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Suddenly every sparkle in the room seemed to intensify the dark feelings swirling in his brain. Every silver star and rope of tinsel was a silent mockery.
Promising himself that they’d leave as soon as the auction was over, Rio sat still, ruthlessly wrestling his feelings back under control.
From inside a fog of unwelcome memories, he was dimly aware of Evie leaning across the table, coaxing the Russians into bidding enormous sums of money in the charity auction. Even Tabitha was looking impressed as Evie switched between Russian and English, extracting more money from the billionaires than they’d sucked oil fro
m the Caspian Sea.
If the circumstances had been different, Rio would have laughed. As it was, he just wanted to leave.
They’d been seen together. The ring had been photographed. Rumours were spreading.
It was done.
Rio watched with a frown as Tabitha made sure that Evie’s glass was kept topped up. She was drinking the champagne as if it were soda, and he realised that if he didn’t remove her from this table quickly she was going to be drunk.
As the auction ended and a band started warming up on the stage, Rio drained his glass and turned to Evie. ‘We’re leaving.’
‘No way! Not this time. I missed almost all of the film—I’m not missing the rest of the ball. The dancing hasn’t started yet.’ She started to sway in her seat in time to the music while Tabitha looked on with a mixture of condescension and amusement.
‘If you can persuade Rio to dance with you, then I’m willing to believe he’s in love. I’ve never known him to dance. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he didn’t have rhythm.’ She gave Rio a knowing look and he saw Evie’s happy smile falter as she digested the meaning behind those words.
Rio cursed silently.
She might be tipsy, but she wasn’t so under the influence that she didn’t recognise a barb when it was poked into her flesh.
Removing the champagne glass from her hand, he dragged her to her feet. ‘You’re right—we’ll dance.’ Without giving himself time to think about it, he led her onto the dance floor and slid his arm around her waist. ‘Smile.’
‘What is there to smile about? She’s flaunting the fact she’s had sex with you. She’s vile. And you have no taste. No wonder you’ve never wanted to settle down with anyone if she’s the sort of person you’ve been seeing.’
‘I have not had sex with her,’ Rio breathed, bending his head so that he spoke the words in her ear and couldn’t be overheard. Immediately, her perfume wound itself round his senses. ‘She was trying to cause trouble. Trying to hurt you. Don’t let her. You’re just over-emotional because you’ve had too much champagne. Now smile, because the whole purpose of tonight is to convince people our relationship is real.’
‘Well, if this relationship were real, I would have punched her. And I’m not over-emotional, I’m justifiably emotional. That woman is a man-eater. She ought to be fenced in on a game reserve. Do you know that she’s on her fourth husband? Evgeni and Vladimir told me that she only marries them for their money.’
Rio’s tension levels rocketed up several more notches. ‘You’re on first name terms with the Russians?’
‘I sat with them all evening, what did you expect? When I saw that awful Tabitha woman had separated us I almost had a heart attack. She put me there thinking I’d struggle, didn’t she? She was trying to be unkind.’
Rio gave a faint smile. ‘I think you won that round.’
‘They told me that she takes men to the cleaners and lives off the settlement.’
‘It’s a popular career choice in certain circles.’
‘Well, I think it’s awful. No amount of money would make up for being married to someone I didn’t love.’ Evie slid her arms around his neck, her eyes slightly bleary. ‘I mean, actually, when you think about it, that’s not so far from prostitution, is it?’
Conscious of the shocked glances from those nearest to them, Rio smiled. ‘Absolutely right,’ he purred, vastly entertained by how outspoken she became when she’d had a few glasses of champagne. ‘You might want to lower your voice before you cast any more aspersions on the character and profession of our illustrious hostess.’
Evie gulped. ‘Oops. Do you think they heard me?’
‘Definitely. They’re doubtless all now engrossed in a fascinating debate as to whether our hostess is a prostitute or not.’
Evie leaned her forehead against his chest. ‘Sorry. I may have drunk just a little bit too much champagne—I’ve never had it before and it’s delicious.’
‘You’ve never had champagne before?’
‘Never. Last year, Grandpa and I treated ourselves to a bottle of Prosecco but it wasn’t the same.’
Rio winced. ‘No. It definitely isn’t the same. Prosecco is excellent in a Bellini but it’s not champagne.’ He lifted his hand and removed a strand of fiery red hair that had somehow managed to tangle itself around his bow tie. ‘I think I’d better take you home.’
