Oh my God.
He had brought her straight to where her family was seated, and Fleur didn't know what to think as she watched Julian introduce himself to everyone as her boyfriend. She kept waiting for the penny to drop, but instead of looking like he was about to run away, Julian appeared incredibly at ease under her brothers' none-too-subtle scrutiny.
What was happening?
Fleur wished she had a chance to ask exactly that, but there simply wasn't a chance to get a word in edgewise, with her brothers taking over the conversation as soon as she and Julian were seated.
And oh my gosh, the questions they were asking—-
"Are you serious about our sister?"
Fleur could only moan in embarrassment. "I'm thirty-three, Jaak! You should've asked that maybe two decades ago!"
But to her shock, Julian had actually answered with a simple and straightforward...
"Of course."
She gaped at Julian. Of course?
He smirked back at her. Yes. Of course. Julian then raised a brow. Is there a problem?
Fleur could only smile weakly. No. Not a problem. And indeed there wasn't...if he meant it? Was he truly serious about her, and if so, then why—-
"Weren't you almost engaged before?"
—-WHY did Willem ask such a thing?
Fleur's gaze snapped to Julian, and his gaze held hers as he said, "No. I wasn't almost engaged."
Fleur smiled at him encouragingly even as she made a mental note to apologize to Julian on behalf.
"Rather, I was engaged."
Fleur's smile disappeared in a flash. What did he just say?
Julian reached for her hand. "I was nineteen then, and the girl was a childhood friend. I was young and foolish...and so when she told me she was with me because of love, I believed her."
She saw Julian's lips twist in a crooked smile, and a little ache squeezed her heart as he then said dryly, "I found out otherwise obviously, and you can all probably guess how the rest turned out."
Fleur couldn't even find it in herself to get mad. Julian was an extremely proud man, and she could see why he wouldn't ever want to talk about someone making a fool of him. But on the other hand, she still wished he had, because then she would have better understood his commitment-phobe ways.
No wonder he was so prone to having cold feet every five seconds!
His grip on her hand suddenly tightened, and she squeezed his hand back just to let him know without words that she wasn't mad. If anything, all she wanted to do right now was to comfort him. And, if possible, claw the face of whoever that Russian girl was. Whichever opportunity came up first.
The rest of the evening went smoothly enough, and when Fleur excused herself to go to the ladies, none of the men blinked an eye when their respective wives all hurriedly stood up to do the same.
Nic waited until their women were completely out of view before letting his lips curve in a smirk. "Very subtle, aren't they?"
Marcus, Anneke's husband, clapped a hand over Julian's back. "Welcome to the family." He saw the other man frown in disconcerted fashion, and his lips twitched. "We know you haven't proposed to Fleur yet. Maybe you haven't even considered doing it. But you will, sooner or later."
"What makes you so sure?" Julian asked warily.
"It's written all over your face, Alexeyev." Jaak was the one who answered him this time, and he had only done so because Fleur's happiness was at stake. "You obviously can't live without our sister."
Julian's first instinct was to deny this. He liked Fleur. Cared for her even and considered her as the only woman in this world he would like being married to. But to go as far as saying that he could not live without her?
Willem studied Julian's taut expression and had no trouble interpreting the reasons behind it. They had all been in his shoes before, and while it had never been his style to get involved with other people's relationships—-
Fleur was his sister, and just like Jaak, Willem considered it his duty to ensure his loved ones' happiness. And since in this case, it was Julian whom Fleur wanted...
"You probably won't like to hear what I'm about to say..."
Julian stiffened when Willem suddenly spoke.
"But the sooner you accept the truth, the easier and happier your life will be."
"If you're thinking to dissuade me from being with your sister—-"
"It's the opposite," Willem interrupted calmly. "What I'm saying is that if you want to keep Fleur in your life, then what you need to understand and accept for good is the fact that you're completely in love with our sister."
Chapter Seventeen
Anneke and her sisters-in-law could be very convincing when they wanted to, and before Fleur realized what was happening, she had already spilled every single bean about her whirlwind romance in between peeing, washing her hands, and retouching her makeup.