Another hour of Jules shining bright, Mimi performs three more curtseys and then Lachlan can see she’s hit her limit.It’s eleven at night when she falls asleep in his arms and he knows if he wakes her, she’ll cry.Blaire, who has been circulating in the background, comes over when he nods at her.She hovers close by while Lachlan waits for an opening with Penhalyx.
‘Sir, may I excuse Mimi from the party, please?’Lachlan asks him quietly in the next lull, subservient and polite.
Alistair looks over at Mimi.
There’s a brief pinch of disappointment in his eyes, like he expected a four-year-old to make it to midnight but then he smiles, denoting generosity.‘Of course.Goodnight, my little princess,’ he croons to her while she’s fast asleep and Lachlan bites the inside of his cheek.He then carefully hands her over to Blaire, worried she might wake but she’s so exhausted, she doesn’t even stir.Lachlan gestures for Carrigan and two others to escort them to the East Wing.
‘Control, this is Kestrel,’ he says into his rig, touching his earpiece, voice pitched low.‘Status update?’
‘Eight bells, Kestrel,’Rook informs him.
‘Shimmer is leaving Whiskey Reach, headed for the Cove.I want all eyes on Shimmer, confirm.’
‘Confirmed, Kestrel.Eyes on the whole way.’
Lachlan performs a quick sweep of the ballroom, but for the most part, security is holding up well.He then attaches himself to Jules, making sure to keep back a little, blend in with the background.
The amount of people Jules has around him at any given time is shocking.Considering that it’s Alistair Penhalyx’s birthday, you’d never know it.More and more, they touch him.His face, his lips, his neck, his hair.It’s like they can’t get enough, like they’redrunkon him.
Jules handles it all like a pro, not a visible blemish to be seen and Lachlan is watching closely, but he’s seasoned, experienced and impossibly alluring, enduring the attention unfathomably well.
When Jules excuses himself to go to the restroom, Lachlan falls neatly into step behind him.He speeds up a little, doesn’t touch Jules to get his attention, just says, ‘I closed off an area for you,’ and Jules turns to look with a frown.
‘What?’
‘A private restroom,’ Lachlan says because thisballroomhas a multitude of them situated around the edges, but all of the big ones were high traffic, multi stall.‘Just for you.Here.’
He carefully leads Jules around where the crowd thins and the staff gather to keep a steady stream of drinks, food and service flowing.It’s a door without a restroomsign that simply readsStaff Only.
Lachlan opens it for him and when Jules goes inside, Lachlan follows.It’s small, clean and fairly basic.Private stall, sink, mirror.Jules looks at Lachlan, seems like he’s on the verge of thanking him but then he blinks.
‘This is gross.’
‘It’s a toilet,’ Lachlan says, facing the door.
‘The other ones have nice things in them.’
‘Like I said.Toilet.’
‘What if I wanted to freshen up?’
‘I thought you might want some space.’
‘You’rein here, though.’
‘I can wait outside.’
‘Please do.’
Lachlan stands guard over the door which is hidden from public view almost entirely.It’s barely a minute before Jules emerges.‘You should stay further back,’ he suggests, heading into the crowd.‘Father won’t like you being so close, it’s distracting.’
‘Heard.’
It’s perhaps the first time Lachlan has ever actuallyactedas Jules’ bodyguard in the traditional capacity.Lachlan finds that this part of the job is so much easier than what he’s been doing the last eight months.He stands where he’s least visible, eyes on Jules the entire time, sweeping the room rhythmically, checking in.
Come two AM this party isn’t slowing in the slightest and people aredrunknow, so the touches are more lingering, the whispers last longer and Lachlan can see the slow encroach of Jules’ decline as these people drink his energy, steal it, claw for him with smiles and words and hungry affection.Jules is like a gemstone.A rare thing, a prize, ambrosia, that’s how they treat him, Lachlan thinks, when allhesees is a tired kid forced to perform, anxiety creeping in the more he’s touched.Muddy fingerprints of grotesque desire delivered politely in socially acceptable ways.It isn’t the kind of party where people are fucking in the bathrooms, but there’s cocaine everywhere, and this energy… it’snoxious.
The second time Jules goes to his private restroom, Lachlan notices his hand shaking as he closes the door behind him.
