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Wet droplets roll down his skin, and for some reason, my eyes can’t stop focusing on them.
“Like what you see?” He raises a brow. “Because I certainly did when you came on my tongue.”
My cheeks turn red, but I immediately hide it by throwing a towel around my body. “Oh, please.”
“What?” He wraps a towel around his delicious body too. “Are you telling me you didn’t like it?”
I sigh and shake my head. “It’s not polite to ask a lady that, you know that, right?”
He crosses his arm while I walk to the door. “Who made up that rule?”
“I did … just now,” I say, and I glance over my shoulder and wink. “Are you coming?”
A smirk spreads on his lips. “So cheeky … Are you sure you wanna go that route with me?”
I lick my lips. “You wanted me as your queen, not the other way around.” And I open the door.
He bites his bottom lip and walks up behind me. “Touché.”
We go inside and close the door behind us, but his hand magically ends up on my ass, and I’m not even sure I hate it.
What has happened to me?
Have I changed so much that I’m actually starting to enjoy being with him?
I shiver at the thought of having to admit it to myself.
On the balcony, the people are already partying by the time we arrive, and I’m amazed at how little attention is paid to the fact that all the patriarchs have finally arrived. Normally, the people would be hanging on their words, but right now, they’re consumed with dancing and … fucking.
I gulp at the sight of the people fucking right there on the floor in front of me. It’s almost as if they don’t notice anyone around. No one cares, and everyone’s enjoying themselves like it’s all pure bliss. It still weirds me out that this is considered normal here.
The patriarchs are all seated in their chairs, watching the show in front of them while lazily drinking alcohol and eating grapes like they took inspiration from the Greeks, and it makes the bile rise in my throat.
There’s only one spot left right next to the president, and when his eyes land on me, I instinctively gulp.
Noah squeezes my hand and whispers into my ear. “You’ll be fine.”
“I know,” I whisper. “He just terrifies me.”
“Ignore him. Look who else showed up,” Noah says, and he points at someone standing in the corner way, way behind the president near the snack table. A woman dressed in all white. No towel this time, which means she didn’t come through the showers.
She turns her head. Half of her face is hidden behind a golden mask, but I still recognize her.
And while my eyes tear up, I whisper, “Mother.”
Chapter 19
Natalie
I immediately go to her and tap her arm gently. She jolts back in complete shock and drops the glass in her hand.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t—”
“Mom, it’s me,” I say.
She looks up at me, and tears fill her eyes. “Natalie.”
I wrap my arms around her tightly and don’t let go. “It’s so good to see you again. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay,” she mutters.
When I lean back to look, the scars on her arms, shoulders, and chest still look fresh and painful. “It looks …”
“Terrible?” she fills in.
“No, no, just …” I sigh. “I don’t want you to hurt.”
She smiles and places a hand on my arm. “I did this to myself. I have no one else to blame.”
“If I hadn’t gone to see Noah, then you’d still be—”
“Shh,” she interjects, placing a finger against her lips. “We won’t talk about this anymore.”
I admire her bravery even though it’s misplaced. I know it’s my fault she’s injured. She did all this to free me, and how did I repay her? By coming back.
She knows this as well as I do, yet she still wants to protect me.
Tears well up in my eyes. “But you’re wearing a mask too.”
She looks down at her feet. “That wasn’t my choice. Your father wants me to hide the marks.”
I frown. “Why?”
“Because he doesn’t want the people to panic,” she explains, and she turns around to grab a new glass from the table with her shaky hands. “He doesn’t like it when things aren’t perfect.”
I stare at her for a few seconds, watching her pour a new drink into the glass, her hands tremoring so badly I have to put a stop to it, so I grab her arm. “Is he hurting you again?”
From the corner of her eyes, she glances at me without saying a word, but nothing says more than a single look.
“I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” I hiss through my teeth.
Her pupils dilate, and she grabs my arm tightly and forces me to stay. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Do not do anything stupid, Natalie.” I’ve never seen that fire in her eyes, blazing with such fierce fury that it could melt a thousand candles in a single second. “I won’t let you risk your life.”
