Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Michael
Last night, neither of us slept very much. The week of not having touched meant we both had multiple needs. I woke when my phone rang, but I silenced it then cleaned myself up and dressed before calling the Norouzis back.
I agreed to our plans, sure that Britney wanted to see her friends again, and hurried back to her. As I opened the door, she sat up in bed, yawning.
I sat near her and said, “Good morning, darling.”
She rubbed her eyes. “Morning already?”
My staff pinged my phone, and I glanced at it then said, “Yes, and your friends are probably downstairs already.”
She jumped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom. “I never sleep that deep.”
I watched her as she turned on the shower and saw her nipples harden in the slight chill of the morning—or from last night’s activities. “You had an exceptional night,” I said.
She laughed and nodded. “Now, that is a true statement.”
As she headed to the bathroom to clean up, I called out, “So get ready, and I’ll see you downstairs, darling.”
“Lovely,” she said in a slight British accent.
I laughed. I was clearly rubbing off on her.
I had no idea if she was in love with me or not yet, but I was absolutely hooked.
Leaving her alone, I found our friends in the sitting room near the foyer. Miley, the attorney, jumped up and said, “Your house is gorgeous, but where is Britney?”
I wasn’t sure she trusted me, but then I remembered Charlie and Hope had had a rocky start, and neither quite trusted each other right away. I pressed a hand to my heart and said, “Taking a quick shower, but she’ll be down shortly.”
Kelly, sitting next to Xerses, asked, “Can we show ourselves around, or are we required to take the tour?” The job she’d started recently in real estate agreed with her as she was immediately professional.
I stood at the open door and waved. “No, please go wherever you want. Breakfast will be served once Britney arrives.”
Kelly took Hope, Avril, Miley, and Isabel with her, leaving the men.
I took a seat and poured myself a tea as Charlie asked, “How is married life treating you?”
My friends were the closest thing I had to family. I nodded and smiled. “Good.”
“You seem more relaxed today,” Kir noted. He was much calmer recently as well.
“I am apprehensive of seeing my parents today after all these years.”
The taste was exactly how I remembered the brew. No bags or organic leaves that I’d picked up for years came close to matching the dark flavor of my staff’s private stash. I mentally noted to take some back with us.
Xerses said, “Of course, but at least you have Britney as backup and finally fessed up to being hopelessly in love.”
I tensed and froze, hoping I wasn’t being obvious, but then my staff came in to make an announcement.
I quickly asked, “Who’s here?”
“Roxanne Norouzi, sir,” the new butler said.
A moment later, the mother of everyone in the room except me came in, wearing a blue traveling suit. She hugged everyone including me.
“I assumed you weren’t coming as you never responded,” I said.
She took a seat next to me and said, “You were like a son for years, and my new assistant didn’t see your message right away. When I did, I wanted to come and support you. Parvis has a meeting, but he’ll join us for an impromptu family dinner here to celebrate your wedding.”
I tugged my ear. If she’d been around, I’d have invited her to the courthouse. She took my hand. Having had someone care about me for years was nice.
“You were in Australia,” I said.
She nodded. “We flew all night to arrive in time. I was disappointed you didn’t ask me or our family to host a small wedding for you ahead of time.”
“We eloped fast,” I said though as Roxanne stared at me, heat rose to my face. I wasn’t sure what she was reading there, but I looked down and said, “Britney and I wanted a small, simple service.”
Footsteps echoed, and my heart fluttered.
Roxanne stood and hugged Britney, saying, “There she is. You both look radiant.”
As she took Britney to sit beside her, Britney said, “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Roxanne, please,” Mrs. Norouzi said. “As Michael is like an adopted son, you’re now unofficially one of us too.”
Britney laughed, and her friends returned.
As we all stood, Britney said, “I can’t wait to catch up with you. After breakfast, we’re off to meet his parents, but after, let’s do something fun as a group.”
I nodded. “We’ll keep you informed.”
Unlike my own mother, Roxanne had nursed me from a school flu more than once and listened and given advice on small personal issues when I was eighteen. Rooming with Charlie had been life-changing.
We walked into the dining room with its long table. Roxanne deserved the head seat that day, and I motioned for her to sit there.
“Britney, you married one of my favorite of my sons friends,” she said.
Britney’s sparkling eyes captivated me as she said, “Michael is absolutely wonderful.”
Roxanne quickly said, “If you’d like, we can plan a small, elegant wedding for later in the year, where you can both invite guests. I love hosting at my house, so you don’t need to worry about a place or food.”
We put our napkins on our laps as I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Britney needed to be in love with me, and we’d have to stop pretending first.
“Maybe next year?” Britney suggested.
My heart surged. If that happened, then I’d have everything.
Roxanne said, “That would be perfect.”
We ate, but I kept wondering what Britney meant and when was a good time to admit she had my heart. As we finished, I decided we needed to handle my family first.
Britney tapped my shoulder and asked, “Michael, are you ready?”
I tensed. I hadn’t visited or spoken on the phone in years to either of my parents. My heart thundered as I stood and said, “I suppose I am.”
We said goodbye to everyone who was going shopping and sightseeing.
Then Britney said, “Let’s get going.”
Right. Time to face my life and future. We took the Rolls-Royce next door, where servants wore uniforms of a brighter blue that matched many of the rooms inside.
