I suck in a breath as I clutch Calum’s arm, my gaze swiveling around the ballroom. A jazz quartet plays in the corner. All the white linen-bedecked tables are pushed to the sides of the room. Inside that, women in extravagant gowns and men in tuxes mill about in the dimly lit ballroom.
Calum leans his head over to me. “Don’t be so nervous,” he murmurs in my ear.
I swallow and look up at him. “Am I that obvious?”
His lips twitch. “Not to everyone. But I’m the lucky man whose arm you are clutching like it’s the only thing keeping you afloat.”
I look down and flush. I’ve got Calum’s arm in a death grip and I didn’t even notice. Relaxing my hand, I take a breath and apologize.
“Sorry,” I whisper back. “I’m just intimidated by all the diamonds and Rolexes I see on the crowd. I thought I was wealthy growing up, but not compared to this room full of people.”
Calum flashes me a smirk. “It’s just money, Kaia.”
I wrinkle my nose at him. “I feel like the only people who say that are already filthy rich.”
He makes an mmm sound, apparently not feeling like engaging me on that subject at this moment. Instead he lifts his head, swiveling his gaze around.
“What are you looking for?”
His eyes tighten a little as he slips his arm from my grasp. I open my mouth, about to protest, but he eases his arm around my waist.
“I’m looking for Jack Schwartz. He’s the owner of a cryptocurrency modulating software that is particularly ingenious. And I have been trying to buy his company for six months now.”
I screw my face up. “A crypto what?”
Calum shoots me a wry smile. “Cryptocurrency. That’s how I took a few million, invested it, and came out with enough money to start Indica Tech.”
My brows descend. “And Indica Tech… did well?”
He scoffs. “You’ve got to be kidding. Google, Apple, Indica… we’re one of the biggest tech firms out there right now.”
I pull a face. “I can barely use my cell phone. I’m not exactly savvy with most of that stuff.”
He stops look around the room, suddenly squinting at me. “You seriously just think that billionaires fall from the sky?”
My eyes widen. “Billionaire? Like… you have a billion dollars?”
His lips curve up just a little. “Yes, beauty. My company is worth several hundred billion dollars. I’ll leave you to figure out what that means for me.”
I blink up at him. “That’s… an incredible amount of money.”
He nods, looking around again. He sees the person he is looking for, apparently, because he starts ushering me over toward the other side of the ballroom.
We walk right up to an older man with a thin gray mustache wearing a tuxedo. The man has his arm around a lovely older woman who is wearing a pale purple gown and so many diamonds it’s a surprise that she can stand up straight.
They are talking to another couple, but Calum seems unconcerned about that. He elbows his way into their small circle, a broad smile on his face. I’ve never seen Calum smile like that before, with all his teeth.
It’s unsettling and disingenuous, like seeing a shark smile a second before he eats you.
“Mr. Schwartz!” he calls out. “What a surprise!”
Mr. Schwartz blinks a few times and turns toward us. He takes Calum in, his green eyes narrowing. Then he looks at me for a second, dismisses me, and does a double take. His lips part. His eyebrows rise.
“Well, aren’t you enchanting,” he purrs. He drops his arm from the woman he’s holding close and steps toward me. I stand up a little straighter and blink rapidly.
I don’t know that Mr. Schwartz even recognizes Calum as a person. He swoops in and takes my hand in his clammy grasp, bowing over it and placing a very wet kiss on the back.
“Enchanté, mademoiselle.” He straightens but doesn’t release my hand. “Call me Jack. What’s your name, doll?”
I lick my lips, nervously glancing at Calum. Calum’s lips are pressed into a thin line but he doesn’t say anything. So I just incline my head.
“Kaia Walker. It’s very nice to meet you.”
I manage to wrest my hand from his grasp, stepping back into the shelter of Calum’s big body. It had never occurred to me until right this moment to think of Calum as a kind of protection. But now I raise a hand to rest on Calum’s back.
Calum clears his throat. “Mr. Schwartz — can I call you Jack?”
Jack is busy looking me over, his gaze seeming calculating. His lips twitch and drags his eyes away toward Calum. Calum extends his hand and Jack takes it, favoring Calum with a look.
“Do I know you already?”
Calum’s smile turns hard. “I’m Calum Fordham. I own IndicaTech.”
Jack’s expression pinches. “Indica… oh, oh. You’re with Lucas.”
Calum drops Jack’s hand, his expression going flat. “Lucas is with me.”
He slides his hand around the back of my waist, pulling me closer. It’s my first glimpse of Calum being territorial. Actually I’m not sure whether he’s more put off by Jack’s lack of interest in him or the fact that the other man doesn’t know Calum’s position.
“Right, right,” Jack says, looking back and forth between Calum and me. He rubs his hands together a few times and the purple-gowned woman steps forward and squirts a dab of liquid onto his hands.
Jack smiles, a glint in his eyes. “Did you come here to bring me lovely Kaia as a gift?”
The breath in my lungs freezes. Calum’s fingers on my waist tighten. “Very funny,” he says, expression growing stony. “I came to meet you face to face because it’s been so difficult to set a meeting with you.”
Jack looks at me, arching a brow. “You want a meeting with me?”
Calum tilts his head and narrows his eyes. “Yes.”
Jack steps forward and runs his finger down my bare shoulder. I don’t even know what to do, so I take a half step back. Jack laughs.
“You’re fun,” he challenges me. “I like them feisty.”
“Don’t touch her.” Calum sounds more serious than I’ve ever heard him sound before. “I’m interested in purchasing your company, not in sharing my date.”
Jack laughs, sticking both of his hand in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “If she’s just your date, that’s even better. I thought I was going to have to do some serious haggling to get this little sweetheart in my bed.”
“Don’t fucking talk to her like that,” Calum says, enunciating every syllable perfectly.
I grip Calum’s hand, tugging him back. “I think we should go.”
“Ah, don’t be so uptight,” Jack says, waving away Calum’s black glare. “I’m just playing around. Unless your little blonde minx wants to fuck in the coat closet?”
Before I even realize what’s happening, Calum’s fist is flying towards Jack’s face. The rest of the ballroom goes still as questioning glances turn toward us.
The distinct crunch of bone breaking makes my stomach flutter. Jack’s face seems to explode, blood streaming everywhere. Then he hits Jack over and over again, in the face and in the stomach, until Calum’s fists are red with blood. Jack seems too stunned to fight back, struggling weakly against Calum’s onslaught.