Beneath the desk, I patted her knee. “What was she like, your mom?”
Her eyes lit up, and as we talked more about her mother’s art and her father’s curated adventures for her in the woods behind their house, they started to sparkle. But the glow dimmed when she reached the point of their sudden passing, and her elderly grandmother’s inability to care for her, due to dementia. Dagger had done a check to find her very recently, and she’d not surprisingly been gone for several years. So, Serenity had no family alive that she knew of.
My mom reached over and clasped her hand, squeezing affectionately. Looking at me, she said with slightly teary eyes, “Well, you’ve got family here now.”
We chatted for another few minutes about the usual niceties, checking in with each other, chatting about new program ideas for the shelter, and then my mom said she’d not distract us from our work anymore and left. We promised to have dinner with her and all the guys soon. Serenity remarked that it was always nice to have fellow humans to talk to, especially other females. Apparently, she’d made a friend at the funeral reception too. Someone named Ceci who, it turned out to Serenity’s delight, was also going to the charity ball.
I was thrilled she’d made another friend in town. She unfortunately didn’t have many options at work, what with Monique lording over the office.
Speak of the devil… On my bathroom break she crossed my path in the hall with her head down, flicking through a pad of notes, and almost whacked me with her ample chest.
“Oh, excuse me, sorry,” I mumbled, wanting minimal conversation with the ice queen.
She lifted her nose. “My fault. I tend to miss people who are shorter. I really must stop wearing high heels.” She swung her bangled wrist forward and gave a false laugh.
I seethed beneath a smile. “Well, you’re lucky that wasn’t Mr.Harding you almost knocked into. It could have been nasty. Perhaps save the reading for when you’re standing still?”
Her fingernails frosted over but her face remained calm. “Hmm. Anyway, I’d better crack on. Get all my reports written before the Annual Charity Ball.” She primped her hair and hit me with a gloating grin. “You’d probably love it. It is adivinenight. Don’t worry though, I’ll take photos.”
“How kind. But there’s really no need. I’ll be going there with Serenity and all her other guys.”
“Her other guys? Wha—”
“You know what I’m talking about, it isn’t so strange in New Nebraska,” I said, as if explaining to a simpleton. “You should give it a go. I’m sure you could have the pick of anyone here at Midas. Well, except the ‘blind or gay’ ones like me, right? Oh, and Mr. Harding. He’ll be going with us.” God, I was being silly, hitting her where it might hurt. But she deserved it.
Her perfectly plucked eyebrows raised high, and she reeled back, damn near aghast. “But, how? He, you—well that’s interesting.”
“He’s an interesting guy.”
Her taut smile was more like a sneer. “Yes, well, he does take up with some of the gold diggers that throw themselves at him, so I’ve heard. Not like my date.”
“Anyone famous?” I wasn’t sure it was smart to taunt the ice queen. But there was no date more famous in New Nebraska than Bryce, and I knew it would piss her off that she couldn’t top it.
“No, but he will be.” Her irises glazed over with ice and frosted breath chilled my cheeks. “Mark my words, he will be.”
Serenity
The New Nebraska Annual Charity Ball was the last place I’d ever have imagined myself. I’d gone from the humble grime of my old motel to the flamboyance and fizzle of this place in a flash. A feeling of fairytale, of make-believe, floated through my veins like the champagne fizz in my crystal flute.
Swathed in tailored silk, I gazed across the spectacle in awe at the cream of paranormal society mingling, schmoozing, dancing, boozing, and crowding casino tables and the overflowing buffet.
We were in the city’s oldest and most historic hotel, the Corn Exchange Plaza and Spa—or Corn Hole, as Dagger had joked—which used to be the state’s largest marketplace, all the way back to the founding of the United States.
Post Agreement, a wealthy businessman had bought the decrepit colonial building and, with a gigantic injection of funds, transformed it into the state’s premier venue for luxury vacations, spa breaks, special events like weddings, and of course ballroomfestivities. The place dripped with luxuriance and sophistication. Not surprising, considering the owner.
I leaned into Bryce’s arm, mouth tipping toward his ear. “This must have cost you a fortune. Is there any fancy hotel in this city that isn’t yours?”
He shrugged, his tailored tuxedo moving like a second skin. “I only have two. The two you’ve seen.” He patted my satin-gloved hand with his calfskin one. “Do you like what I did with this place?”
He looked incredible all decked out like a true-blue billionaire.
“It’s incredible. The paintings, the chandeliers, everything polished, perfect. It’s magnificent. I love it.”
“Then it was money well spent after all.” He curved his lips into a genuine smile I wanted to steal a kiss from, but we’d agreed not to cause another invasive media storm with public displays of skin-to-skin contact. We’d risked enough at the memorial lunch.
Hunter jutted his face between us as he looked over the marble balustrade. “What Mr. Moneybags failed to disclose is, his meager two hotels make more money than all the others in the state combined.” He whistled softly at the view of New Nebraska’s biggest big shots weaving together down below. “You think any of these people are richer than you?”
“One or two, possibly.” Bryce shrugged. “Why do you ask?”
