I breathed in through my nose, not even trying to hide the sniffling noise.
"Oh, geez." Rob looked down at me and stopped. "Don't cry." He pulled me to his chest. "Don't show them that they won. That's the last thing you want."
"They did win. They didn't even give me a chance."
He put his hands on my shoulders. "Part of being in this family is learning how to ignore my parents. You have to have thick skin. You can't let stuff like this bother you."
"They invited his ex wife to our engagement party."
"Yeah, my parents suck. That can't come as a surprise to you. They're the fucking worst."
I laughed and wiped away a few tears that had fallen down my cheeks.
"You're going to be my little sister. I'm going to help watch out for you. But you can't let them get under your skin. Show them that you don't care. That's what the three of us do."
I took a deep breath. Rob always joked around with me. It was nice to hear that he truly cared.
"And they're not even doing this because of you. They're mad at James. And trust me, not having their approval makes us all like you even more. So cheer up." He lightly bumped my chin with his fist.
I laughed. "I'm sorry, I'm still focused on the fact that you said I was going to be your little sister."
"Ugh. Don't hold that against me. I mean, if you're looking for less drama, I don't have an ex wife." He winked at me.
"You can't take it back now. I always thought it would be nice to have a brother."
He rolled his eyes. "Don't let it go to your head. I was just being nice."
"Mhm."
He removed his hand from my shoulder. "So, are you okay?"
"The brotherly pep talk definitely helped. Thanks, Rob." I looked down the hallway toward the foyer. I wanted James to walk into the party with me. I didn't want him to be fighting with his parents. And I definitely didn't want him to talk to Isabella. I just wanted him by my side.
"Come on," Rob said and held his arm back out for me. "I'm supposed to be escorting you to the party. Not letting you mope around in the hallway."
"I'd rather just hide somewhere and not see anyone."
"Just bottle up all your emotions and try not to think about them. That's what becoming a Hunter truly is. Why do you think we're all so messed up?"
I laughed as he walked with me down the hallway.
"Welcome to the family, Penny." He winked at me again as he turned the corner. We walked through a marble archway into a room filled with at least a hundred people. And I didn't recognize any of them.
"Shouldn't we wait for James?"
"I don't know. He said to bring you in here." He looked over his shoulder. "How about I go grab you a drink to calm your nerves. What's your poison?"
"Don't leave me."
He laughed. "Jen's over there. I'm sure she'd love to introduce you to some of the family."
I nodded. "Get me something strong."
"I'll do my worst." His arm fell from mine.
It felt like everyone was staring at me. I smiled awkwardly and walked over to Jen.
"What took you two so long?" she said as she gave me a quick hug. "Wait, where's James?"
"Talking to your parents." I didn't want to think about what he was doing. "Rob said you might introduce me to some of your family members. I thought this was going to be a small thing. Why are there so many people here?"
"Well, your wedding is going to be so small that Mom and Dad insisted that everyone come down to meet you now. They're all so excited to meet you."
So this was basically everyone we hadn't invited to the wedding? Oh God. I swallowed hard. They all probably hated me too.
"You okay?" Jen asked. "You look really pale."
"I'm fine. Do I know anyone here?"
"I think the invites got a little confusing. Most of your friends are arriving around seven I think. But come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."
***
It was just a blur of faces and names. I gave up trying to remember who everyone was. It seemed like hours before I felt James' hand on my waist.
"Let's go. I've already made our excuses," he said.
"But I haven't even met your parents yet."
"And you're not going to. Let's go. Now."
I wasn't sure I had ever seen him this upset. All I wanted to do was grab his hand and run out of there. But Rob's advice was stuck in my head. I didn't want his parents to think they could scare me away. I wasn't going anywhere. "Our friends are coming any minute. We can't leave now."
"Oh, there you are, James," Jen said. The smile on her face instantly disappeared. "What's wrong?"
"Did you know Isabella was going to be here?" James said in a stern voice.
"Don't snap at her." I put my hand on his chest. "This isn't her fault."
"Is she really?" Jen asked. Her voice sounded small.
"Dad said you're the one that convinced them to throw this thing. You must have known. You set us up."
"Of course I didn't," Jen said. She sounded like her normal self again. "You know I wouldn't do that."
James ran his hand through his hair. "Please let me get you out of here, Penny." There was so much pain in his eyes. And it killed me.
"I have to meet them." I put my glass in his hand. "Hold this for me, please."
I started to walk away before he had time to react.
"Penny!" he hissed.
I ignored him and walked over to the archway. His parents had just entered the room with Isabella in tow. She smiled as I approached. She probably thought that I was about to embarrass myself, but she was dead wrong. I went straight up to them and smiled. "Hi, you must be Mr. and Mrs. Hunter. I'm Penny Taylor, your son's fiancée. I'm so sorry that it took us this long to meet. We had such conflicting schedules." I gave them as genuine of a smile as I could. "But I'm glad we finally get a chance to meet now, before the wedding. And thank you so much for throwing this wonderful party to celebrate our engagement. It's been quite lovely. Your whole family has been so kind."
James' mother raised her left eyebrow. The expression reminded me of one that James made so often. Maybe the two of them had some similarities after all.
Isabella made a weird noise with her throat, clearly disapproving of what I had just said.
"Oh, and Isabella, it's so nice to see you again. I wasn't sure I would get the pleasure. I'm so glad you could make it."
"Unfortunately we can't stay," James said and wrapped his arm firmly around my waist, almost making me jump. "Something has come up and we really must go."
"Don't be ridiculous, James," Isabella said with a huge smile. "The party has only just begun. Let me get you a scotch. That's your favorite, right?" Her voice was oozing with so much fake sweetness that I wanted to throw up.
"Not anymore, no." His grip tightened on my waist.
"How about we go make a few phone calls?" I said and smiled up at him. "I'm sure whatever urgent thing that has come up can be handled by someone else. If you'll excuse us for just a moment." I smiled politely at all three of them and grabbed James' arm.