#Chapter 170 – Visitors

The luncheon we have a week later is…awkward, to say the least. I say a little prayer of thanks about every ten seconds that Daniel hasn’t left my side for a moment, charmingly fending off questions and making small talk with both the Biancis and the Aldens while I stay quiet, smiling prettily. I look up at my handsome fiancé and I shake my head a little at the laugh that bubbles out of his throat at something my father just said – something decidedly unfunny. But the way Daniel reacts? You’d think my father was a damn comedian. Daniel glances down at me and sends me a little wink that makes me burst into a smile. See? I think. He’s got me charmed too. These damn Lippert men. I look around the room, taking it all in. Janeen, of course, stayed home with dad – no one here wants to acknowledge my adoptive family as anything but a footnote in my life – but everyone else of note is here. Even Jerome stands by the door in a black suit and sunglasses, playing the role of our persona