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I feel bad for her. Maybe I should go say hi.
“There you are.”
Charity’s voice cuts off my intentions to go make the girl feel better about being humiliated. I look over at her and start to smile, but my smile dies the moment I see her face.
Calvin was right; Charity is mad.
“What the fuck,” she says, grabbing my arm and hauling away from where people can hear us.
“You’re going to have to be much more specific,” I say as I follow her down the hall toward the gallery.
Once we’re in the gallery away from everyone else, she turns to face me, her eyes wide with disbelief. “What thefuck, Hallie.”
“Okay, maybe I wasn’t clear enough…”
She gestures wildly back toward the room. “What is this?”
“My engagement party.”
“You have known this man fortwo minutes, and you know, I didn’t even comment on that when you invited me. I thought, hey, Hallie’s a romantic, maybe she got swept up, but what theactualfuck am I doing at a party withgangsters? This isn’t the roaring 20s. We don’t party with gangsters.”
“Shh,” I say, darting a paranoid look at the hall. “They might be able to hear us.”
“I don’t care,” she hisses, wide-eyed. “Who the hell is this guy? Why are criminals at his engagement party? And theonlyfucking people in attendance? I can’t be here, Hallie. I work for the prosecutor, for Christ’s sake.”
“Oh. I… I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You knew those people would be here? Youknowthose people?”
“I’ve met Arson, I haven’t really met the other ones. I was going to meet some of his friends tonight.”
Charity shakes her head, glancing at the hallway with her arms crossed. “Those people aren’t friends. They’re associates. I thought you said he was some kind of tech company exec.”
“He is. He’s the CEO of a tech company.”
She nods, eyes bulging. “Okay, then you can see why I expected a far different audience here tonight?”
I sigh. “Yes. I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t really have anything to do with the guest list, I didn’t know who was coming, I just told Calvin I wanted to invite you, and the rest of the guests were going to be his friends. It was only supposed to be a small get together so we could tell close friends and… celebrate.”
Charity takes a deep breath, then audibly lets it out. Trying to be calmer, she looks back at me. “How the hell did you get mixed up with this guy? I’m supposed to be the one that does crazy shit. You’re supposed to be the boring one who stays home with her cat.”
I rear back, a little wounded by the offhand comment.
Charity sighs and grabs her forehead, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, that was really bitchy. I didn’t mean that, I just… I’m really worried, Hallie. And Ireallycan’t stay. I can’t be around people like that. You’re on first name basis with Nicolò Severino’s guard dog, and I just… whoareyou?”
I stand there and look at her, completely at a loss for what to say.
I’m still me, I think, but I understand what she means.
To be honest, if I would have passed a guy like Arson on the street a few months ago, I probably would have crossed to the other side of the road. Now I’m yelling at him for eating my pastry puffs.
I understand where her concern is coming from, though. What she’s really asking.
I swallow and try to think how to word it. “Calvin is… different, and he does things a different way, but I actually… I actually think he’s good for me. He stands up for me in ways I would never think to stand up for myself. I think in a weird way, he makes me more confident, more comfortable in my own skin. I always wanted someone who wouldreallylove me, you know? Like in a crazy, ‘I can’t be without you’ kind of way, and… I think he does.”
She stares at me like I’ve lost my mind, but she looks more helpless than anything. “I’m worried this isn’t healthy, Hallie. I’m worriedheisn’t healthy.”
I look down at my glittery shoes, then back up at her. “I’m okay. Whether he’s entirely above board or not… I’m good, and I’m happy, and…” I chuckle at the absurdity, but my smile is real when I tell her, “I’m gonna marry him.”
