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The three of us went back into the room where the reception was being held. The music was still blaring, and everybody appeared to be enjoying themselves.
A guy I recognized as Maverick’s younger brother—Jameson was his name, if I remembered rightly—appeared in front of us, his attention on Raven. “How about a dance?” he asked.
I expected her to snap up his offer—he was super good-looking. But her smile faltered, and she slid her eyes to her left. I tracked her gaze, noting it had landed on Rafael … who was not only staring right at her but gave her a minute shake of the head.
Well, now.
Raven swiftly resettled her eyes on Jameson. “Thanks, but these shoes are hurting my feet. Ask Harri. She loves to dance.” The girl practically shoved my sister toward him. Harri happily went off with him, having missed the byplay.
I inched closer to Raven. “Is something going on between you and Rafael?”
She tensed, her eyes widening. “No, of course not.”
“I noticed the look you two just exchanged—he didn’t want you dancing with that guy, and you obliged him when he basically told you not to.”
She sighed, her cheeks reddening. “Nothing is going on, I swear. He’s one of my brother’s best friends. And thirty-three. A little old for me, right?”
“I don’t know. That’s like, what, a thirteen-year age gap? It’s not terribly bad. But the fact that he’s deep in illegal crap? Well, that’s different.”
She let out an amused snort. “You do realize my brother is no saint in that respect, right?”
“Oh, I do. But he doesn’t run a crime syndicate.”
Just then, Sabrina and Tamara materialized … and Raven made a quick escape while I was distracted. My lips thinning, I resolved that I’d speak to her about Rafael again at a later point.
“I love this dress so much,” Sabrina practically cooed as she stared at my gown. “I knew as soon as I saw you slip it on at the bridal shop that this wasthe one.”
“I know. You yelled it.”
Tamara’s mouth curved. “That does not surprise me.”
“I’ll tell you what is surprising,” I said. “That your brother brought a female guest—I thought he was single.”
“So did we,” said Sabrina, pouting. “I was going to set him up with Alicia.”
“I don’t think you’d have been very successful at it. She’s too busy giving the stink-eye to every male that looks in Harri’s general direction. That’s when she’s not eyeing up Jag.”
Tamara hummed. “I noticed that. He is eyeing her up right back. Or he does when she is not looking.”
I nodded. It was strange to be at a wedding I wasn’t organizing. It meant I saw things I might have otherwise missed. Juicy stuff. Like how one of Dax’s cousins kept mooning over an oblivious Maverick. Like how waitresses kept slipping bits of paper into Drey’s pocket. Like how one of Rafael’s bodyguards watched Raven with a protective eye—I’d initially thought he was interested in her, but now I was thinking that maybe Rafael had asked him to keep watch over her.
As Caelan walked past us—giving me a brief tip of his chin—Tamara leaned into me and said, “Now he is a fine specimen. They all are, really. Objectively speaking.”
“Gossiping?” asked Ollie, sidling up to me.
“Nope,” I said. “Perving. In my case, anyway.”
He arched a brow. “I would think your newhusbandwon’t like that.”
I felt my brow crease. “Why do you say the H word with sarcasm?”
Ollie sipped at his drink. “Because he isn’t your real husband, is he?”
“I intend to fuck him every which way to consummate the marriage tonight so, yeah, he will be my real husband.”
“La, la, la, I don’t want to hear about it.” Draping an arm over my shoulders, he pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Love you. Sorry I’ve been a dick.”
I smiled. “Love you, too. I’ll let it lie if you be nice to Dax from now on.”
