I have a moment of nervousness when we arrive back at the foyer and find Leo waiting there with Eva and Daphne. Leo’s shaking his head, breathtaking in all his gorgeous black. Daphne’s laughing at him. They’ve made peace, for now, about her stalker. About the collector.
Eva could be a glamorous runway model, also in black.
Leo sees me first. I’ll never get used to the way his face changes when I walk into a room. Sometimes his expression sharpens with want, and sometimes it softens with relief, but his eyes always, always burn with love. My nervousness feels ridiculous now. I lead my family to him and pull him to my side, where I want him. Where I always want him. “Leo, you’ve met my dad and Cash before, but I thought we could start over. This is my dad, Phillip. My brother, Cash. And my sister, Petra. Family, this is my Leo.”
He shakes their hands like the prince that he is.
“Leo, we have to talk,” my dad says. “Have your lawyers looked over the paperwork yet? My inventions are languishing. I always knew you could see the vision.”
“Dad,” I say, scandalized. “I can’t believe you.”
Leo laughs. “He’s right, Haley. We’ll talk after the party, him and I.”
I shake my head, but I won’t stand in their way. The truth is that Leo does have the money. And the vision. And my father’s inventions could change the world. It’s not lost on me that my dad saw Leo for what he was even before I did. Focused, he said. It was the truth.
Leo introduces Eva and Daphne to my family, and then Lucian barges in with Elaine and they’re the first of the many, many guests who arrive to celebrate our engagement.
I’ve never seen so many people in his house before. Leo and I stand at the door, greeting person after person in beautiful clothes and smiles that seem real enough to trust, at least for tonight. The rest of his siblings arrive.
His parents arrive.
There’s one frosty moment when they step in the door, but Leo’s presence overwhelms it. He shakes his father’s hand. He kisses his mother’s cheek. He introduces me to them as his fiancée, and then he sends them to the party. I only realize afterward that he’s kept me slightly behind him the entire time.
More people are coming, but Leo puts his hand on the small of my back and pulls me in close. “We’re supposed to make an entrance now,” he murmurs into my ear.
“We could run away instead. We could hide in the bedroom.”
He laughs. “My sisters would never stand for it.” Leo catches my hand in his and kisses the loop of thread he put there after he asked me to marry him. “Come, darling. Let’s go to the party.”
Gerard waits at the entrance to the ballroom. The sound of the party flows out into the hall and over us. Old nerves make me squeeze Leo’s hand harder.
He clears his throat. “It’s not too fancy, understand? Not like the Constantine parties.”
The doors open to let us in. I’m not planning to cry, not at all, but the tears spill over immediately, ruining the makeup I spent so long on. “It’s perfect.”
It’s not like the Constantine parties. It’s better. Leo is warm and solid at my side, and the ballroom is breathtaking. Eva and Daphne have themed it in black and white and pink and gold and everything is delicate and strong under a candlelit, starlit glow.
And the windows—
The giant picture windows look out over a courtyard that is illuminated with falling stars. Small lights over Leo’s bench and his tree and everywhere. The middle panes of the window, which were covered when he brought me here before, are on display. It’s a larger version of the stained-glass door leading to his courtyard. A brilliant rose, set against the night and glowing with the light from our party. It’s a vision, and it serves as the backdrop for another vision, which is a ballroom full of beautiful people in dark tuxedos and jewel-toned gowns who burst into applause and cheers at our presence.
The music that had been quietly running underneath all the conversation gets louder, and Leo takes my hand. “About the dancing,” he says.
I freeze. “We are not dancing in front of all these people.”
“It was Eva’s idea, and everyone’s looking at us.” There’s laughter in his eyes, and I can’t believe it. I can’t believe he would agree to this like an easygoing person.
“And you’re just going to go along with it?”
Leo shrugs. “I want to dance with you. I don’t care who sees.”
He doesn’t give me any more time to argue. Like always, Leo takes charge. And it doesn’t matter that I’ve never had dancing lessons like my Constantine cousins. He makes a frame with his body and I briefly float out of mine to see him move me around the ballroom in front of glimmering stained glass.
He’s stunning. He’s mine. And together we’re the center of this party. When he spins me off to the side of the ballroom, the volume of the party crests. But we don’t disappear into it. Leo introduces me to person after person. Everyone wants to see us. To see me. It’s a good feeling, but it’s not the best one. The best one is looking at him. I don’t know why I wished so hard to be the center of attention at a party when what I want more than anything is to be able to stare at him. Maybe that makes me lovesick.
I’m okay with it.
Someone calls his name a while into the party. Leo leaves me by a standing table near the stained-glass window with a kiss on the temple and a promise to be back before I know it.
Eva’s had the window backlit for the occasion. The colors fall over the white tablecloth and I trace them with a fingertip while I sip champagne. It’s the first chance I’ve had to really look at the party.
It brings tears to my eyes. There’s my dad, talking animatedly with Eva. Leo’s parents hold court in one corner of the room. They don’t look thrilled, exactly, but both of them wear small, party-appropriate smiles. Cash stands with one of the Constantine cousins, who frankly looks shocked that the party is so nice. Petra has found two other women to talk to. Her face is pink, the corners of her lips lifting in a smile I know means she’s genuinely pleased.
“You’re all alone.” Daphne abandons her empty champagne glass on the table, and it’s instantly whisked away by a server. “You don’t feel nervous, do you? Because of all the Morellis?”
“No, they’ll be my family, soon. I’m people-watching.”
She makes a humming sound and turns to face the crowd, her dark gaze going over the guests in their finery, the smiles, the glittering jewels and glasses of champagne.
“It’s the best part of any party, don’t you think?”
She laughs, turning to get another champagne flute from a tray flashing by in a uniformed waiter’s hands. “Winston Constantine is here.”
“What? Where?”
Daphne points him out with a nod. I can’t place him here. Can’t believe he’s here. He puts a card into a basket set up in a floral arrangement near the door. The floral arrangement is accompanied by a framed photo of Leo and me. Daphne took it at my birthday party. We’re both in the glow of the candles from my cake, and I look beside myself with happiness, cheeks pink, hands clasped at my collarbone, leaning into Leo. I’m beaming at the cake with stars in my eyes. Leo’s looking at me. My joy reflects in his face, in his eyes, in his grin.