“It doesn’t matter,” Sean said, tightening his grip around her waist. “Let’s go.”

“No, I want to know,” she insisted. “What deal are you backing out of?”

A long, tense silence filled the room. Her aunt and cousin smiled like cats that had eaten a canary, and her uncle scuffed his loafers against the carpet. Sean’s face was emotionless as always, but his entire body was tense beside her.

“What deal?” she repeated.

Sean swallowed hard, “Your uncle and I made a deal a ...