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you again.”
     
    Her brother reluctantly shook his hand. “Luc. Elise forgot to mention you would be joining us.” His words were directed towards Elise who was clinging to Luc’s arm.
     
    “I can’t imagine why she would have forgotten.” Luc pulled out a chair and, detaching himself from Elise, lowered her into the chair. “She’s been under quite a strain lately. I’ve been worried about her working too hard.”
     
    Elise sent him a warning look.
     
    Luc just smiled and motioned for Raven to sit. It still amazed him that Raven and Elise were brother and sister. They looked nothing alike. Except for their eye color. They shared the same blue shade which proved that Moonbeam was indeed their mother. Raven was around the same height as Luc, six-two. Where Elise was fair, Raven was dark with shoulder length black hair and a natural looking, year-round tan. Luc doubted they had the same father. Neither child looked like Moonbeam. Elise certainly didn’t. Moonbeam was tall with exotic features. Elise was petite, her features classical.
     
    Raven stared at his sister and she fidgeted. “Elise. Do you have something you’d like to share with the group?”
     
    “Oh yes, Elise. You must catch us up on things.” Moonbeam smoothed her napkin across her lap and smiled benignly at her daughter. “I’m so happy you and Lucien decided to have an affair. You two really do make the cutest couple.”
     
    Luc’s jaw dropped.
     
    “You’re in it now,” Elise whispered, then smiled far too sweetly and nudged him. “Yes, darling , why don’t you explain everything to Mother.”
     
    Raven folded his arms across his chest, leaned back in his chair, and glared at Elise from underneath sharply arched brows. “I think I’d rather hear it from you, Sister Elise.”
     
    “Too bad, Brother Raven. I promised Luc he could tell you.”
     
    “But I don’t know Luc well enough to know if he’s bending the truth.”
     
    “Luc won’t be bending the truth. Will you, darling ?” Elise emphasized the endearment with a hard squeeze to his hand, her nails digging into his palm.
     
    The exchange between brother and sister gave Luc the moment he needed to recover from Moonbeam’s statement. “This is not something I would lie about.” He cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and pulled Elise’s left hand above the table.
     
    Before he could make his announcement, Raven cursed under his breath. “Tell me that isn’t what I think it is.”
     
    “It is,” Luc told him.
     
    “Oh, how beautiful,” Moonbeam chimed. “And it’s Elise’s birthstone. How thoughtful of you, Lucien.”
     
    Luc’s brow furrowed. What the hell was Moonbeam talking about?
     
    Elise tapped him on the arm. “My birthstone is diamond. I was born in April,” she informed him politely. “Luc, you’re going to have to spell everything out for Mother. She doesn’t see things the way you do.”
     
    “Spell it out? Fine. I’ll spell it out. Moonbeam, Elise and I are getting married next Saturday.”
     
    The benign expression on Moonbeam’s serene face mutinied. Apparently, she wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of having Luc as a son-in-law. Which didn’t make any sense, since Moonbeam seemingly had no qualms with Luc having an affair with her daughter.
     
    Elise scooted closer to Luc. “She’s gonna explode.”
     
    Raven glance at his mother. “What did you expect, Elise? Mom hasn’t lost her temper since the early eighties.”
     
    “That’s not true. She lost her temper when Dad used her altar to research The Seven Blades of Death . It took forever to sand the grooves out of the stone.”
     
    “ The Seven Blades of Death ? Your father wrote that?”
     
    Raven shook his head and pointed to Elise. “Her father wrote it.”
     
    Luc turned on Elise. “Your father is Jeffrey Wyndemere? You never told me that.”
     
    “Would you have asked me to marry you if I’d told you?”
     
    “Yes,” he answered quickly.