FuckingONE.
11.
Iblame Alex. I was doingsowell keeping him away from the bar, but then he dragged me to the estate’s back door, where he apparently saw Henry Cavill, and everything went to shit. We obviously didn’t find Henry there, but we did come across an abandoned tray full of champagne flutes. And let me tell you: when I saw the soft, fizzy bubbles popping deliciously inside the smooth, sparkling liquid, I fucking lost it. It was lust at first sight, okay. And so, helpless as I was against its power, I drank some of it. Just alittle, before I realized what I’d done and threw the flute into the nearest bin. I was, however, seen by the server in charge of the tray. He didn’t say anything, of course; he just dragged the tray towards him, grabbed it, and marched away from us. Alex, the dipshit, simply stood there and watched it all happen. Some friend he is.
“Cigs?” Someone shakes me by the shoulder. “Cigs?”
Something flickers on the ceiling, and when I look up, I see butterflies.So many butterflies. Blue and red and white and pink – there’s so many of them… They flutter, and the sound echoes in my ears like a stubborn wind during a late-night drive. They’re so beautiful, so colorful. So…
“Cignette!”
“What?” I blink and look to my right, and find Alex staring at me with pursed lips and stark amusement in his eyes.
“You only hadoneflute, babe,” he says.
I frown. “Iknow.” Leaning against him, I sigh and wrap my arms around his waist. “Did you see the butterflies?”
A pause, and then: “What butterflies?”
I point upwards. “On the ceiling right there. They’re so pretty, Alex.”
Another pause.
“You want me to get you some water?”
“Nope.” I hold him tighter. “You know you’re my best friend, right, Alex?”
He chuckles. “Mm-hmm. But don’t let Varsha hear you, or she mightaccidentallyput a bullet in your head the next time the two of you are practicing shooting.”
I giggle. Yeah, Igiggle. This issobad.
“But she loves me,” I say, playing with a pressed lapel of Alex’s jacket. “Also, you smell nice.”
He chuckles again. “God, you’re an adorable drunk, aren’t you?”
“I’m always adorable.”
He clicks his tongue. “Well, I agree to disagree.”
I gasp and slap him in the chest. “Rude.” When he doesn’t reply to me, I move back so that I can look at him, and see that his attention has now shifted from me to something that isbehindme.
“Alex?”
He meets my eyes, then jerks his head forward. I turn, and watch Timothy – armed with a handsome young man, and the girl I’d seen him with earlier – making his way up the left-corner stairs. The three of them seem intimately close, and are engrossed in a hushed conversation that appears more suggestive than secretive. I see their hands gripping each other’s bodies, and their lips grazing each other’s ears. By the looks of it, Timothy is heading towards the first floor in search of someprivacy with his partners, but it could also mean that he’s found what he’d come here for and might leave the gala soon.
I face Alex again. “I think you should keep an eye on him,” I say, just as he says, “I should go keep an eye on him, right?”
He lifts a brow, and I do the same. “You’ll be okay on your own?” he asks me.
I nod. “I’ll be fine,” I assure him. “Besides, I’ve texted Dorran already, so he should be here soon.” I don’t even rememberwhatI’d texted him, but I did send himsomething.
“I can wait until he gets here,” Alex offers.
I shake my head. “Every minute is crucial to us when it comes to someone like Timothy. Remember what Solo said: this guy is restless. He won’t stay in one place for long if he finds a hot body to take home. He’s foundtwoof them, Alex. We can’t let him leave; it’ll fuck up the mission.”
He lets go of a breath as he scans the dimly-lit space we’re in. “At least move to the foyer. It’ll put me at ease.”
“I might end up critiquing someone on their outfit choice in my current state of delirium, and we seriously don’t want that right now.”
