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“Great! Cass, let’s leave these two to discuss the details. I need your help schmoozing some rich assholes.”
“But…” Cass starts as Vanessa takes her by the wrist and pulls her along behind her.
As they walk away, Vanessa calls over her shoulder, “Cole, do keep Sophie company until her husband returns. Dante would hate for her to be left all alone in a crowd.”
“That’s okay. His guards are…” I start, searching around for Lochlan’s men. They’re still standing near the entrance. By the time I turn back to Vanessa, her blonde head and Cass’s red one have disappeared into the growing crowd.
Taking a deep breath, I gulp down another sip of champagne, then offer Cole a small smile. “I’m sorry you got stuck with me.”
He gives me a dazzling smile back. “I don’t mind. It’s not like I know anyone here other than your family.”
“Do you miss New York?”
“Yes,” he says. “Vegas is too damn hot. But at least I don’t have to work the entire summer to pay for tuition this year. You know, since my mom inherited everything from her father? She won’t use a penny of Petrov’s blood money, but she did set up a decent trust fund for me to pay for school and a little to live on, so I don’t have to juggle a job and studying anymore.”
“That’s great,” I agree, even if I can’t relate to the struggle of not having endless money.
Cole is a talker, which is perfectly fine with me. I’m more than happy to listen to him talk about his friends back at school and future business plans since it keeps me distracted from glaring at my husband while he continues to flirt with his harlots.
19
Lochlan
I’m grateful that the ladies paid for tickets to help contribute to the fundraiser, to the family of the man who saved my life and Salvato’s, but now they won’t give me a moment’s piece.
It’s always something with them—in-fighting, thievery, overdoses.
To be honest, I didn’t mind their rabid attention or the brush of tits against my arms. Let my beautiful wife see that even if she doesn’t want me, there are plenty of gorgeous women who do. Not that I want any of them, but she doesn’t know that.
And it worked. Within minutes of Sophie chatting with Dante’s wife Vanessa, both women were glaring daggers at me.
During Silvia’s extended rant about wanting to increase her number of vacation days but Mary, the madam, won’t let her, I realize I haven’t laid eyes on Sophie for a few minutes. I seek her out in the crowd. She’s no longer near the table of champagne with Vanessa. In fact, I don’t see her at all. I do another sweep of the room and finally spot her. Her back is turned to me, her long raven hair sweeping over the peeks of skin on the back of her dress. And then I see who she’s talking to—a tall blonde bastard. One who is currently beaming at her from ear to ear with the kind of affection that makes we want to snap his neck.
Fuck me, I’m an idiot.
Trying to make Sophie jealous has backfired spectacularly, practically pushing my wife into the arms of another, younger, handsome man.
I push past Silvia who grumbles my name to try and call me back. Ignoring her, I stalk straight toward Sophie, shouldering past idiots who get in my way until I’m finally interrupting their conversation to ask blondie, “Who the fuck are you?”
“Don’t talk to him like that,” Sophie has the nerve to snap at me, like she’s giving me orders now.
“I’ll talk to anyone however I fucking want, wife.”
Rolling her eyes at me, she shares a conspiratorial grin with blondie that has me seeing red, the color the bastard will bleed when I gut him. Sophie may still have my favorite knife, but I have others.
“Lochlan, this is Cole, Vanessa’s son.” Goddamm it, I hate the sweet way she says the asshole’s name. She pauses after the introduction, tilting her head of softly flowing black curls. “I guess that makes him my stepbrother.”
That label doesn’t make me feel any better. If he’s not blood related, then I have no doubt he’ll still want to fuck what’s mine.
Blondie holds out his palm toward me for a handshake, still grinning. “I was at your wedding, and we’ve actually met once before that.”
“Have we?” I ask as I squeeze his palm to the point of pain.
“Ah, yeah,” he replies. Jerking his hand from mine he shoves it in his tux pants pocket. I’m happy to see he’s no longer smirking until he says, “It was the night of the celebrity poker game.”
I blink at him, wishing I didn’t recall anything from that night, but unfortunately, I doubt I’ll ever forget a second, including my conversation with Dante in the hallway which likely saved my life. “Right. You were one of Dante’s uninvited tagalongs I was trying to make accommodations for at the last minute.”
“Right. Now I’m glad you didn’t have a table ready for me and my friends,” Cole remarks. “And since you’re back, my job of keeping Sophie company is fulfilled.”
