“You look good enough to eat,” I drawl, cocking my head to the side to examine her. “Perhaps that’s what we should do tonight instead. Leave the society cretins to their crudités, and spend the night devouring each other instead.”
Her lips lift into a sensual smile. “Promises, promises, Mr. Bellucci.” Her hand tugs at my fingers, and she backs out of my grasp. “But you know that if we’re not photographed together at this event, Carmen is going to have a conniption.”
I sigh. She’s right. I just really don’t want to go to this fucking thing. At least I will have Alexis there with me.
I offer her my arm again. “Come on, then.” When she hesitates, I grin. “I promise I won’t bite.”
We glide across the dance floor, thousands of fairy lights twinkling overhead. As we circle past the back of the room, I see the serving staff pouring a bottle of champagne over a meticulously arranged champagne pyramid. Then we sail toward the stage, where a six-piece jazz band is crooning timeless favorites.
It’s not a bad ball, as far as balls are concerned.
“You want to know something funny?” Alexis asks. “I keep thinking how this feels refreshingly normal. Before I met you, this would have been the most insane thing I’d ever seen.”
I guide her away from an older couple who are swaying together closely in their own world. The woman’s silver head rests on the man’s shoulder, and he has his eyes closed as they sway to the beat of the music. I feel like an intruder for even glimpsing their intimate moment.
“Do you regret your new normal?” I ask. “Do you miss how vanilla things were before?”
Alexis presses her full lips together in thought. Then she gives a short shake of her head.
“I’ve never bothered much with regret,” she says. “I figure it’s pointless to start now.”
I chuckle, and we continue dancing. I could dance with her all night. The gentle sway of the music, her soft scent filling the space between us, her eyes on mine, searching. We have fucked a few times since she came back to the mansion. This is the most intimate we’ve been in a long time.
I open my mouth to say something perhaps much less guarded than I normally would, but my gaze sticks on the couple who have just entered the dance floor behind Alexis.
The man looks worn, but not in the weathered way a stony cliff does after being beaten by the winds and the rain for decades. Rather, he looks like a deflated balloon—droopy, wrinkled, and sad. The woman, on the other hand, is radiant. Her short blonde hair gleams in the low light, and her eyes sparkle bright blue from across the sea of bodies.
I swear under my breath.
“What?” Alexis asks.
“Kevin Lynch and Felicity Huffman.”
Alexis clicks her tongue. “Well, shit.”
That isn’t quite the reaction I anticipated from her. Felicity and Kevin cut through the crowd to arrive in front of us. She is wearing an attention-grabbing floor-length pink gown. Kevin’s tux is pressed and neat, yet he seems unkempt somehow. There is a shadow of gray stubble on his cheeks, and his eyes, that bright Walsh green, look dim and distant. He doesn’t want to be here.
“Well, hello,” Felicity purrs. “I was hoping I would catch you here.”
I grit my teeth, and the hand on Alexis’ hip tightens. “I’m not in the mood, Felicity.”
Alexis turns and stands at my side, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze as she does.
“Ah, I do apologize.” Felicity’s eyes flash. “I should have been more clear. I was actually speaking to Alexis.”
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Alexis bites out in a falsely cheery tone.
“I think you know who we are,” Felicity says. “For the purposes of this ball, however, you may refer to us as Rusty and Felicia Noble.”
“Felicia?” Alexis snorts. “That’s not very creative.”
Felicity’s smile slips only a fraction. Her eyes narrow. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be so keen to encourage me to get creative. As dear Rusty here can testify, the results of my creativity can be somewhat shocking.”
Kevin smiles, but it’s more like a grimace. He is a shadow of a man, but that’s how Felicity works. I remember my father, how he used to smile and laugh before Felicity came into his life. He was never a particularly nice character, but he wasn’t openly cruel until she came along. By the end, he was a snarling beast.
“We’re just here to have a nice night,” Alexis says smoothly. “Why don’t we leave you to whatever weird role-play thing you’ve got going on?”
Felicity’s forehead wrinkles, but she doesn’t frown. She never frowns. Felicity’s defining feature is her sunny smile, which to the undiscerning eye looks friendly and warm. When you know Felicity, though, you know that her Cheshire cat grin is merely the guise behind which she hides any number of horrors.
“My dear, does it not bother you that the man who fucks you every night is the same man who put a bullet between your father’s eyes?” Felicity asks.
Alexis stiffens. “That’s none of your business.”
I want to warn Alexis not to take the bait, but it all happens so fast.
“Someone’s a little touchy about daddy,” Felicity drawls.
“I think it’s time for you to leave,” Alexis snarls.
“I don’t think I will.” Felicity leans against Kevin. I’m surprised his hollow bones can take her weight. “How is Clara? I miss the little junkie.”
I can feel the anger radiating from Alexis, hot and volatile.
“Don’t you fucking dare talk about Clara,” she spits, the volume of her voice rising with every word. “You’re lucky I don’t rip you from limb to limb right here.”
“I would like to see you try, little girl. You’re nothing without Gabriel to hide behind.”
“If you think that, then you must be truly stupid!” Alexis is nearly shouting now, and the altercation has attracted some curious onlookers.
Shit.
“Alexis, come on.” I grab her arm, but Alexis wrenches herself free.
“No!” she booms. “Not before I give this bitch a taste of her own medicine.”
“I’m so scared,” Felicity mocks.
Alexis lurches forward, but I snake an arm around her waist and drag her back, hissing in her ear, “Calm down. You’re making a fucking scene.”
Alexis wriggles in my grasp at first, but soon stops and looks around, blinking. Cameras flash from every corner of the room. She pales.
“Come on,” I whisper, guiding her outside. I call David and tell him to be waiting out front.
“That heinous bitch,” Alexis mutters, stomping down the front steps. “Who the fuck does she think she is?”
I don’t say anything. I’m caught between wanting to yell at Alexis and wanting to push her up against the wall and kiss her.
I’m impressed by how well she held her own, and how far she was willing to go to put Felicity in her place. I have no doubt that Alexis would have torn the older woman apart in a fight. Felicity talks a big game, but she always gets somebody else to do the heavy lifting for her.
But tonight was not the time or the place. The whole point of us going to this event was so we could be photographed together as a happy couple. I’m surprised Carmen isn’t calling me already to read out a list of damages.