I held Britney’s hand and admired her white puff-sleeve maxi dress with circles everywhere and a huge white belt that covered where the baby would show. She was bridal and fashionable in one.
The duke and duchess received us in the formal sitting room both wearing blue velvet clothes that matched.
We stood, and so did they as I said, “Mother. Father. This is Britney, my wife.”
My mother, with her multiple chins, fanned herself and clasped her chest. “The American.”
Perhaps my sister had made her sound like a horrible person.
I said, “Yes, of course.”
Britney then asked, “Do you need to sit down, ma’am?”
My mother’s face was white. Britney took her hand, and everyone sat except me.
I knelt in front of her and wondered what was going on. “Everything okay, Mother?”
The Duchess Caroline raised her blue eyes as she studied Britney’s clothes. “Bernadette believes you left because you want nothing to do with our family.”
All my life, my mother had always worn the best. I tensed. “I don’t want to finance gambling and shopping. I always intended to fix the mess you left of the estate without funding more waste.”
My father coughed and asked, “Is that what you think of us?”
Confronting what was wrong was how you fixed it . Mrs. Norouzi’s words to Charlie years ago had haunted me. The time had come to listen.
I nodded to the man who was wasting his inheritance and said, “It’s what I saw when the nanny wasn’t able to drag me away.”
My mother’s face went red. “We weren’t the best parents to either of you, but everything is different now.”
Britney pressed her hand on my arm. She was strong. There was a secret.
I narrowed my gaze. “How?”
My mother held my father’s hand. I crossed my arms as I’d never seen them touch.
“Your father…” Then my mother started gasping.
I understood. As she needed a moment, I said, “Catch your breath. Father, what’s going on?”
My father nodded. “I’m dying. You’ll be duke within the year.”
I froze, having no way to process what he’d said. Neither one of them ever lied. My chest caved in, with a feeling that I’d let them down entirely.
“What? How?” I asked.
“Colon cancer,” my father said.
Britney rubbed my mother’s arm and asked, “Isn’t there treatment?”
My father’s lips thinned. “Nothing works. I’ve accepted I lost the bet.”
Everything in my life was wrong. I should have come home. I should have been a better son. I knew my duties were more though I’d assumed if I made enough money, then I’d be in the position of control.
My shoulders slumped as I said, “I shouldn’t have quibbled.”
My mother shook her head. “You were being honest. And it’s true—we generally ignored your existence in our day-to-day lives, so we had no expectations.”
She was being kind. My heart thumped.
My father then said, “It’s your sister who’s gambling now, it seems.”
I met his gaze, ready to do what they needed. “What do you mean?”
My father said, “She wants to take over for me.”
Laws and money were both on my side.
Britney then smiled brightly. “Well, we’re here now. I’ll make sure your wishes are honored.”
If I had her confidence, then I would’ve conquered the world.
My mother’s eyes widened as she asked Britney, “You?”
Britney nodded and smiled. “Michael, clearly things are different now that you know what’s going on.”
“True,” I said though I wasn’t sure of her plan.
She met my gaze and didn’t blink. “So let’s make it right like you did for me.” Her can-fix-anything attitude was part of why I loved her.
Mother then asked her, “What did he do for you?”
Britney said, “He made me go home and talk to my parents and patch things up with my sister. So it’s time we do the same.”
“Yeah,” I said.
However, her family and mine were nothing alike. Her sister was married with children, living her own life.
My mother gasped. “Oh goodness. Our son now uses American slang.”
I folded my hands and refused to mention that I’d been out of the country for years. Instead, I said, “Mother, how come you never called me?”
My father sat like a gentleman who never bent his back. “We assumed and were told you wanted nothing to do with us.”
Fair enough. Speaking through my sister had clearly been a bad idea.
“I have enjoyed the warmness of how the Americans raise their children,” I said.
“I suppose expectations are different,” my mother said. “Once you become duke and set the budget for me, I will attempt to comply.”
That was the best I could ask for, and I could afford to keep all the women clothed in anything designer and allow my mother to decorate the dower house whenever she wanted as long it wasn’t recklessly changing staff’s uniforms every month to whatever whim she had and investing in every useless thing she found to pass the time.
Even those limits were probably just ideas of the boy inside me who wanted a mother’s attention.
Britney interrupted my wallowing. “Where is Bernadette?”
My mother said, “She chose to skip your homecoming, but she will be in attendance at the upcoming ball.”
Britney smiled and stared at me like she had a plan. “Is it still true that if we find her a husband, then she becomes the lady of that estate and would leave us alone?”
My father nodded. “Bernadette has never found herself a husband.”
The sparkle in Britney’s expression captivated me. “So is that a yes?”
My father said, “She would get her dowry, of course.”
Britney said, “Of course, but Michael, I think this ball is going to be so much fun.”
Once she had an idea, she would follow through. I stood as we’d already had more family time than I’d expected. I pressed a hand to my heart and said, “Well, Britney and I must go, and I must meet with my barrister, but we’ll come back tomorrow.”
My mother said, “We’ll have tea.”
“Of course,” Britney said.
I said goodbye to my parents then offered Britney my arm. “Let’s go.”
“Lovely to see you both,” my mother said and waved as we left.
I was a horrible son, but I would be better. Since I was home, I would handle all the bills and paperwork so that my father didn’t suffer. Punishing anyone seemed absolutely pointless, and I wanted to focus my attention on my great future.