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They spoke candidly because they didn’t realize I was there, so my trust in Raven was even more solidified than before. It felt pointless to stand there when there was nothing new to listen to, so I walked away and gave them their privacy.
Napoleon walked right up to me, as if he’d been waiting for me to turn away and step into the room. His hand gripped the pommel of his black cane, and he looked at me with his stony expression. Every criminal had a specific energy, usually bad, but there was something about this guy that felt innately malevolent. “Your brother tells me you don’t like me.” A slow smile spread across his lips, like that was a compliment rather than an insult.
“I like you even less now.”
His grin widened. “We’re going to make a lot of money together. You’ll see.”
I wished I didn’t have to see.
He gave me a slight nod before he moved into the crowd and took a drink from a passing waiter.
I watched him go, feeling that same unease in my stomach, like this guy was bad news. I’d been digging into him for a while and couldn’t find any red flags, but just because I couldn’t find them didn’t mean they weren’t there.
A new face appeared in my vision.
With long dark hair, green eyes, and a slight smile full of arrogance, she looked at me like she’d been waiting for this moment all night. “I have to admit, I’m a bit offended.”
I stared at Stasia and felt the annoyance flood my body. I’d always been indifferent to her, just interested in the way our bodies felt when they were together. But the words out of her mouth always fell on deaf ears.
Her eyes glanced past me before she looked at me again. “That you prefer to be with a hag over a woman that looks like me.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and gave me a cold stare. “I guess we’re all into weird shit sometimes.”
My eyes never trailed away from her face, and instead of just walking away like I normally would when a conversation was displeasing, I actually said something back. “I disagree.” It must have been her anger that provoked me, even though her words were so completely false that I shouldn’t feel obligated to fight them at all. Stasia was just a poor loser, trying to get into my head to get my attention. “Because she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
After Stasia walked away, I spotted Fender across the room—his arm around Melanie.
My eyes narrowed in confusion before I turned around to search for Raven. She wasn’t there, so I returned to the sitting room to see if she was still sitting there, composing herself after the emotional conversation with her sister.
But she wasn’t there either.
I scanned the room, searching for the brunette in a black dress, but there were lots of women who fit that description, and none of them was ever the woman I was searching for. The front door opened, and I caught a glimpse of Raven through the cracks between people as she left.
I had no idea where she was going.
I maneuvered around the crowd to get to the entryway. Gilbert quickly opened the door, like he knew I had somewhere to be based on the intense look on my face. I stepped onto the main portico underneath the twenty-foot pillars with the lit-up lawn and enormous fountain out front. I turned to the right and didn’t see her. The valets were at the bottom of the stairs talking since everyone was inside and enjoying the party.
I looked to the left and saw her standing there at the very edge, leaning against one of the pillars and looking at the lights from the city in the distance. Her long hair was down her back, and her arms were crossed over her chest.
I came up behind her and stopped when I heard a sniffle. Her back rose with deep breaths, like she was doing everything she could to silence her sobs and turn quiet. Melanie looked fine, so I wasn’t sure what had provoked this raw emotion. Why would she go outside when she could stay in the sitting room?
Then I remembered the way Stasia glanced behind me.
Melanie had a drink in her hand and was engaged in conversation like she’d been standing there a while.
Raven must have been behind me when Stasia decided to be a ruthless bitch.
She’d heard everything.
I stood there with my hands in the pockets of my tuxedo, unsure what to do to fix it. I could just go back inside and give Raven time to calm down on her own, but I didn’t want to leave her out there alone, suffering over something that wasn’t even true. There was only one thing that could bring her to tears, and name-calling wasn’t it. So, this had hurt her…deeply.
