They ate in silence and sat through speeches that went on for far too long. Dessert followed. Half of the dessert bowls held fruit salads, and the rest held towers of ice cream. Aria quickly snagged one of the bowls of ice cream and took a mouthful. Heavenly. A tangy lemon flavor incited her taste buds and slid smoothly down her throat.

She heard a snigger and glanced up. Everyone was watching her.

“What?” she demanded. Any patience she’d had left was rapidly drying up.

“Are you trying to eat it or have sex with it, darling?” Victoria sneered.

“Ask Eli. He’d know.” Dave chuckled. He wasn’t being malicious, but his thoughtless comment made Aria uncomfortable.

“For god’s sake!” Eli exclaimed, laying down his cutlery with a clang. “Can’t you be civil for a couple of hours?”

Aria kept her head down.

“Elijah, we want to know how long this phase is going to last,” his mother said as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world.

“What phase?” Eli asked. His nostrils flared, and he’d gone rigid, like a predator posed to pounce on its prey. His fingers twitched, and he shoved them beneath the table.

“Dating inappropriate women,” Frances said. “Luckily for you, Victoria will still be here for you when you’re over it, and she won’t hold it against you. You should really appreciate that.”

“I can’t believe you said that in front of Aria,” Eli growled. “I thought you would at least try to act like a decent human being. I guess I was hoping for too much. And Victoria?” His voice lowered to a hiss. “You think she’s ‘appropriate’?” He added air quotations. “How appropriate was she when she was screwing another man on the back of a motorcycle in an alley outside a nightclub?”

Victoria paled.

Frances tutted. “We all make mistakes.”

Aria’s head swung back and forward between them. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her family teased each other, but they rarely fought.

“I’ve had enough of this.” Eli stood and grabbed her by the elbow. His fingers were rough, and she winced but allowed him to pull her up. “Let’s go.”

Teri awkwardly shuffled to her feet, interlocking her fingers with Aria’s.

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting, Elijah?” Frances asked.

“No,” he said stiffly. “I don’t. Aria is pregnant, Mother. She’s having my baby, and I intend to raise it with her. She will be in my life for the foreseeable future, so you had better accustom yourself to the idea.”

“What?” Teri gasped, smacking her thigh with her palm.

“You’ve got this little country tramp pregnant?” Frances sounded ready to explode.