Our relationship had shifted in Vermont. It was a small but seismic change, and until I found my footing, I didn’t trust myself around her.
I’d already done too much by sending her the cake and milkshake at Brasserie M, but at least I’d had a go-between there. If I attended tonight, I’d have to see her myself. But if Ididn’tattend, it would be a huge fuck-you. We never skipped each other’s birthdays, and I didn’t want to torch that bridge.
Plus, I needed to keep an eye on Killian.
The billionaire bachelor took in our surroundings with a low whistle. “Impressive. I’ve been missing out.”
We were standing in the ballroom of the Singhs’ Westchester estate, which had been transformed into a giant big top for tonight’s party. Aerialists swung from silks attached to the ceiling; staff manned a gourmet popcorn bar and multiple carnival food stands. Fire dancers performed alongside contortionists, fortune tellers, and a world-famous magician who made people “vanish” in front of a delighted crowd.
“You haven’t been missing that much,” I said. Maybe if he thought this kind of extravagance was the exception rather than the rule, he’d stay away from Maya’s parties in the future.
I didn’t know why he’d RSVP’d yes in the first place. He’d never shown an interest in these types of parties before, so his sudden appearance was suspicious. What was he up to?
Killian gave me an odd look, but he didn’t call me out on my somewhat rude response. “You and Maya are old friends, right?” he asked as I ordered two Lion Tamers at the bar. “You should introduce us. We’re acquainted, but I’ve never had a proper conversation with her.”
My irritation sharpened. “I wouldn’t say we’re friends. We’re working on a collaboration together, but that’s it.” I took the drinks from the bartender and handed one to Killian. “If you’re already acquainted, you can talk to her yourself. You don’t need my endorsement. I doubt it’ll help anyway.”
“I don’t need your endorsement, Laurent,” he said dryly.“I just figured it’d be less awkward if a mutual acquaintance reintroduced us.”
“Seb! Good to see you.” Thankfully, Xavier showed up at that moment and saved me from having to respond. He clapped me on the shoulder and arched an eyebrow at Killian. “Katrakis. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Like I told Laurent, I needed a change.” Killian’s gaze coasted over to Dante, Vuk, Kai Young, and Dominic Davenport, who came up behind Xavier with varying expressions of curiosity, enjoyment, and apathy. “Where are your better halves?”
“Vivian’s the event planner, so she’s busy all night.” Dante didn’t sound happy about having to share his wife with work, but his eyes glittered with pride as he glanced around the room.
“She did a great job,” I said.
“Of course she did,” he said, his tone matter of fact. “She’s the best.”
It was a surprisingly heartfelt sentiment for a man who’d once hated his arranged marriage so much he’d sought to destroy his father-in-law, but time and love did strange things to people—even ones as surly as Dante Russo.
“Alé and her friends are getting their palms read.” Dominic gestured to where Alessandra was sitting at the fortune teller’s table with Sloane, Ayana, and Kai’s wife Isabella. “It’s pseudoscience, but she thought it would be fun.”
“Do you think the fortune teller will advise her to leave you again if you keep referring to her hobbies as pseudoscience?” Xavier asked innocently.
Laughter rang throughout our group. Even Vuk’s mouth lifted for a second as Dominic scowled at us. His divorce and subsequent remarriage to Alessandra was a perennial sore spot.
“That is not one of her hobbies, and I’ve never referred to anything else she’s liked as pseudoscience,” he said coolly. “Atleast I’m not forced to watch shitty rom-coms every other night so my girlfriend can eviscerate them in her reviews.”
“Those rom-coms aren’t shitty.” Xavier paused. “Well, some of themareshitty, but they’re still fun, which is something you need more of in your life. Don’t let Bea grow up in a joyless household.”
Bea was Dominic and Alessandra’s daughter.
“We have plenty of joy in our household,” Dominic grumbled. “We took her to a Christmas market last weekend.”
“She’s one and a half years old,” Kai said. His aristocratic British accent made his words sound more pointed than he’d perhaps intended. “I don’t think she cares about Christmas markets.”
“You spent last weekend building new bookshelves for your wife’s dinosaur erotica, so please forgive me if I don’t listen to your opinion on, oh,anything,” Dominic countered.
Dinosaur erotica?I wasn’t going to ask. There were some things I didn’t need to know.
“You did not build those shelves,” I said, skeptical.
Kai was a born-and-bred scholar. The man translated books into Latin for fun, for Christ’s sake. He wouldn’t dabble in carpentry in his free time.
“As a matter of fact, I did,” he said. “I wanted to learn something new, and it was a good bonding activity for us.”
“Uh-huh.” Xavier didn’t look convinced. “What percentage did you build and what percentage did Isabella build?”
