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He quieted and then shook his head. "No, I don't think we should approach her just yet. Let's see if she comes to us. She knows we're here. Everyone else has arrivedalready."
I nodded. "Okay."
We stood like that for several more minutes, watching people walk by. Distantly, I wondered where the others were. If they were looking for Teddi as well or if Knix was off doing business with some of the men here. I knew that several of them had to be connected to him in some way, shape, or form. There was no doubt in my mind that events like this weren't just meant forcharity.
"Harlow," Bellamy said, disrupting mythoughts.
"Hmmmm?" My gaze strayed around the ballroom, up to the glimmering lights of the chandelier and then down to the spotless floor, so clean that it almost looked as though it were made ofglass.
"Can we talk?" I stiffened once more, my shoulders going tense and my spine,straight.
"About what?" I managed to chokeout.
Fear gripped my chest. No. There was no reason to fear, I tried to reassure myself. They had just told me the other night that things were fine between us. It had to be about Teddi or something else. Something insignificant. Maybe he was just trying to get my mind offTeddi.
"That painting." My eyes went to him immediately as confusion set in. Then, I recalled what he was talking about. The painting—mypainting—the one we had done in his room all those weeks ago. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I wasn't sure what he meant and he seemed to pick up on that because a moment later, he spoke again. "I put the finishing touches on it. I was hoping you would come take a look at itsoon."
"Oh." That definitely had not been what I had been expecting, but the thought wasn't unwelcome. I could have slapped myself upside the head for getting so anxious overnothing.
"Yeah," I said. "I'd be happy to look at it. Are you wanting to sell your painting or keep it?" His already dark brown eyes darkened even more. "I'd never sell that painting," he saidsharply.
I blinked at the vehemence in his tone. "I wouldn't mind," I said, thinking he must have been trying to reassure me. "I wouldn't beoffended."
"No," he said. "It's special. It's something just foryou."
I inhaled sharply as realization dawned. "Just for me..." I repeated,dazed.
He nodded. "It's for your eyes alone...and mine." At that last part, his tone softened and he smiled at me, the darkness of his face brightening just a bit. I found myself smilingback.
"She's on the move." I jumped when I realized that Knix had approached, he took my arm and pulled me behind him. Bellamy's head jerked up and his eyes narrowed across the room. "It seems she's found us," Knixsaid.
Bellamy nodded. "She's heading thisway."
"I'll watch Harlow, go get the others," Knix commanded. “I’d feel a lot more comfortable if we were all here for this, thistime.”
Bellamy nodded and then molded into the crowd, heading to wherever the others had gone offto.
"You guys are acting like she's going to try to off me right here in the middle of the masquerade," I said with a lifted brow as I stared up into the eye holes of Knix's white mask with the gold filigree on thesides.
Knix blinked down at me as his lips turned down. "I just don't trust her, LittleBit."
I shrugged. "With good reason,” I agreed, “but we're not James Bond. She's just a woman." In truth, I wasn't a hundred percent sure who I was trying to reassure—him or myself. Maybe it was a little ofboth.
"I just want to be careful with her," Knix said. "She has a lot of money and with money comespower."
I didn't have a response for that, so I simply nodded and turned to watch her as she moved through the room towards us. Instead of wearing a mask like everyone else, Teddi had gone with a painted look. Her upper face was adorned with a shimmery gold. Fake diamonds—at least, I hoped they were fake, because if not then holy shit was this woman outrageous—adorned the edge of the "mask," dusting up over the bridge of her nose and then across both of her cheeks leaving the lower portion of her face in her natural skin tone. Her eyes were dusted with something darker than the gold, making it appear as though she, too, were looking through a mask's eyeholes.
She swayed her hips as she approached, a smile slithering across her lips as she looked Knix over first and then me. "Fancy meeting you here, darling," she said in a politetone.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes—or punch her in the face. Truth be told, I was getting really tired of the anxiety she was giving me. I was sick of feeling like I was constantly on guard, of being watched. Honestly, that's probably why I was so worried about my relationship with the guys—because this woman had put me so on edge. Coming face to face with her like this felt good in a way, but it also made me want to throw up or do something physical to mess up the perfect way she presented herself. Just once, I would have liked to see the real her under themask.
I watched her like a hawk, waiting for a telltale sign—something to show what a terrible person she was underneath all of that pretty. It came the moment Grayson arrived—with Texas and Marv at hisback.
“Mother,” Grayson saidcoldly.
She smiled wider, her teeth showing as her eyes gleamed. “Darling, I’m so glad you could make it tonight. It’s so good to seeyou.”
“I wish I could say the same—it’s ratherunfortunate.”
