Page 106 of The Rebel

“So, what’s going on?” Anthony asked. “Why are Isabeau and Celine so busy?”

“They’re giving a free sample of perfume to anyone who buys any of my creams,” a stunning woman said. She reminded me a lot of Amal Clooney, with long dark hair, thick eyebrows, and very round and gorgeous eyes. “I’m Grace, by the way.”

“That’s my woman,” Zachary exclaimed. “The star of the evening.”

Grace laughed. Her name fit her perfectly. She truly was full of grace.

“Congratulations. I’m obsessed with your creams. They’re great,” I told her.

“Thank you,” Grace said.

“I discovered the product line during my summer course at Loyola. One of the teachers was raving about it and even used some of your campaigns as a case study.”

“I love that.” Her face was brimming with pride.

“What exactly are we celebrating tonight?” Anthony asked.

“I finally convinced Isabeau and Celine to make a mixed box of our products that I can sell online,” Grace explained. “They weren’t keen about it before, but I think I’ve won them over. Finally.”

“All right, I think we should all introduce our better halves, officially,” Chad said, coming to me. “Oh, wait, you know Scarlett from the jazz competition.”

I nodded. “Exactly. Plus, we met a few times when I went in the inner courtyard for a break.”

“Yes, we did,” Scarlett said to Chad’s surprise.

“You ladies have been in contact, and my brother and I didn’t know anything about it?” Anthony inquired.

“That’s right,” I said.

“Although, you’ve been keeping secrets,” Scarlett teased, and I felt myself blush. I didn’t outright tell her that Anthony and I were dating. We just chatted about life in New Orleans.

“I didn’t know if it was official,” I mumbled.

“It is official,” Anthony said, putting his hand at the back of my neck and kissing my temple. Then he whispered in my ear, “So fucking official.”

When he straightened up, I looked around, aghast. No one heard him, thank goodness!

“I did have my suspicions, though,” Scarlett said. Stepping closer, she added on a whisper, “And thanks for finding that Harry Potter wand. I want to surprise Bella with it.”

“Of course.”

“We all suspected once word got around that our dearest wives gave you a lilac perfume,” David said loudly. He and Felix were both wearing suits and even had a red rose in their lapels.

Then I remembered that Isabeau and Celine each had a red rose corsage around their wrists. Oh my goodness. How romantic was that? They were absolutely adorable.

“Wait, that was common knowledge?” Anthony sounded incredulous.

“I didn’t know about that,” Beckett replied, and then he groaned. “Fantastic. So, another LeBlanc brother bites the dust thanks to the lilac, huh? At least in the grandmothers’ minds.”

“Why does your brother sound so panicked?” I asked Anthony.

Zachary was the one to reply. “Because now he realizes that the lilac is coming for him.”

The entire room started to laugh. That was such a bizarre thing to say, yet Beckett actually did seem to be deeply worried.

“Why are all the men in this family so allergic to the idea of commitment?” Adele asked. “It’s so frustrating.”

“Turns out we aren’t, though,” Zachary told her with a smile. “We just like to talk big.”