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“It’s… okay.” The word sounded like the lie it was. “I don’t know. I’m not sure what to do.”
Sympathy and concern crossed Josephine’s face. “I’m sorry, Cora.”
She pulled a dress from the closet and crossed back to me. It was beautiful, elegant and well-made, but different than any of the dresses that hung in my own closet. It was more striking. More daring.
Just like Josephine herself.
She held up the gown in front of me and nodded in satisfaction. “Perfect. You can change in there.”
She directed me to the en suite bathroom, and I quickly pulled off my skirt, top, and blazer, then slipped into the dress. It fit surprisingly well, and I turned from side-to-side, gazing at my reflection in the mirror.
I looked like me, but… different. The dress was black, with a light sheen to the fabric and detailing in gold thread that bumped it up from just a classic black cocktail dress to something else entirely. It hugged the curves of my body, subtly showing off the soft dips and swells, and the flashes of gold as I moved highlighted my blonde hair.
It was stunning.
And it made me look older, somehow. More self-possessed. I liked it.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Josephine’s gaze landed on me, and she smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling slightly. There was something almost like pride in her gaze, and it made an unexpected swell of emotion rise in me. It was a look like a mother might give her child, although I couldn’t remember the last time my own mother had looked at me like that.
It occurred to me for the first time that Josephine and Nathaniel didn’t have children. Or at least, none that I was aware of. Was that by choice or by circumstances outside their control?
I wasn’t about to pry by asking, so I just smiled shyly and spun in a circle, letting Josephine see her handiwork. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s perfect.” She beamed at me. “I think I may just have to give you that dress, since it’s obviously so much better suited to you than to me.”
“Oh, no.”
I waved a hand, trying to brush her off, and she chuckled. She pulled a pair of shoes from her closet and brought them over to me, and when I slipped them on, it brought us to nearly the same height.
She gave me another once-over before nodding approvingly. Then she surprised the hell out of me by wrapping her arms around my shoulders in a gentle hug.
“I wish I could give you more help or better advice, Cora. I’ve been somewhere very close to where you are now, and I know how terrifying and confusing it is. But remember this: you’re not alone.”
Thi
rteen
Josephine sent me back downstairs while she picked out her own outfit for the evening. It felt strange to walk through the house unaccompanied by the butler or even my own boys. It was a level of trust and comfortability I had never expected to achieve with the Wards, and I had to remind myself to keep my guard up, at least a little.
When I found the stairs that led back to the main floor, I stepped down them slowly, listening for the sound of voices. I could hear the boys and Nathaniel in the sitting room, talking amiably amongst themselves, but the moment I stepped inside the room, the conversation died out.
Bishop, Misael, and Kace all rose to their feet, the movement seeming almost unconscious. As if they’d been pulled by some magnetic force, they stepped toward me, their gazes raking over my body with such hunger and possessiveness that I felt my cheeks warm.
“You look…” Misael shook his head, seeming at a loss for words. “Damn, Coralee.”
Nathaniel’s focus shifted from the boys to me and back again, and although there wasn’t the same heat in his eyes as I saw in theirs, he wore an expression of approval.
“Join us, Cora. Please.”
He gestured to the couch near the fireplace, and the three boys escorted me back to it, their small touches traveling through my body like liquid lightning. Josephine joined us a little while later, and the six of us fell into a surprisingly relaxed conversation as we waited for Claudio and his people to arrive.
By the time the butler ushered Claudio inside, I had almost completely forgotten that the people I was spending time with were hardened criminals. Nathanial’s sheer power and charisma still terrified me a little, but he had a surprisingly wicked sense of humor, sharp and dry.
As soon as Claudio arrived, a subtle shift seemed to take place in the atmosphere, and the true purpose of this dinner clarified in my mind once again. This wasn’t just a small dinner party. It was a negotiation between two criminal factions.
We were ushered into the dining room, and I tried to keep my glances subtle as I took in Claudio and his men. He’d brought a few of his own people, and although their postures were relaxed, I could feel how alert they were. They were bodyguards of a sort, meant to protect their leader as he walked into what could become enemy territory if the negotiations went south.
Claudio’s ease was less obviously an act, although there was a sort of intense energy that radiated from him as we all sat down.
