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“Then why is everyone acting like I’m…”
“Like you’re somebody?” Niko nods. “Because he brought you.”
“So? I’m sure he brings lots of—”
“That’s where you’re wrong, amiga. My brother has never once walked in here with a woman. Not a single one. He came to my wedding alone. Both of my weddings, actually.”
I laugh before I can help it. “Marriage is a con job anyway.”
“You’re preaching to the choir, sister.” He wipes his mouth with a napkin. “So then tonight, he shows up with a woman on his arm, looking like a bombshell, with a reputation that precedes her? That’s giving everybody the same number at the same time.”
“Number? What number? I don’t follow.”
“‘One.’ That’s the number. And that’s you. You’re at the top of the charts, Delilah dearest. Numero uno. First draft pick. You get what I’m saying?”
I blink. “… Not really, no.”
But Niko just laughs and touches my shoulder in a friendly way. “Ah, well, you’ll learn. In the meantime, just try to relax and have fun. And speaking of fun… Here comes the antithesis of it.”
I follow Niko’s gaze to see Kane approaching.
The room is opening in front of him like it always does. His head and shoulders soar over the rest of the crowd, hair black and shining, his frame broad and strong.
He’s smiling.
Not the sharp little smirk I’m used to. This one reaches his eyes. It changes his whole face.
And by extension, it changes mine.
Heat boils low through my stomach. Even my stupid toes curl inside Ekaterina’s heels, a reaction so embarrassingly romance-novel that I consider amputating them after midnight.
I’m waiting for him.
Eagerly.
Oh, God, the horror.
The room is packed with enough organized crime to require its own congressional subcommittee, and somehow, the dangerous part is the bright leap in my chest when Kane looks directly at me.
Thrilling, whispers one deeply defective portion of my brain.
Concerning, replies the portion that remembers my bakery is collateral.
“Wow,” Niko says beside me. “That’s interesting.”
I tear my gaze from Kane. “Did I say something?”
“Your face did.”
“That’s off-limits.”
“Not in this family.” He eats the rest of his drumstick with perfect serenity.
I elbow him, but my attention has already snapped back to Kane. He is close enough now that I can see the fine black stitching on his lapel.
He keeps coming, eyes fixed on mine.
When he looks at me like that, I don’t feel claimed.
