Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 58442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58442 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
I turn away. Mask or no mask, I don’t want him to see the effect his words have on me.
CHAPTER 18
RAIDEN
“What a pleasant surprise,” I say when I see we’re sitting at a table with Victor and his date. Victor is the douche who dared to insult Aurora and made me put my hands on him.
Victor smiles tightly, but his mask can’t hide his fear. “Most pleasant.”
I pull out a chair for Aurora. She brushes her hand along my arm for all to see, then shoots me an affectionate look.
All for show, I remind myself.
What about back in the room, when she was moaning and touching and sucking and pleasing me more than any damn woman ever has? If that was a show, it was just for me.
There are ten people at the table, all masked, some of them sipping glasses of champagne. I’m relieved when everyone falls into their private conversations.
Aurora nudges my arm and leans in. “That man over there has the same mask as you. The same tuxedo too–and he’s built similarly. You don’t have a secret twin, do you?”
I slip my hand onto her thigh. “As long as you’re sure you don’t prefer him, we won’t have a problem.”
She places her hand on mine, stopping me from going any further up her leg. It’s probably for the best. Instead, I turn to see who she means, a tall, wide man striding across the room in a marble-white mask with gold around the edges.
“Just don’t get us mixed up,” I tell Aurora.
“I wouldn’t dream of it…” She leans in, lowering her voice just for me. “Sir.”
I squeeze her leg. Her heat beckons me like a siren's call, promising heat and wetness. She keeps her hand firmly upon mine, stopping me from going any further.
Soon, the waitstaff brings out more champagne and starters. When someone asks Aurora how we met, she speaks passionately about watching me in the shop.
“It might sound silly, but I was jealous of my grandma!” She touches my arm. “She got to touch him, and I was just watching, wishing it was me. Raiden likes to say I was obsessed from the start. I try to deny it. But sometimes, I have to tell the truth. I was obsessed. Big time.”
I wrap my arm casually around her. “What can I say? I must be something special.”
Everyone laughs good naturedly, even Victor, though his laughter has a quality of fear to it. He’s probably spent the entire time trying not to piss me off.
Across the room, one of the staff members is gesturing to me. No, not one of them. It’s Sebastian, my grandmother’s personal butler. I know because he always wears the same fox mask. When he’s got my attention, he gestures to the hallway.
“If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” I say, standing and shooting a pointed look at Victor. “I’m sure you’ll all be on your best behavior.”
I join Sebastian in the hallway. He’s antsy, moving from foot to foot.
“Yes?” I say.
“I wanted to say sorry, Raiden,” he blurts out.
“Sorry?”
“Evangeline’s scheme. Her bet. About the will… I told her to remove you, not to bluff. I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m sorry. I need you to know that. Sometimes, it’s like I forget I’m not part of the family. I’m an outsider… and that’s okay. I need to be okay with that.”
“I know you and Grandma are close, Sebastian. Ever since she hired you, you’ve been close. You shouldn’t overstep your boundaries, but I understand how things might become complicated.”
“So we can end things on good terms, then?” he says, offering his hand.
“End things?”
“I mean–draw a line under this.”
“Sure.” I shake his hand. “If anything, we should stay on good terms for Grandma, if not for each other.”
“Amen to that.”
I return to the party. The man with my mask swaggers over, clearly far past the point of drunk, and punches me on the arm. It’s supposed to be a playful jab, but he puts too much oomph into it.
“Aye,” he says loudly. “Ya stole my look!”
“I’m sorry about that, buddy,” I tell him, giving him a not-so-playful jab in return.
I find Aurora standing in a circle of guests, gesturing with her glass of champagne as she speaks. I move up beside her. “Get bored with the table?” I ask.
“Shh, I’m telling everyone how obsessed I was the moment I saw you… unless you’re tired of hearing this story?”
I smile down at her. The mask might as well not be there. It’s like I see through it, see her gorgeous, ecstatic features instead, her broad smile, her reddened cheeks.
“I’ll never tire of hearing that,” I say, chuckling.
“We tried to play it cool,” she goes on, turning to the guests as she fluidly wraps her arm around me.
No one watching would ever guess we’ve only just started being romantic, that we only just met, really.