Love & Conditions (New York Billionaires Book 2)

30| Heart

"Julie!" 

"Juliette, hey!" 

I turned to Christian, keeping my smile plastered. He inhaled sharply, preparing himself. 

I'll get to say 'I told you so.' 

"Hi, everyone. Christian, this is my family. Guys, this is Christian. My fiancé." I smiled, scanning everybody's reactions. "It's a lot of names to remember, so pay attention," I whispered to Christian. "That's Aunt Jackie and Uncle Tim," I began, gesturing to the couple sitting beside my parents. "That's their daughter Ginny. That's Aunt Heather and Uncle Johnathan, they have the twins, Lilah and Brandon. There's Aunt Molly and Uncle Gerard, then their son, River. Then the single and cooler aunt and uncle. Aunt Clarissa and Uncle Bobby." I glanced at Christian. 

He repeated each name under his breath nervously. 

"There's more if you can't tell by the completely booked table," I smirked. "And of course, Naomi's parents, Mrs. Natasha and Mr. Josh but... " I paused, lowering my voice, "That's all you need to know. Truthfully, even I don't know everyone's names from her family. And the rest of my family won't bother you much. Hopefully," I shrugged a shoulder. "If they do, just ask for a name, they won't blame you. They know they're a handful." 

"Fuck, that's a lot of names," he mumbled under his breath. 

My eyes widened as Aunt Jackie cleared her throat to say something. "You all can interrogate him later. Let us get breakfast first, please," I grinned sheepishly. Once everyone chuckled and nodded or waved a dismissive hand, I steered both of us away and towards the buffet table. "Be prepared, Christian," I said, "they're going to kill you." 

"Who? Aunt Jackie and Uncle Tim, Aunt Heather and Uncle Johnathan, Aunt Molly and Uncle Gerard, Aunt Clarissa, Uncle Bobby or Ginny, River and the twins, Lilah and Brandon?" 

My steps faltered and slowed as I stared at him, pleasantly surprised. "Good with names, are we?" I taunted, sliding my arm out of his and walking ahead of him, picking up a plate for myself. 

"Good with a lot of other things too, aren't we?" he teased from behind me, resting a hand on my waist while grabbing his own plate and following me. 

"What you need to be good at is impressing crazy relatives," I snickered, "let's see how good you can be at that." 

 »»————　➴　————««

"Stop it, Jules. Jesus, good Lord, stop gawking at my brother," Audrey scolded as we walked behind the others down the shopping street. 

"I'm not gawking at your brother," I hissed at her. "I'm watching my family as they try to break him." 

"He won't break. Christian doesn't lose," she said before eating another scoop of ice cream. 

"I seriously hope so," I said absentmindedly, my eyes following as Christian was left alone for a mere moment, Uncle Tim finally leaving him only for Uncle Bobby to walk over, patting his shoulder and giving him a slight push. Christian had his polite smile intact but pushed Uncle Bobby's hand off so slowly that I bet my Uncle didn't even notice, especially with the way he continued talking animatedly. 

"Looks like we're here," Audrey mumbled, trashing the ice cream cup in a nearby trash can as we approached the boutique we came here for.