Page 25 of The Rebel

I was screwed.

As I sat down at the table, Isabeau looked at me intently. “Daisy seems very nice.”

“She is.”

“Mom,” Dad said with a warning tone in his voice. He rarely used it. My parents were usually the quietest in the family. Mom always said she preferred to listen. And there were a lot of us, so there was plenty to listen to.

Isabeau seemed stunned too. She blinked at Dad, then shook her head and focused on me again. “So, what’s her story? How did she end up in New Orleans?”

“How do you know Daisy’s not from here?” I asked.

She waved her hand. “Oh, it’s obvious she’s not local.”

“She’s not,” I admitted. “She moved here because of a summer course she wanted to take at Loyola. She was supposedto start a new job in marketing at Thornton’s Beverages, but that fell through. Now she’s on the lookout for another job in marketing. Which is a pity because I like her as an assistant.”

“Only as an assistant?”

The table fell silent. I shook my head.Why would she put me on the spot like this?But I cared about Isabeau too much to say anything.

“What’s your point?” I asked.

She narrowed her eyes. “Your grandfathers told us you’ve lost too many assistants already.”

I jerked my head back. That was not where I thought she was going with this conversation.

“I’m aware of that, and I’m correcting it,” I replied coolly, looking around the table.

Everyone was staring at me intently.

“How the hell does everyone know, anyway?”

“Word travels that you’re a hard one to work for, brother,” Beckett said in an amused tone.

“But Anthony did seem friendly enough with her,” David replied, nodding in the direction Daisy had gone. He then looked at Isabeau with a raised brow, clearly not understanding why she was picking on me.

“Hmm,” Isabeau said, tilting her head, seemingly considering something.

“Yes, maybetoofriendly,” Celine added.

Now I knew where this was going.

“Let’s table this conversation.” My tone was final.

“Wait, now we’re all curious. What’s going on?” Grace inquired.

I started to laugh. This was payback for sure! Each time one of my brothers first started seeing their better halves, they wanted to keep it quiet, and I didn’t make it easy for them. But my situation wasn’t even remotely the same. Daisy was my employee. I sure as fuck didn’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past.

“I think Anthony here needs us to make a perfume that has an antidote to lilac,” Isabeau informed everyone.

“Is that even possible?” I asked. Maybe that would help dampen my insane attraction to Daisy.

“We’re going to look into it,” Celine said.

“Yes, you do that!” I responded, maybe a little bit too enthusiastically. I didn’t want to give myself away. The last thing this family needed to know was that I was attracted to Daisy.

Isabeau cocked a brow. “Oh, so now that it’s about an ‘antidote,’ you’re a believer, huh?”

I shrugged with a grin at my grandmother’s use of finger quotes. These two were a riot. Honestly, though, I would certainly become a believer if whatever they came up with made me immune to Daisy. “Never say never.”