I spent the next half hour mingling with the guests. All my closest friends and family were here, along with a handful of important investors and tastemakers. Xavier and Sloane were deep in conversation with Margaux while Dante and Vivian conversed quietly with Christian and Stella.
I spoke briefly with Killian. To my surprise, he’d shown up without a date.
“How was Greece?” I asked.
“What?” He gave me a blank stare.
“Greece,” I repeated. “You were in Milos over the summer, right?”
“Right. It was fine. Beautiful.” He seemed oddly distracted, but he’d been acting weird for months.
His eyes flicked to the entrance. I followed his gaze to where a major real estate developer was checking his coat along with an unfamiliar redhead.
“I’m going to get another drink,” Killian said abruptly. “Talk later.” He skirted around a table toward the servers in the back, deliberately avoiding the coat check station.
Weird.
Chandler, the real estate developer, approached me to offer his congratulations. He wasn’t a huge player in the business world—there were developers who were ten times more powerful, like Alex Volkov of the Archer Group—but his company owned the building the restaurant was in. It was smart business to invite him.
We chatted briefly before he introduced the woman next to him. “This is Tate.”
That was it. No last name or explanation of who she was to him. She looked half his age and was quite attractive in anunderstated way, but I didn’t get couple vibes from them. In fact, he seemed annoyed she was there.
She smiled at me. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks, and a lush mane of auburn hair spilled past her shoulders. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I’m excited to try your food. I’ve heard nothing but great things.”
“I hope it lives up to your expectations,” I said. She reminded me of a deer—a little skittish, but so gentle she automatically triggered my protective instincts.
“I’m sure it will.”
I was about to ask how she knew Chandler, but she’d stopped paying attention. She was staring at the back of the restaurant, where Killian lounged against the wall, nursing his drink and looking uncharacteristically broody.
He glanced over, his gaze narrowing. Tate blushed before her mouth hardened into a thin line. She averted her eyes, but her blush remained.
Oh, boy. I was tempted to warn her away from him—she seemed like a nice girl, and Killian ate nice girls alive—but Chandler was still standing there, oblivious to his date(?)’s distraction.
In the end, I minded my own business and excused myself.
I had other people to see.
I slipped through the crowd and into the supply closet. Maya was waiting for me, her shoulder propped against a shelf of dry goods.
“Took you long enough,” she said.
“I had to finish making the rounds. You know how it goes.” I gave her a soft kiss and breathed in the delicate scent of her perfume. “Everyone’s asking where you are. You excused yourself to use the restroom…” I checked the clock. “Half an hour ago.”
“I’ll tell them I wastryingto wish my boyfriend good luck,” she teased, placing a hand on my chest. My heart thumped beneathher touch. “It’s here. You did it. Breathe.” Her words were soft.
“I am. I will.” I dragged in a lungful of air. “I should get back to the kitchen. Service starts soon.”
“I know.” Maya stood on tiptoes and kissed me again. “One kiss for good luck. One kiss to be collected after you knock it out of the park.”
“Are you withholding a kiss from me?”
“You needsomethingto motivate you.”
I chuckled, my grin still in place as I left the supply closet and headed into the kitchen. Our interaction had been brief, but I’d needed it.
Without her—the beautiful, incredible, fucking brilliant woman who’d held me together through the lows and pushed me to highs I hadn’t thought I was capable of—I wouldn’t have survived the past thirteen months. Maya was my secret weapon. As long as I had her by my side, I could do anything.
