Indiana’s parents and siblings were also present as they were best friends with the ruling family. His mother, Christina, had been the first Motlander to cross the border and his father, Alexander, had protected her from any harm. Together they had Indiana, Jones, and Samara, whose real name I’d learned was Lara.
Last time we were here, Magni’s oldest son, Solo, had been here with his wife Willow and their children, but not today.
“Are you enjoying yourself?”
I spun to see Aubri walking up behind me. She was wearing a beautiful dress in a shimmering blue color that showed her toned arms and impressive cleavage. The dress reached almost to the floor and had a slit in front that cut more than halfway up her thigh.
“Yes, thank you.” Leaning forward, I pulled at the dress’s slit so I could admire her stilettos. “I love your shoes. I have a pair similar in a bright yellow color.”
“I figured that since you said you were wearing high heels, I could too.”
My lips parted in a smile. “Except I’m wearing heels to avoid neck pain from talking to the giants in your family. With your height, you don’t need heels.”
Aubri laughed and took my hand. Standing next to each other, I reached her chin. “Come on, beautiful. Let me introduce you to Indiana’s younger brother, Jones; he’s been talking about you non-stop.”
I kept a smile on my face as Aubri walked to a young man who resembled Indiana with his dark hair and brown eyes. The biggest difference between the two brothers was that Jones had a stubble while Indiana had a full-grown beard.
“Hi, Jones, look who I brought you.” Aubri’s eyes glinted with mischief.
“Hi.” The tall man seemed shy and stuffed his hands in his pockets.
“Don’t worry, we French don’t take people’s hands in a greeting like the Motlanders,” I assured him.
“Oh, no, it’s fine, I’m just…” Jones screwed up his mouth and looked away.
Aubri laughed and shoved at his shoulder. “Don’t be shy. You’ve been babbling about Belle for the past three and a half years. Now she’s finally here, so talk to her.”
Jones’ cheeks flamed red and his tongue zipped out to lick his lips as if his mouth felt dry. “Don’t listen to her. I haven’t been babbling.”
“I’ll give you two a minute.” Aubri grinned when she walked away, leaving Jones and me alone.
“Do you… ehh… do you remember me?” he asked and had a hard time holding eye contact. “From the last time you were here, I mean.”
“Of course.” I smiled. “You were at the welcome reception the last time too.”
Jones met my eyes for the first time. “We talked. You had that bright pink pant suit on with a large yellow necklace and feathery earrings.” His hands went to his ears. “Do you remember?”
“Vaguely.”
“I asked you if you liked it here and you said that you always enjoyed your weeks in the Northlands.” Jones said it as if our conversation years ago had been of great importance.
“Right.” I didn’t remember but it seemed to matter to him, so I went along when he asked:
“So, how have you been, Belle?”
“Fine. Busy. I work a lot.”
“With babies, right? Aubri told me.”
I angled my head. “That’s right.”
“I also heard that you paint and that you teach children art on a voluntary basis.”
“Aubri told you that?”
“Well, no – sort of. Aubri told Mason, who told me when I asked him about you.”
My brows lifted. “I’m surprised Mason would care to remember that much about me.”
Jones folded and unfolded his arms and shifted his balance. “We’ve all been looking forward to this year’s summit.”
“Me too.”
“I know you have a tight program but if you want to see some of the area, I’d be happy to show you. We… ehm… my family that is… we live on an island not far from here. You’ll be visiting the school there tomorrow. It’s the school of inclusion.”
“Yes, I remember. We went there the first time we came to the Northlands.”
“That was nine years ago. Much has happened since then. The school is bigger now and there are ten children from Old Europe too.”
I smiled. “I’m aware. It was a major deal when our prime minister decided to participate with ten students. People weren’t happy about it.”
“Oh, but the French children are thriving here,” Jones assured me just as Mason walked past and then he hurried to add, “I was thinking that since you’re visiting our island maybe we could go for a walk or something.”
Mason stopped abruptly and turned his head to us. “Jones, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m just talking with Belle.”
Mason moved closer. “No, you’re asking her to spend time with you alone. Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“I was just being friendly,” Jones insisted in a defensive manner.
“In which universe did you think we would let you take little Belle on a stroll through the woods?”
“She’s not a Northlander. She can decide for herself.”
“Please don’t call me little,” I told Mason, but he wasn’t listening to me. His finger was pointing straight at Jones’ face.
“I’m telling you to stay away from her, do you understand?”
“What’s going on?” Indiana and his father Alexander joined us.
“Jones was trying to convince Belle to go for a walk with him in the woods and I told him to fuck off.”
“Why? He won’t harm her,” Indiana defended his younger brother and lowered his voice. “Maybe they would hit it off together.”
Mason scowled at the three men and crossed his arms while I looked on with my eyes wide open. I’d never had men argue over me and looked on in wonder as Indiana leaned closer to Mason and whispered, “You’re forgetting that unlike you and the others, Jones and I don’t have to marry a Northlander.”
“She’s French, they don’t marry anyone,” Mason sneered.
As if it wasn’t enough to have four giant Nmen talking about me, Victor, who was the leader of our French delegation, came over. “What’s the problem?”
“Nothing,” Indiana said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It’s just a misunderstanding.”
When it came to facing an outsider like Victor, Mason instantly supported Indiana. “He’s right, it’s nothing for you to worry about.”
Victor was too smart to be fooled and narrowed his eyes. “Were you hoping to convince her to marry you?” He addressed his question to Mason.
“Who, me?” Mason planted a palm on his chest and jerked his head back.
“Yes. I heard you say that we French don’t marry anyone. Did Belle turn you down?”
The amusement in Victor’s tone irked me. The man had always felt that his genius was superior to the rest of us and he’d made it more than clear that he didn’t think a domestic citizen like me was worthy of representing our nation.