Claimed By her Daddies by Laylah Roberts
33
“Pippa, these are my fathers, Serin, Baler, and Frost,” Kassim introduced her. She was wearing a dress that Aric picked out. It was beautiful turquoise color that molded to her curves.
Frost?
“It’s a nickname,” Serin told her. “He won’t answer to his real name.”
Frost was big like Matek. Quiet as well. And she guessed that Matek’s blue eyes came from Isobelle who moved around her men. They all watched her intently, barely taking their gazes off her. It was clear that they were all still deeply in love.
It would be sweet. Under different circumstances.
Just then Adele laughed at something Isobelle said and Pippa ground her teeth together.
“What is she doing here?” Tavi muttered from her other side.
“Adele?” Serin asked. “I think your mother invited her. Why?”
“No reason,” Pippa said cheerfully, wanting this night over with.
Kassim’s cousins walked in next, she didn’t know them very well but liked them all. Except Jeric. But then no one liked the youngest cousin. She never trusted the way he looked at her.
Slimy.
Soon they were all seated at a long table and she stared down at her cutlery.
“If you don’t know which knife and fork to use, Pippa, just follow what I do,” Adele said from across the table.
“Why are you here?” Matek asked rudely as Pippa clenched her hands into fists.
“Matek,” Isobelle said, looking shocked.
Adele let out a nervous laugh that had several people wincing since it resembled a donkey’s bray. “Oh, Matek likes to joke around with me.”
Pippa snorted. Then realized that wasn’t a very sophisticated noise to make. She stiffened, worried she’d embarrassed her men. But Aric grinned at her and Tavi sent her a wink. Kassim placed his hand on her thigh.
“I never joke,” Matek said. “Why are you here?”
“I invited her,” Isobelle said coolly. “And you’re being rude.”
“She’s rude to Pippa,” Matek pointed out.
“I was just trying to help,” Adele replied. She sounded so hurt. Yeah, right.
Pippa managed to hold back another snort. She made it through three awful courses, seriously how many courses could one dinner have, before talk turned to the tabloids.
“What do you intend to do about this mess with the British tabloids, Kassim?” Serin asked. All of his fathers had been polite but distant with her. Now everyone turned to stare at her and Kassim.
The princes’ fathers were all frowning.
“You need to take a strong stance,” Baler advised.
“I am,” Kassim reassured them. “I have my lawyers working on getting all the articles taken down and I intend to punish every person that printed a bad word about Pippa.”
“You can’t do that, Kassim,” Isobelle said.
“It seems like a lot of work,” Adele added. “Maybe you should just let it run its course.”
Right. Let them continue to fling mud at her, she meant.
“Actually,” Kassim said coldly. “I can do what I like, to protect our intended bride.”
“Intended bride?” Isobelle looked over at Kassim sharply. “So this is not just a fling?”
“Do you think I would introduce you to Pippa if she was just temporary in our life, mother?” Kassim asked.
“Or have her live with us?” Tavi asked.
“It seemed I was misinformed,” Isobelle said, staring over at Adele.
“How can you want to marry her!” Adele screeched, standing up. Her chair fell behind her. The staff, who had been setting down the next course, froze. “You can’t possibly want her! She’s nobody. Look at her! With that loud hair and her uncouth manners. She doesn’t know anything about being royalty. She is . . . she is ordinary.”
Everyone stared at Adele in shock for a long moment. Except for Frost, who had started eating.
“Enough.” To Pippa’s surprise, it was Isobelle who spoke up. “It is time for you to leave, Adele.”
“B-but—”Adele stared at the other woman in shock. “But you . . . I am much better suited to being their wife. I have manners. I know how to dress, what to say. She doesn’t even know what fork to eat with!”
“As if we care about that,” Tavi said to her with a sneer.
“If you think that’s what is important to us then you don’t know us at all,” Aric added.
“Pippa is everything we could want in a bride,” Kassim told her. “Kind, sweet, intelligent.”
“Yes, luckily, nothing like you,” Aric said coldly.
“Do I need to call security?” Tavi asked, standing.
“No, I’m leaving. But you will regret this!” She stormed out of the room.
“I’ll go make sure she has gone,” Jeric said, following her.
That was oddly helpful of him.
There was a long moment of silence.
“Well,” Serin said. “That was interesting.”
Isobelle turned a warm smile on Pippa. “I’m sorry for the earlier inquisition, Pippa. If you are my sons’ intended, well, that makes all the difference.”
“Inquisition?” Kassim asked quietly, in a low voice.
Pippa leaned in to soothe him. “It’s all right. It was just a chat.”
“But I don’t understand why you didn’t steal her? Like your fathers did with me.” Isobelle smiled fondly at her men.
Pippa couldn’t help but think how odd that would sound to someone who didn’t know and understand their traditions.
“Of course it’s not too late. When will you be entering your Marjarsom?” Isobelle asked
“We aren’t going to have one, mother,” Kassim replied calmly.
His mother gasped, even his fathers looked shocked.
“You have to.”
“Now isn’t a good time,” Tavi pointed out. “There is a lot going on and we’re needed here.”
“Nonsense, your fathers and I can take over matters here.”
Pippa noticed that her husbands didn’t seem too happy at that idea but they all nodded.
“I am also happy to continue to help,” Ryiad, his oldest cousin, said.
“Yes, but there are other factors.” Kassim frowned.
“No, no, you have to have a Marjarsom. It is tradition, even if you haven’t really stolen your bride. We’ll organize this and you can head to one of the islands. Yes, that’s what you’ll do.” Isobelle nodded and Pippa had a feeling that her word was law.
Yeah, Pippa thought the two of them would get on fine.
