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My heart swoons hearing him say that even if it’s just for show, I remembering how he once told me his mother was never the one his father chose to protect and how he was often the cause of her discomfort further.
“If you have a problem, then we can leave now.” Mathias tone is cold, condescending, and unapologetic.
“Thi.” I whisper, he looks down at me and I nearly get lost the silver gray iridescence of his eyes. “I can do a few more questions.”
My statement garners a hard stare from him. Can he not see this bitch is trying to sandbag him?
“I can do it. Promise,” I affirm, nodding for when he looks skeptical then pride shins through focused on me.
“Okay.” He squeeze my hand in encouragement.
“We’re back in five, four, three, two…
ChapterEleven
Nikki
“That dress isto die for. Who are you wearing?”
“Summer Couture,” I respond for what seems like the hundredth time to yet another socialite, this time one of the most prominent Democratic senators in Congress.
“Please give me the details,” she coos, eyeing the rose-gold-and-platinum confection Summer sewed me into two hours ago.
Mathias made her my official designer, complete with a press release, after she impressed everyone with the outfit I had on for the interview.
“My phone has been blowing up all afternoon since the interview aired. Are you sure he’s mad at you? Because he sure as heck didn’t look like it when he comforted you. It wasn’t an act,” Summer said earlier, while pinning and sewing as I stood like a statue on a makeshift dais made by one of Mathias’s guards, Padre, loaned to him by Angel for my protection detail.
It seems my cousin’s outlaw biker husband is taking no chances with my well-being because Easy told me she’s worried about me. He sent one of his best guys to be my bodyguard. Mathias was already using some of the guys from the El Diablos from the moment he began his senate candidacy.
“How was your fitting for the mayor’s daughters?” I asked, trying to change the subject.
“Intense. Moving along.” She waved me away. “On the off chance anyone asks, tell them the dress and your clothes are Summer Couture. They won’t see it anywhere else. Bespoke creations made exclusively for a select clientele. Consultations begin at ten thousand.”
“Ten thousand for a consult,” I whisper to the senator, as though I’m speaking of some posh fashion house and not the cousin with whom I’ve been sharing a house since I moved out of Mathias’s granny’s house.
“Wow. That’s reasonable.” She smiles at me.
Smiling, I cover my shock at a her easy acquiesce.
“Excuse me.” I turn to the deep baritone, looking up into the ice-blue eyes of Marcus Sommerland. “Care to dance, beautiful?”
I can’t help but smile at the teasing lilt of his voice. “Sure.” I smile at his beautifully handsome face, allowing him to lead me onto the dance floor. The fundraiser is on behalf of the Alabama Autism Society. My cousin Maxim is the keynote speaker tonight.
“You look amazing,” Marcus murmurs, swinging me into the waltz. There is nothing inappropriate about his touch, but his eyes convey more than what he says.
“Thank you.” I give me my first genuine smile of the night. If nothing else, Marcus is a friend. We kissed, touched a little, but it never went further because we never felt a spark. We both thought it was just us needing to get to know each other better. Now that I have experienced the intensity of love making with Mathias, I know we never had a chance. I can’t imagine touching Marcus the way I do Mathias or wanting him so much, I can barely breathe.
“I want to apologize for the way I left things,” I tell him, meaning it. He’s been nothing but kind to me. “You didn’t deserve the abrupt end to our relationship on the day of my cousin’s wedding, which turned into a double wedding featuring your girlfriend — me..” Making myself look into the ice blue of his gaze, I don’t shy away from the anger I’m prepared to see there.
Feeling his heavy hand squeeze me a little as I grip his shoulder, I hope my clumsy words come across better than they sound.
“You know”—his mouth quirks on the right side a little—“I always wondered who held your heart. I would have tried harder if I’d known it was a Shelby.” He twirls me in a dramatic flourish, one I remember my sorority took great pains to have us master.
Taking the necessary steps, I meet his every turn. Ever the competitor, I know I will not best him, but I’m determined to keep up.
“It was always him, wasn’t it?” he muses with a small pensive smile playing across his gorgeous face.
“Yes,” I whisper, not knowing why I can’t lie to those ice-blue eyes.
