“Who is it?” Dylan tried not to sound bothered as he asked the question. His greatest fear was that some guy smarter – nicer – than him would realize what a treasure Bree was, sweep her off her feet, and take her away from him forever.
“It’s just Saffi. I’m having dinner with her and the whole March clan in Steel’s place.”
“I see.” He managed not to let his dislike creep into his voice. Steel March was the kind of guy Bree deserved – someone who had the right family, who didn’t have serious issues like he did – and for that, Dylan knew he would always hate the other man.
When he didn’t say anything else, she asked finally, “Are you just going to stay home tonight?”
“No.”
God, he could be so moody sometimes – the classic rock star syndrome, Bree thought ruefully. Her gaze went back to Saffi’s message. She wished she could be more like Saffi, with the way the older girl had gone after her guy without any hesitations.
Bree’s silence from the other line got to him. “Bree?” He hated it whenever Bree wasn’t chatting to him like a magpie, like she usually did.
She blurted out, “Have you changed your mind about coming to my graduation this weekend?”
Dylan swore silently at the way Bree’s voice quivered even though he could tell she was doing her very best to sound light-hearted.
“I told you, remember?” he said very gently, not wanting to hurt her even more. “I have work.”
She tried not to feel hurt at his extremely lame excuse. He was Dylan freaking Charbonneau, the world’s sexiest rock star – in her opinion, not Saffi’s – and front man of the most popular lyrical rock band.
If he wanted to attend her graduation, he could.
She was normally not the type that did emotional blackmail, but this time...she was going to make an exception.
“If you’re not coming, I’m not ever going to talk to you again,” she told him in a rush...and then ended the call right after.
Oh. My. God. Bree breathed hard. Had she really done something that childish...and risky?
“I TOLD YOU. THIS IS a classic case of the apple not falling far from the tree.” The dark-haired man who spoke from the head of the table was exquisitely dressed in a handmade suit. He had the looks of a GQ model, but more often than not he appeared between the pages of the Wall Street Journal.
Bree tried not to wince at Steel March’s assessment, seeing as he was the head of the billion-dollar Beaufort-March business empire. If it had been Silver saying the words, she would have rolled her eyes. But this was Steel and, well, he was always right.
Seated across Bree, Staffan Aehrenthal gave his brother-in-law a droll look. “This is going to be a dig about me again, isn’t it?” he asked his wife. Tall, impossibly good-looking and once a notorious man-whore, Staffan was used to the occasional insults that came his way from Saffi’s overprotective brothers.
“I’m sure it’s...not?” Saffi was clearly playing it safe.
“Sapphire has bad taste in men and because you’ve spent so much time in her company, you’ve developed the same bad taste in men, too. You have Dylan Charbonneau, who is a rock star like Staffan. It’s hardcoded in their systems to break girls’ hearts.” Steel aimed this in Bree’s direction.
Staffan covered his son’s eyes just to mouth ‘fuck you’ at Steel.
“Papa,” Little Aleksis protested. Like his father, he was dressed spectacularly for a simple sit-down dinner.
Bree exchanged an amused look with Silver as they watched Staffan, normally known to be volatile, instantly transform himself into an indulgent parent as he murmured something to his son in Swedish.
Minus the patriarch and matriarch of the clan, with Pearl and Samuel currently enjoying a cruise to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary, the March family was in full force, and all of them had come back to their hometown to attend Bree’s graduation.
Seeing the worry that the younger girl was trying to hide, Saffi said staunchly, “Don’t listen to Steel, Bree. He’s always pessimistic like that. And besides, if Dylan’s going to follow in Staffan’s footsteps, then that’s good! He’ll be the best husband you can ever ask for!”
The undying adoration in Saffi’s voice made both March brothers groan simultaneously.
Staffan covered his son’s eyes again, this time to give Saffi a hot open-mouthed kiss. The March brothers groaned louder but Staffan ignored it, his entire attention focused on the lovely taste of his wife’s mouth.
“PAPA,” Aleksis bellowed.
With a sigh, Staffan reluctantly lifted his head and removed his hand from Aleksis’ eyes.
Watching the married couple exchange a sweet sexy look between them, Bree did her best not to sigh. She had known Dylan for about the same length of time as Staffan and Saffi knew each other and yet the current state of their relationships couldn’t be any more different.