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No one was perfect, though, I’d tell myself, and his good far outweighed the moments when his privilege went right over his head with comments such as the one he’d just made. “You’re being an elitist dick again,” I whispered, running my hands through his chestnut hair. It was what I called him when he needed reeling in. A reminder that having more-of didn’t make him more-than. He’d flush and apologize sincerely, letting me know there was hope for him.
“I’m sorry. I meant to say the less fortunate.” He kissed me sweetly. He always kissed me sweetly, and I always pulled away first.
“It’s only been two years since I passed the bar—”
“Since you obliterated the bar.” He pressed an elegant finger to my lips, cutting off my objection. “You’re brilliant. And I want to make sure you have the best options available to you.”
“Can we table this for another day?”
“Of course,” he said, taking an apologetic step back, seemingly remembering where we were and what we were there to celebrate. Daniel flicked his wrist, hiking up the cuff of his dinner jacket to check the time on his Rolex. He grasped my hand, urgently ushering us out of the room. “Your surprise should be ready.”
“Surprise?” I allowed him to tow me along the maze of halls. The music grew louder the closer we got to the ballroom.
“I’ve had the pleasure of loving you through three birthdays, and you’ve been somber for every one of them. You’ve been somber since the day I met you, Jasper.”
We’d met while I was interning at his firm almost four years ago. I had a strict rule about not dating within the workplace—because you’re a man of high morals,my hypercritical conscience mocked. Honestly, I’d had a strict rule about not dating at all, but Daniel was persistent, and I’d desperately needed a distraction. A few weeks after my internship had concluded, Daniel showed up to my law school graduation with an offer for dinner, and I’d hesitantly accepted. That was three years ago.
“What is it? Can I get a hint?” I asked. He stopped short, feet away from the ornate mahogany doors, partygoers jam-packed on the other side of it—most of whom I’d never seen, contrary to his claim of colleagues and friends. Concern rose in me like smoke as his nervous gaze bounced from me to the closed doors. “Daniel—”
“It isn’t anit.”
“What?” My brows pinched in confusion.
“It’s awho,” he said, and one by one the cylinders clicked into place. I didn’t talk much about my past, but I’d finally given in to his prying last year. I’d given him a piece of me I gave to no one, because he’d gone above and beyond to surprise me with a grand gesture I didn’t need, and my non-reaction to him renting out Cipriani for a birthday dinner for two had said as much. And because he’d deserved to know the problem wasn’t him, it was me. Because… Because he simply deserved the truth, and his patience had been rightfully thinning.
I snatched my hand from his and retreated a step. “What did you do?”
His words faltered as he examined the terror I could feel carving itself into my face. He reached for me. “Jasper?”
“There you two are.” The tight, exasperated voice belonged to Jessica, Daniel’s assistant turned party planner, as she burst through the grand doors, chased by the harmony of a string quartet. “Come, come now,” she said, shuffling over to loop her arms through the crooks of ours before leading us inside.
The chattering pretentious crowd made way for us as we sliced through the red velvet-draped room, heading for the center of it. My eyes roamed restlessly as pain pounded at my temples with a sense of foreboding.
There, standing beneath the Peloponnesian Battle depicted on the vaulted ceiling, standing right in the heart of it, loomed my heaven and hell.
Cole Kincaid.
Even with his back to me, engaging with the wide-eyed vultures swarming him, I knew. Even with the obvious changes to his body during our years apart, Iknew.To hell with my mind, it was my body that would never forget him.
The music halted abruptly, and a hush fell over the room. My blood sped through me, the sound crashing against my eardrums like battering waves as my heart pumped recklessly, chasing the shore, chasing safety.
He turned unhurriedly, not the least bit surprised to find me standing there affected by him. He nodded once in a gesture of acknowledgement, his long, sleek fingers cupping his glass in ownership. The way they’d once cupped every part of me.
“Jasper,” he said with all the arrogance and self-possession of a man who’d one day rule the fucking world.
“Surprise!” Daniel exclaimed from my side, kissing my lifeless cheek. If I wasn’t so hyper-aware of the man in front of me, I would’ve missed the subtle rippling of his jaw caused by my husband’s easy display of affection toward me.
Within seconds, the partiers grew bored of us, the noise level heightening once again as the pointless drivel resumed its competition with the reignited orchestra.
I was supposed to do something. Proper etiquette called for me to at least say hello to Cole, and to offer my sincere thanks to my husband for making my nightmares come true. But I couldn’t even find it in me to breathe. As I fought for air, Cole stood there as if there wasn’t a pile of pain and rubble beneath both our feet.
He wore his dark hair slicked away from his face, his angular jaw hidden beneath his artfully constructed five-o’clock shadow. His icy blue eyes were backlit with a cruelty that had earned him the label of mysterious. I’d always joked that Franklin’s obsidian eyes were wasted on him. Between him and his son, Cole wore the darkness well.
Cole took on the olive coloring of his South American maternal grandfather, while I’d been gifted with the paleness of my European father. He towered unflinchingly, statuesque, wearing the hell out of his black suit, whereas my tux wore me. In this room full of people who were supposed to be important, the controlling shareholder and CEO of Nexcom Global was in his element. He was the man Daniel wanted me to be.
“I’m sure you two have a lot of catching up to do,” Daniel said, bursting our awkward bubble of silence. “The terrace is empty if you want some privacy.”
Privacy was the last thing we needed. Cole and I needed to be supervised at all times.
