Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 137205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 686(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 457(@300wpm)
“You look beautiful,” Calvin says dismissively, coming up behind me and encircling my waist with his strong arms. “It’s just a party. Our party, in fact. You can be as late as you please.”
“The one time you’re considerate,” I say, shaking my head.
His eyes glitter with amusement. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll promise to never do it again.”
I sigh at him, peeling his arms off me and making my way out of the bedroom. “Did Marie have dinner?” I ask him as we enter the hallway. “I didn’t feed her earlier, I was going to do it before everyone got here.”
“Yes, I made sure to feed Marie.”
“Your friends must think I’m a lazy bum, napping instead of greeting them.”
“They think no such thing. Relax, everything is fine. Well, not Charity, she’s in a bad mood, but now you’re here, so I’m sure she’ll cheer up.”
The lights have been dimmed for our engagement party, the room decked out in shades of silver and midnight blue. I never even talked with the party planner, so I guess Calvin picked the shade.
He’s dressed in a midnight blue suit to match me with silver accents.
That reminds me, I forgot to slip on the glittery Jimmy Choo pumps he put out for me to wear with this dress. I’m barefoot—that explains why I’m so comfortable—so I turn around and quickly make my way back to the bedroom.
When I come back out with my glitter silver heels on, I look around the room. Calvin is standing over where an intimate lounge area has been set up. There’s a couch that isn’t ours under a canopy of dark blue chiffon. Beside it is an end table with champagne chilling in a gold ice bucket.
A handsome man with dark hair and unforgiving eyes sits on the couch, taking up every bit of it. There are three cushions, but he sits in the middle and his aura takes up so much space, no one bothers to sit next to him.
At least, that’s what I think at first, but then a girl in a tight purple dress flits over and sits on his lap.
Oh.
Okay.
We’re lapsitting.
That’s cool.
The funny thing is, it’s like his thigh is a rock and he didn’t even notice her slight weight. He doesn’t move, doesn’t look at her. His gaze never so much as flickers away from Calvin’s despite the knockout wiggling her ass on top of him.
I see Arson nearby. I don’t have to ask—the man who swallowed half of the room with his presence is definitely Nick.
Calvin is talking to him, holding Nick’s attention entirely despite the best attempts of the cute little blonde on his lap. Her long wavy hair falls down her back, nearly covering more of her body than her dress is. She’s smiling and trying so hard for his attention. She leans in to playfully kiss him on the cheek, and he puts a massive hand on her face and pushes her away.
Oh.
Yikes. I guess he wasn’t interested.
Dejected, she gets up and goes over to talk with another girl I hadn’t noticed.
I feel bad for her. Maybe I should go say hi.
“There you are.”
Charity’s voice cuts off my intentions to go make the girl feel better about being humiliated. I look over at her and start to smile, but my smile dies the moment I see her face.
Calvin was right; Charity is mad.
“What the fuck,” she says, grabbing my arm and hauling away from where people can hear us.
“You’re going to have to be much more specific,” I say as I follow her down the hall toward the gallery.
Once we’re in the gallery away from everyone else, she turns to face me, her eyes wide with disbelief. “What the fuck, Hallie.”
“Okay, maybe I wasn’t clear enough…”
She gestures wildly back toward the room. “What is this?”
“My engagement party.”
“You have known this man for two minutes, and you know, I didn’t even comment on that when you invited me. I thought, hey, Hallie’s a romantic, maybe she got swept up, but what the actual fuck am I doing at a party with gangsters? This isn’t the roaring 20s. We don’t party with gangsters.”
“Shh,” I say, darting a paranoid look at the hall. “They might be able to hear us.”
“I don’t care,” she hisses, wide-eyed. “Who the hell is this guy? Why are criminals at his engagement party? And the only fucking people in attendance? I can’t be here, Hallie. I work for the prosecutor, for Christ’s sake.”
“Oh. I… I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You knew those people would be here? You know those people?”
“I’ve met Arson, I haven’t really met the other ones. I was going to meet some of his friends tonight.”
Charity shakes her head, glancing at the hallway with her arms crossed. “Those people aren’t friends. They’re associates. I thought you said he was some kind of tech company exec.”