I’m barely even aware of what he’s saying because I’m too busy mesmerised by how his eyelashes are fluttering as his gaze lingers on his fingertips brushing my skin.
But then I realise what he’s telling me. I cannot even fathom how uncomfortable that prospect makes me. All eyes are going to be on us tonight. We have to fake it. We have to act like a fuckingcouple.I don’t really see how that’s going to go down well when Caden’s repulsed by me and I want to ram every piece of cutlery into those eyeballs when they stare at me too long.
I nod slowly and he drops his hands, only to take one of mine in one of his and he leads me to the restaurant, where Alfie and Fiz are already waiting by the doors.
“What is this place?” I ask, voice coming out thick and strangled.Get it together, El, come on.
“Family restaurant. It’ll just be our party in here. So, everyone you see will know who you are.”
Fantastic. “Then why are we dressed to the nines to sit in some motorway restaurant?”
Caden tugs me along, perhaps a little roughly. “Any chance to flaunt how rich and powerful and pompous we are, obviously,” he says with disdain, as if he doesn’t live in a house that screams how rich and powerful and pompous he is. We stop outside the door, and he fiddles with his tie again. He’s making it all lopsided and I shove away the strange need to straighten it.“Trust me, I’m just as unhappy about it as you are.” He turns to me and his chest puffs out with a massive inhale. “Ready?”
“No.”
He reaches up and I hold my breath. He gently guides a loose curl away from my eye and tucks it behind my ear. “Let’s suffer together then.”
He doesn’t wait for me to respond, which is good because I have no idea what to say to that after he just did something so gentle and out of character. He turns to the boys who are holding the doors open for us. He takes my hand in his and we saunter through.
Is this what I’m going to get all night? Am I getting agentleCaden Blackwood?
My thoughts are obliterated and replaced by an explosion of anxiety and nausea when I see just how many people are here.
Caden brings me into his body and lets go of my hand, only to slide it behind and place it on the small of my back as we walk through this sea of people. He’s doing an awful lot of touching and not a lot of hurting. I’m not sure I like it.
He leans down and says, “Just breathe, Elodie, it’ll be fine.”
“Who the hell are all these people?”
He leans back down to whisper, “Family, friends, employees. All part of our world, anyway.”
Every single person in here must be a criminal. The police would cream their pants if they walked into this place right now.
Caden guides me to a table with a few empty seats and I try to block out the people muttering and greeting us. I think I’ve got a smile on my face, but I feel so cold and sick I haven’t got awareness of anything else. Caden speaks to several of them as we pass, thanking them for coming, being all gentlemanly and polite and weird.
He pulls my chair out for me and I practically fall into it, my legs giving up on me. Why are there so many people? Why is this such a big deal?
Alfie sits beside me, Fiz on his other side so I’m nestled between the two Blackwoods. I don’t recognise anyone, but I can’t bring myself to scan the room in case I do. I don’t want to see my father or any of his employees. I don’t want to see the masked man and any of his weirdo freak minions or other employees. I just want to crawl under the table and burrow in between Alfie’s legs until it’s over. There are so many huge men here. Any one of them could be Drago. But then, why would he be at our engagement party? I need to stop worrying about him. He lives in the shadows, he’ll never be spotted out in public. I have nothing to worry about.
Alfie pours an open bottle of champagne into the flute before me. “This’ll help.”
I thank him, having no intention of drinking from it.
Caden’s butt barely touches the seat beside me before a man approaches us. He’s the same height as Caden, towering well over six foot, but slightly bulkier. He’s got short, brown hair that fades into a mullet. A long, tanned face, speckled with freckles across his cheeks and nose that would give him an innocent look, if it weren’t for the terrifying face tattoos. A cross under his left eye, the word “loyalty” above his right eyebrow. Cutting brown eyes that seem soft as they land on me, his slender face breaking out into a gentle smile. Do I want to smile back or throw my champagne flute at him?
Caden taps me on the arm and rises, so I follow suit.
“Elodie,” he says, “this is Milo, our right hand.”
Milo extends his hand to me, that confusingly endearing smile still pointed at me. “Lovely to meet you, Miss Valor.”
His voice is welcoming enough. I find myself smiling back. “Nice to meet you too.”
He offers me a wink that doesn’t feel menacing and turns to Caden. “Your dad’s just got here, he’ll be over in a second.”
“Great. Any reports?”
Milo shakes his head. “All quiet on the western front.”
