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“Ezra, either find your manners or excuse yourself,” I told him and he ripped his glare off Pretty Boy to scorch me with it. “Petty doesn’t become you.”
A vein throbbed in his forehead, then he tipped up the glass of champagne and downed it. Without another word, he put the glass on a passing server’s tray and raked his gaze over me before he turned to the room. The corner of his mouth curled up into a faint sneer and he stalked away.
Relief vied with frustration as Ezra made his way across the room. As much as I tried to ignore it, his path took him directly toward Genevieve Whitten. Her smirk was almost triumphant as she glanced past him toward me. I kept a firm grip on my expression. Something she should learn. Without context, her earlier comment had been a flirt. The fact she floated right up to Ezra even after his earlier dismissal told me it had been an actual invitation. Or maybe acknowledgement of previous contact.
Ezra was hardly a monk.
The sting that accompanied that thought dug deep and ignited a wave of disappointment and annoyance. Neither of which I had time for, so I shifted my stance and my gaze. If Ezra wanted to make a fool out of himself, I didn’t have to watch it.
“Are you all right?” Pretty Boy asked and I sighed.
“Perfectly fine,” I lied, then gave him a once over. “At least the wine didn’t stain your suit too badly. I owe you a shirt.”
“I don’t care about the shirt,” he said. “Did you get what you needed before he showed up?”
“No,” I admitted, scanning the room while taking another sip of the champagne and trying not to look like I was looking.
“They left the ballroom toward the east hall.” The information startled me and I swung my gaze back up to his. It shouldn’t, Pretty Boy was far from an idiot, but at the same time…“Would you care to take a walk with me?” He offered his arm. “Maybe we can just run into them.”
“If we do—”
“I know, you might have to ‘get rid of me’ again,” he said, his neutral tone betraying nothing. “You’ll do what you think is necessary.”
“You don’t mind?” I raised my brows.
“Didn’t say that, Mayhem,” he murmured, then dipped his head closer so he could whisper against my ear. “We came for a reason, right?”
A shiver raced over my skin and my nipples went taut. “We did…”
“So we need to do that, complete whatever task it is, and get out of here before I can take you to bed.” Another kiss, this one right over my pulse. “Do I have that right?”
My eyes drifted half shut at the hedonism promised in those words. “You do.”
“Wonderful.” He sucked against my earlobe briefly. A pulse of pure need flashed through me as he straightened. Without comment, he took my champagne glass and set it with his untouched one on a side table before he offered me his arm. “Shall we?”
So many unspoken promises vibrated in those two words. I threaded my arm with his and let him guide me across the room. I did not focus on Ezra disappearing out of a side door with Whitten. Nor did I look at Julius King as he eyed us from across the room. The older woman Milo had danced with gave us a little smile as we passed and Milo nodded to her.
“You’ve been making friends,” I murmured and he chuckled.
He didn’t deny it though.
I glanced at her again, just enough to try and memorize her face. She seemed familiar but I couldn’t place her name.
I would have to rectify that. When we reached the doors to the east hall, Milo pushed it open for me and then guided me out. Now, to find the Rolsons. Hopefully, Ezra hadn’t cost me the chance at the auction.
Or this could end up being a much longer evening.
ChapterThree
EZRA
Galas, charity events, fundraisers—they bored me. Every single one. This one was no exception. King’s message, however, had been clear. There was an auction tonight, he wanted certain pieces and I was to acquire them for him. Why he couldn’t just acquire them himself had been on the tip of my tongue to ask—then he said Lainey was here.
The cool defiance that flashed in her eyes when she told me to find my manners left me with a solitary desire. That desire had absolutely nothing to do with the golden-haired blonde currently clinging to my arm. “I’ve missed you,” she said in a sultry tease. “You haven’t called in a while.”
“I’ve been busy,” I said. The mirrors on the walls gave me a brief glimpse of where Lainey still stood with Hardigan. If he were anyone else, I could have gotten rid of him the same way we had every other interloper over the years. But he wasn’t. More, she looked attached. I blamed Adam for this.
If he could have torn himself away from his schemes to at least read me in, maybe I could have prevented Lainey from going to the Vandals in the first place. Instead, I was two steps behind and the King wanted me here for the auction.
