“I need to stay here—” Ares started.
“Go, if you want to,” she interrupted gently. “We’ll hold the fort here.”
Ares hesitated, looking between the three of us. Then he kissed Tashi’s cheek, squeezed Orion’s shoulder, and headed toward the service elevators.
To the roof.
Where Marcus would arrive.
I watched him disappear into the crowd, my stomach churning with anxiety.
“He’ll be fine,” Orion said quietly, reading my expression. “Ares knows what he’s doing.”
“I know.” I forced a smile and offered Tashi my arm. “Shall we work the room?”
She slipped her hand through my elbow, and Orion took her other side. Together, we moved into the crowd—a unified front, the four of us minus one temporarily.
The reactions were immediate.
“Tashi! You look stunning!”
“Leo, the design work in here is incredible!”
Compliments flowed freely, but I could see the questions in people’s eyes. The curiosity. The judgment. The whispers trailed behind us as we moved forward.
“Is it true? All three of them?”
“How does that even work?”
“She’s brave, I’ll give her that.”
I smiled through it all, shaking hands, making small talk, pretending my heart wasn’t racing and my mind wasn’t screaming,Where the hell is Marcus?
Tashi handled it with grace I didn’t know how she summoned. She laughed at jokes, complimented dresses, and asked about people’s businesses with genuine interest. If she was terrified—and she had to be—she didn’t show it.
“When is he going to call us?” I muttered to Orion during a brief lull.
“Don’t,” Tashi said, squeezing my arm. “I’m nervous enough for all of us.”
“Maybe Marcus is waiting for when we make the announcement,” Orion said quietly. “Maximum impact. Maximum casualties.”
Tashi stopped walking.
I watched the realization cross her face—the calculation, the decision forming in real time.
“You’re right,” she said. “Which means we control the timing.”
“Tashi, what are you?—”
She was already moving, marching toward the stage where the band was playing their set. Before I could stop her, she’d climbed the steps and was gesturing to the bandleader.
The music stopped.
“Quiet, everyone,” Tashi said into the microphone, her voice carrying across the ballroom.
Conversations died. Heads turned. Every eye in the room focused on her—this woman in gold who’d somehow captured the attention of three billionaire brothers and wasn’t apologizing for it.
“I know you’re all here for the big announcement,” she continued, her smile bright and genuine. “And we’ll get to that. But first, I want to talk about the Kolykos brothers.”
