“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I said in an exaggerated way. “I’m not going far. And once you talk to her, you can introduce us. It’ll be easier to get her to the room from there, I think.”
It was clear to see he was mulling this over. I half expected a bead of sweat to pop out of his head. “What do you think Oli—ON wants with her?”
I shrugged. “He didn’t tell me. Do you suspect something?” I asked in a conspiratorial tone.
He looked between me and the crowd, and I had the urge to push him toward it, but I didn’t want him to feel how impatient I was. Then he’d suspect something and take me with him.
“Seriously,” I urged in an even voice. “I’ll be around. You should really go look for her before you lose your chance. She’s a part of this family, and I’m sure she’ll be busy with everything going on. Better catch her while you can.”
He stood taller, trying to look over heads to see the crowd better. He was a raisin amongst grapes that were grown to make a fine wine. “I do see—”
This time I nudged him. “Better go!”
Whoever he saw, he went straight for them while I went in another direction. I found myself a spot in a darkened corner and just…forced myself to breathe.
My dress felt too tight suddenly, and I had to slow my intake of breath so I wouldn’t pass out.
I’d once watched a man on the streets of New York hit the concrete from a heat stroke. He wavered before he went down, and his head cracked against the pavement. It was a sound I’d never forget because I heard it over the roar of New York.
Blood had pooled underneath his head.
I imagined the same thing happening to me in that moment, except it was the blood from my throat when ON had cut me.
I closed my eyes and refocused my attention.
Start with how everything looks, Ava.
Okay.
Breathe.
I opened my eyes and looked around.
Ritzy, in a warm Italian way. Age-old frescoes were painted on the ceilings, and marble floors still bore the scuff prints of long ago. But the elements around me were more modern—the entertainers. A blossom of fire blew out of a costumed man’s mouth as he sent it rushing toward the crowd.
It was exactly how I pictured this event, but infinite times better.
Setting taken in, I concentrated on what I’d waited my entire life for.
Being in the same room with what might be the entire Fausti family.
The BDE (Big Dick Energy) was strong in here. So strong, I could feel the undercurrent of it charging the air. It was like having a bunch of alpha lions circling the same area, any one of them prepared to take on another male in the arena if it encroached on his territory.
Even with masks on, their builds were unmistakable. Maybe a few men were the odd ones out and didn’t fit the bill, but I automatically knew the ones that did.
Tall, broad shoulders, thin waists—basically, perfect builds. Underneath it existed feral wildness that was kept in a cage until it was unleashed. That undeniable swagger set the BDE on the map and claimed it as Fausti territory.
And the masculine scents overpowering all other scents?
It smelled like fine men in tuxes, smoke from lingering cigars, and the roughness of whiskey in the air.
Shit.
This was…almost unbelievable.
I couldn’t allow myself to get caught up in all the masculine essences wrapping their arms around me, though. I’d made a promise to myself to stay centered, in the moment—but I also needed to keep my head above it all, in the literal and figurative sense.
ON was going to be trouble for me.
