“Hi, you two. Wow, this place is packed.” Isaak looks around the room, taking in the scene.
“You look gorgeous!” Alara declares, pulling Kayla away from me into a hug. “And Josiah told me what happened yesterday, with the twins. I’m so happy that they know,” she grins proudly.
“We’ll have another family dinner soon, where you can reintroduce yourself as their aunt,” I chuckle. Alara wiggles in excitement.
“I’m going to go mingle and eavesdrop,” Isaak says.
“I’m coming too,” Alara says.
I pull Kayla right against my side again.
Tonight, the world learns who she is to me.
Tonight, I will make it one thousand percent clear that she is my wife—and with that comes the warning,touch her and die.
“There’s so many beautiful people here,” Kayla whispers. “They're all so elegant.”
“Not as beautiful or as elegant as you, Kayla,” I respond immediately. “They are invisible next to you.”
She looks at me with surprise in her expression.
One of my business allies comes up to us. “Josiah, so nice you came tonight, how are things?”
His eyes drift towards Kayla.
“Viktor, this is my wife, Kayla,” I introduce her. I feel her stiffen in even more surprise.
He holds out his hand, and she places her hand in his. “It is my absolute pleasure. What a lucky man your husband is,” he declares.
Viktor and I chat for a moment before he moves on. My eyes are constantly searching the sea of faces around us. I see enemies. I see danger. I see luxury and glamor.
It’s always this way at these events, but never before have I had such an incredible moment as this, to be able to introduce people to mywife.
“Josiah,” Ariel slides closer to us, her eyes hungrily roaming over Kayla.
“Kayla, this is Ariel. She's Marcus’s wife, the man you met earlier.”
“And who is this magnificent creature?” Ariel asks, admiring my wife.
“This is my wife,” I say proudly.
“Pleased to meet you, I’m Kayla,” Kayla says, holding her hand out to Ariel. Ariel takes her hand in her own and strokes her fingers over Kayla’s skin. She looks like a serpent, ready to strike and destroy.
I gently, politely, pull Kayla back towards me and away from her clutches.
Ariel laughs with an empty air of nonchalance. “We must have drinks later so you can tell me all about this man,” she winks at Kayla. “All the ladies are dying to know what he’s like.”
Kayla smiles tightly and looks up at me, then looks back at Ariel and cheekily snuggles closer to me, making my heart race. “I think I’ll keep my husband’s talents my own secret,” she says sharply.
Ariel’s face sours a little, but only for a second before she corrects it. “Well, I’ll get it out of you one day,” she insists, then she turns away and dismisses us with a wave of her hand to disappear into the crowd again.
“What a strange woman,” Kayla whispers.
“You will find many like her here. Empty, soulless, thinking everyone prettier than them is some kind of threat to their existence. She is a snake, and you should be wary of her.”
“That dress was so tight she could hardly move,” Kayla snickers.
I can’t stop the laughter that bursts from my lips.
