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She pivoted to me once again. “He’s seeing someone.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“He has to be,” she continued, “look at him. I love seeing him this happy. She must be amazing. He never looked like that when he was with my mom. He seems so content and relaxed. I hope I can meet her soon.”
Our gazes returned to them, and I chimed in, “Yeah.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Usually, you’d make some stupid DILF comment or talk about how jealous you are about him seeing someone.”
I sneered teasingly. “Pfft, I’m just trying to behave tonight as his assistant. I’m here on official business.”
She cackled, but Vincenzo waved her over. We sauntered toward them, and he took her hand in his, guiding her to the table. My parents and other brothers disappeared into the crowd. I took a deep breath, bracing myself.
James leaned close to my ear. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
He glanced back over his shoulder, then pressed a hand on my lower back. “All I want to do is take you to the penthouse and fuck you until you can’t walk.” I gasped as he lowered his hand to my rear and cupped it in his hand before he withdrew it. “We should go to our table.”
Through dinner, James, Vincenzo, and my father chatted about sports and investments. Several times, James reached over underneath the table, giving my thigh a squeeze. On the outside, I remained calm and collected, but internally, I was losing my mind. Thankfully, no one seemed to bat an eye except Vincenzo, who made direct eye contact with me several times throughout dinner.
Their conversation dulled, and my mother beamed at me. “You’ve been helping James out at the firm, right?”
I nodded, uncrossing my legs. “I have,” I glimpsed at him, then back at my parents. “His receptionist is away, so I’m filling in.”
“Madison’s done so great, I wish I could keep her,” James added.
Elizabeth leaned close to my ear, snorting, “Since when does my dad call you Madison?”
Just as I got ready to respond, a man appeared on the other side of James, between him and Lucas. “Excuse me, Mr. Whitman?”
He reared back, peering up at the man. “Yes?”
“Would you like me to pull up an eleventh chair for your wife?”
“What?” James muttered.
I glanced over at Elizabeth and Vincenzo. He was glowering behind us while Elizabeth stared horrified. I looked toward the door to see Alicia parading in, wearing the same color dress I was but with a black fur wrap draped around her shoulders. Are you fucking serious?! Without thinking twice, I stretched a hand over to James, clutching onto his side, not paying attention to who saw me touch him the way I did.
He reached back, holding my hand, rumbling, “What the fuck is she doing here?”
Before the man could respond, Alicia approached with a wide grin. “Maddie dear, you’re in my seat.”
James leapt to his feet. “Alicia, what are you doing here?” he growled, barely loud enough for a few of us to hear.
“What are you talking about, darling?” She scanned the table. “I always come to these events with you, and I thought not showing up tonight would cause a little scandal and we wouldn’t want people talking about our little family now, would we?”
He examined our surroundings, then peered down at me. Elizabeth grabbed my hand under the table, squeezing for dear life. I knew that hold. She was about to have a panic attack and snap. We’d had many talks about her mother in the past, but the day she was moving in with Vincenzo, she poured her heart out to me about how much she hated what Alicia had done to James. She hated her mother.
I twisted to her, whispering, “It’s okay. I’m not letting her sit here.”
Vincenzo leaned across her toward me. “You need to get James on stage for his speech, then get him the fuck out of here as soon as possible. I’ll handle everything else.”
“Why me?” I hissed.
