They walked to the door with her hand tucked inside his elbow, and Teri trailed behind, seeming reluctant to be back home. With each step, Aria sensed Eli growing tenser.

“Get ready to meet my parents,” he said.

“I’ve already met them,” Aria responded, confused.

“On their home turf, as my date and with...everything else, it’s a totally different story.”

“Oh.” She’d been nervous before, but now it was like a sliver of ice had passed through her lungs, and she couldn’t draw breath. “How angry will they be?”

He stopped, pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, “It will be fine.”

Teri gagged. “Get a room!”

Nausea curled in her gut as she walked toward the stylish home where Eli had grown up. She felt sick and so, so scared. Her stomach fluttered, and she rubbed it absent-mindedly.

We’ll be okay, baby. Your mummy is strong. For her baby, she would fight dragons. What were a couple of entrepreneurs compared to that?

CHAPTER 21

A compact woman with a sour expression met them at the door and escorted them to a small lounge where Frances and Phillip were waiting.

“Mother. Father,” Eli greeted them politely.

Aria compared their formality to the familiarity of her own family, where hugs were frequent, personal space was non-existent, and the words ‘I love you’ were bandied about. Never one to stand on ceremony, she knew which situation she preferred.

Teri remained silent, subdued, as she had been since they got into the car. Aria had chalked it up to nerves over the upcoming ball, but now, she wondered if it had more to do with the strained relationship between the Lockwood siblings and their parents.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood,” she said with a forced smile. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You,” Phillip Lockwood said, raising a finger to point at her. “I know you. Where have I seen you before?”

“Aria cooked for you when you visited me in Itirangi,” Eli explained, wrapping an arm around her shoulders so she couldn’t move from his side.

“You’re his cook?” Frances asked, already scowling in disapproval.

“No,” Aria corrected, wondering why it would be so bad if she were. “I was doing him a favor that night. I’m a journalist.”

“Are you working on something for my son?” Frances asked. “Why are you here?”

“Aria is my date,” Eli said, raising his chin as if daring them to comment. She noticed he didn’t say she was pregnant and wondered when he planned to break the news.

“How long have you been seeing each other?”

The expression in his mother’s eyes suggested she was an unwelcome complication.

“Since I’ve been in Itirangi,” Eli replied. He was stretching the truth, but if he wanted to lie to his parents, that was his business.