Blue eyes bore into hers, sparking with realization and knowledge. “I see. Indeed, I do. I suppose congratulations are in order.”
Fuck. Fuckity fuck.
Commanding the group’s attention as effectively as always, Elias stood and lifted his glass, his eyes still flicking between her and Tabitha. “A toast. With any luck, this won’t be the last time we all come together before Violet departs, but life is a mysterious beast at times. It gives,” he said pointedly, “even as it takes. It has been the upmost pleasure to have you as one of our Mistresses, Violet. An honor to hold your company. The door to Serenity will always be open for you and Reaux… and whomever else you welcome into your family.”
Under the guise of pretending to be overwhelmed by his gesture, Violet pressed her hand to her chest. Perhaps he was aware she would kill him if he outed either her or Tabitha—God knew she was beaming the thought into his head like a laser—because he refrained from further teasing.
“A toast to our irreplaceable Mistress Violet.”
All the glasses raised in the air and clinked to the closest one as her name rang out.
“Hey, did someone start the party without us?”
Fordham and Levi strolled up; the photographer’s camera was slung over his shoulder, probably still cooling down from however many disturbingly sexy photos he’d taken during the shoot.
“Sorry we’re late,” Ford said quietly. “I told Levi to come on ahead while I finished business, but he insisted on wandering around pretending to be a photographer until I was done.”
“Pretending, my ass.” Grunting in dismissal, Levi reached into his back pocket and pulled something out, tossing it at Reaux. “Dude, you forgot the box. I’ve got epic photos of the proposal. Sure as hell wasn’t expecting that while I wasworking,” he added emphatically with a baleful side glance at Fordham, “but you guys made my night.”
The only sound left in the room was the low hum of music coming from the speakers. Once again, all eyes swung to pin Violet on the hot seat, although it was refreshing for Reaux to be caught up in the collective stare of disbelief this time.
“Damn it,” she whispered.
“He proposed?”
“You said yes?”
“You’reengaged?”
Questions fired from everywhere at once, from everyone around the tables, until words seemed to hang in the air and suffocate her.
Clucking his tongue softly, Levi scratched his jaw. “Guess that wasn’t the big announcement you wanted to make, huh? Shit, sorry, Vi.”
Sorry was all well and good until the cat planted its claws in the damn bag it refused to return to after an asshole let it escape.
Rubbing her temples, she was trying to figure out a reply that didn’t include a barrage of insults followed by slapping him across the face, but a small, hurt voice asked, “Were you not going to tell us?”
This just couldn’t get any worse, could it? First, she’d devastated Tamsyn with one revelation, then wounded her again by withholding another.
Smooth as polished ice, Reaux stepped in to rescue her yet again. “Actually, pixie, we wanted to tell everyone. Some happy news to balance the sad. However, it came to our attention that Sierra might have something to share, something much more important than this, so we decided to wait a couple days.”
It didn’t go unnoticed that he saidweandour. NotIorshe.
He was accepting the blame as much as he could, prepared to shoulder the burden.
“Wait, what have we missed?” Fordham frowned, scanning faces. “What sad news?”
Evander spoke up as he shifted Callie on his knee, bouncing her like a toddler as she threatened to throw a tantrum. “The Mistress will be leaving us in a couple weeks, Ford. She and Reaux are returning to New Orleans, apparently as an engaged couple.” A slow, satisfied smile tugged at his mouth. “I think you owe me fifty bucks, brother.”
Ford had the good sense to look sheepish. “Meddling matchmaker.”
“Master Meddling Matchmaker,” Evander corrected, then ducked his head when Violet glowered at him, concealing his grin in his beard.
“You tookbetson that ridiculous contract?” she demanded.
“We took bets on theoutcomeof that ridiculous contract. It’s become evident we hired a lot of suckers—the only one who put money on this result, aside from yours truly, was Merrick.”
Oh, the betrayal cut deep. She cast her friend a dark, dirty look.
