they wouldn’t ever be able to touch him again.