No, no, no, no.
I glance across the gathering, gaze searching, until I spot my mother by the front door, kissing cheeks and welcoming the crème de la crème of New York society to our not-so-humble abode.
Sporting thirteen bedrooms and fifteen bathrooms, a five-car garage, a pool house, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and a home theatre, our house in South Brook is excessive, even by Hamptons standards.
I’m about to make my way closer, intent on avoiding Jeremy but also well aware that my place is by her side, greeting our guests, when my father’s voice cuts through the room like a whip.
“Elodie-Claire. My office.Immediately.”
My father, Warren Rivers, financial advisor to the disgustingly wealthy, isn’t one to mince words, something that just about every person present is aware of, hence why his bark is met with not so much as a glance in his general direction.
I follow him slowly as my thoughts race, wondering what I’m about to face until I arrive outside the wide teak door of his home office. Before I can lift my hand to knock, the door is ripped open by a tall man in an impeccably tailored navy-blue suit.
He’s almost a full head taller than me, and I need to strain my neck to look up at him.
The first thing I note are the intricate circular tattoos covering the backs of both his hands and peeking up the side of his starched white shirt collar.
My eyes travel to his chiseled, clean-shaven face, and my stomach dips when a hint of a smirk plays at the corners of his full lips. Appreciation fills his deep blue eyes as he takes a long moment to peruse my face.
I take a beat to do the same, focusing on eyes that betray nothing as he watches me watching him.
Suddenly, he glances over his shoulder, and my eyes follow his line of vision as I step over the threshold, right into the lion’s den, closing the door firmly behind me.
“You never said your daughter was…”
The stranger trails off, facing me with a decidedly predatorial look this time. He brings his hand up between us, brushing the back of his knuckles over my cheek before sighing exaggeratedly. “She’s…fuckingexquisite, Warren.”
His eyes darken and quicken my pulse. “The face that launched a thousand ships.”
Then he leans closer until his mouth rests by my ear. “You’ll be the Conti family’s very own Helen of Troy, baby girl.”
My cheeks heat, and my breaths come in short bursts as he steps back to hold my gaze for long moments. Without warning, he severs the connection between us to pivot on his heel and march right up to my father’s desk. His hand shoots out, gripping Father’s jowly neck in his large palm, and I barely stifle a gasp of shock.
“You’re one lucky motherfucker, Rivers,” he hisses in my father’s face, his once handsome features now a monstrous parody of moments before. “If you and your piece-of-shit sonweren’t so good at cleaning my family’s money, you’d both be paying a far steeper price, let me assure you.”
Then he shoves my father away, leaving him coughing and spluttering as he glances back in my direction to give me the once-over. “Virgin?”
I can only blink as I swallow nervously, opting to shake my head lest my voice wobble and betray me.
He shrugs. “Pity.” Though a slow smile blooms on his face, lending a lightness to his impenetrable gaze. “I’ll have fun breaking you in, all the same, baby girl.”
I barely manage to suppress a shudder when fear trickles down my spine, but I keep my face impassive as I hold his eyes. Whatever he sees in my face seems to please him, and he nods in silent satisfaction.
Opening the door that leads onto the terrace outside, he pins my panting father with a stare.
“The paperwork will be delivered later today. I’ll expect my demands to be followed to the goddamn letter, Warren. No fucking funny business.”
And then he’s gone, silence following in his wake for long moments.
My heart is racing as I try to make sense of what’s just happened when the office door opens to admit my mother.
“I saw him leave, Warren. What happened?—”
Having collected himself somewhat, my father cuts her off with a bark. “It’s done, Cressida. He’s accepted…ouroffer.”
My blood runs cold as his eyes flicker to mine for a beat, something like an apology passing across his face before he looks back to my mother.
I follow his line of sight, finding my mother exhaling heavily with relief, her ice-queen features softening in a way they never usually do in my presence.
