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Hand in hand, we step inside an opulent ballroom, women infancy dresses and men in tuxes chatting, waiters rushing around with trays of champagne flutes and canapés, soft music being played. People steal glances at us as we move past them.
By the time we reach Cato and Chiara, my head is spinning. Everyone wanted to meet me and talk with my husband while I tried to remember their names. Eventually, I gave up. I’m sure I will only see most of them at these kinds of gatherings. For the ones who are important to Kieran, he’ll tell me.
Cato looks one second away from snapping. His shoulders are taut with tension. At his side, my friend offers me a small smile. I embrace her, and when she sighs around me, she breaks my heart. The men shake hands and hug.
“I missed you,” I say to Chiara before gripping her hand and slipping out the terrace doors. Kieran, Cameron, and Cato are deep in discussion.
“The king’s club. Their egos are astounding,” Chiara says, derision flowing from her mouth. But her words are contradicted by the way she looks at Cato, eyes full of heat.
I blink, not sure I’m seeing right. But there it is. And there’s longing too.
“Is Cato really that bad?” I ask, snapping her out of her trance.
She balls her hands at her sides. “Of course he is. He acts like I’m his damn possession.”
Knowing that conversation will go nowhere, I change the subject.
“I went to England and visited the nuns.”
“I can’t believe you went back there of your own free will.”
“Sister Theodora worries about you. I worry about you.”
“Have you talked to your uncle yet?”
“No.”
She sips from her flute, mumbling, “How convenient.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Do you think you are anything more to Kieran than a possession? Men like them—”
“Have you even tried to get to know him? Because I have and he’s not a bad man.”
“Brainwashed, like I said.”
“Can’t you be happy for me?”
“Can’t you be miserable for me?” she asks, the corners of her lips tipping down. She walks away while I lean my elbows on the banister.
“If you were mine, I wouldn’t have let you out of my sight.”
The hairs on the back of my neck shoot up. That gruff voice sending a bolt of revulsion through me, upsetting my stomach.
I turn to Delaney and scrunch up my nose.
“We both know I never was yours, and never will be.”
His demeanor changes. He’s angry and predatory. He steps in front of me, and I square my shoulders.
“Stop.”
“As if you could stop me.”
“I can,” Kieran booms behind him. “Get the fuck away from my wife. You can leave through the door or over the banister. Your choice.”
Delaney freezes one step away from me. “We were just having a conversation.”
