He makes puppy dog eyes.

I giggle and take a deep breath, before I get to my feet and towards to the kitchen.

the camera pointed at us. I lay my head on his shoulder.

He kisses my head. “I know. We’ll figure it out. Get through it together, like we always do.”

I nod slowly and kiss his cheek. “I should start dinner so no one starves.”.

He hums and nods. “Starving would be subpar, yes.”
+

He nods. “And that’s fair. I don’t particularly enjoy being a trained monkey either. But I don’t think we actually have a choice. Even if he decided to act like we do…it’s an act. It’s always an act.”

“Yea but least it's here where no one but a small group watches.” I gesture with my head towards +

he can’t control or pay off is asking questions or he thinks they’re gonna.”

I take another slow breath. “Yea…I just don't feel like parading around just to make him look good in front of his friends.”
+

deciding if he wants to do his usual pairings or mix it up.” I close my eyes.

He softly kisses my head and wraps his arms around me. “Yeah…of course he wants more control. The man loves control. But Pix…he’s in control either way and if he’s decided he needs to marry you off, it means someone +

close harder than necessarily.

I slowly slide down the wall as I take slow breaths.

Regan comes out and sits next to me before softly saying, “At least it’s us, Pix. Not an awful person.”

I quietly say, “That's true but he's only picking you three to have more control…he's probably +

eldest niece stops being brat and I've figured details out.” I can hear the tension in his voice that he gets when he's trying to remain calm.

Madi’s brothers all say in unison, “Yes, sir.”

“You all stay here for the night..I have things to do.” He says. There's silence until I hear the front +

After a long pause, during which I’m sure Madi was trying to calm Darragh, I hear her voice as she says, “Don’t be a shit, Regan. You’re just trying to stir up trouble now. Stop it. You know better.”

Regan barely audibly says, “I’m sorry, sir.”

Darragh says, “We'll talk more later once my +

I roll my eyes. -like he can't buy most people-

Regan snorts. “So you gonna marry Madi off to Marc too? To protect your assets?”

The silence that followed Regan’s question scares me more than the snapping at me.
+

“I don't care how opposed she is. My decision is made. I just have to work out the smaller details.”.

Colt’s voice carries. “Why? Why force marriages? What does it get you?”

“It protects my assets and makes people a little less suspicious since they have children.” Darragh says.

+

I get up and ignore Darragh, as I leave shaking my head. -I’ll regret that later- Behind me, I hear Sheldon say, “You know, I think Pixie is opposed to that idea.”

I take slow breaths once I'm in the hallway. Darragh’s voice carries from the living room. +

as I sit back down.

Regan reaches over and lays his hand on Marc’s arm. “I’ll repeat Colt’s question. Who are you planning on marrying them to?”

Darragh looks at Madi’s three brothers. “That's easy. You three. You know the rules and the family. We won't have to try and assess for someone new.”
+

Colt looks between everyone. “Marriages to who?”

Madi softly says, “To whom, Colt.”

Colt rolls his eyes. “I’m sorry. Marriages to WHOM.”

Marc smirks just a bit. I shake my head before getting to my feet. “Nope.. No…”

“Sit, Adeline.”.Darragh snaps.

I watch Marc’s hand clench hard, +

I nod slowly and take a seat next to Madi. "So...what is it?"

"Decided you, Lynnie and Cooper are old enough and well behaved enough to have husbands." Darragh says.

I take a deep breath and bite back to words that threaten to spill forth.

kiss his head. "Why don't you go see Uncle Jakoby?"

He nods. "Okay, Mama." He heads down the hall.

I head to the living room to find Madi, her brothers, Marc, Cooper, and Lynnie with Darragh in usual seat. I quietly say. "No Jakoby?"

"Someone needs to watch the kids." He says+

I tense when I feel hands on my hips.

"Easy, Pixie girl, it's just me." Darragh says and kiss my cheek before letting go. "Come to the living room. We need to talk."

He leaves before I respond. I turn to see East standing by the small breakfast nook with his baby cousin, Desi. I walk over and+

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