Page 132 of Cozen

The woman smiled brilliantly. “Of course.”

Soon, the garment bag was unzipped, and torn away from the dress it was keeping hidden. The woman—and Sargon—had not been lying. She did love the beautiful piece of art that was this dress.

A dark wine-colored evening gown with long sleeves, a deep V-neck plunge in the front and back, with enough length to sweep the floor, and a slit that went all the way up the entire skirt. A wrong step, a move too fast in one direction, and a woman would probably flash more of her private bits than she intended to.

Five white pearl buttons closed the back of the dress at the mid-spine, but was still a deep enough plunge in the back to show off all kinds of skin. The deep red color of the fabric was rich, and vibrant.

“Red is my color,” Cozen murmured. “It’s beautiful.”

“Wonderful,” the woman said. “And you have the proper shoes to match. I have all your sizes, so I have no doubt everything will be a perfect fit.”

Of course, she did.

Jett would have made sure of it.

The woman turned around to handle the other people, and it gave Cozen a second to let her mask slip. Not to mention, breathe. She spun on her heel to face Sargon who had also let his grin flatten into a grim line.

His sharp jaw was so tight, she could practically feel his irritation and stress wafting from him. She had to be careful with what she said to him with these people around—she didn’t know how close any of them were to Jett except for the fact that he kept sending them anytime Cozen needed to be dressed properly for something.

“The red is beautiful,” Sargon said quietly.

“I wonder what made him pick it.”

Sargon tipped his head to the side. “Could be that it matches the ring he intends to propose to you with. A beautiful ruby—keeps it hidden away in his office safe. Maybe he’s trying to find out if red really is your color, Cozen. Wasn’t that what you told him?”

She didn’t miss the heat in his worlds.

The fire in his eyes.

Cozen heard other things, though.

Important things.

A ring; a ruby; an office safe.

The rest was not important. The rest, she didn’t give a shit about because it would never come to fruition.

Did he even realize the kind of information he just gave her, and how fucking valuable it was? A life saver, really. A confirmation she had been waiting for.

“Did he make sure to put the ring back to keep it safe when he was done?” Cozen asked.

Sargon’s gaze darkened as he stared hard at her. “That’s what you care to ask me right now?”

“Yes.”

The man nodded, and sneered. “Yeah, Zen, he put it back.”

Perfect.

Cozen was acutely aware of the eyes watching her as she moved through the Griffin mansion. Each step she took was careful and slow lest that slit in her red dress open a little too much and flash parts of her that were not meant for public consumption.

She had lost sight of Sargon the moment he helped her out of the car, and Dash—Jett’s youngest son—was there to greet her, and take her inside to find his father.

Guests turned to watch her walk by on the arm of a Griffin son, but she simply kept her head turned forward, and on her next task at hand. Dressed to the nines, everyone looked a hell of a lot like she did in that moment.

Perfectly coifed.

Beautifully dressed.