Reyn rolled her eyes, but then she pressed closer to Velario and took her hands off her hips in order to wrap her arms around him. Her voice gained that seductive edge that had Velario hard in an instant, though she directed her words at Enzi. “You didn’t honestly think I’d pick you over Velario, did you?”
Reyn wasn’t surewhat possessed her to taunt Enzi, but the words—and lure—felt so right. Perhaps it was simple relief. With Velario at her side, she didn’t have to placate Enzi until they returned to the ballroom. With his confession of counterfeiting made, she didn’t need to worry about his opinion of her in case they crossed paths in the future.
She could proclaim her contempt openly.
Enzi sneered. “You’re making a huge mistake. When he goes down, you’ll go with him.”
Reyn let Velario explain how wrong Enzi was. He deserved the chance to gloat.
Velario chuckled. “When I go down? You just admitted to treason, Sablon. You explained your treason with Lord Geratisi, Lord Medio, Lady Dachsi, and Lady Jianna all listening. Oh, and your father. He, too, heard every word you said condemning you both.”
Reyn looked up at Velario in surprise. “You got his father as a witness? Well done.”
She lifted her lips to kiss his cheek, but he turned, and her lips instead met his. She pressed a little closer, but remembering their audience, pulled back before the kiss could deepen any further. Not that she minded Enzi seeing her kiss Velario, but now was not the time.
She almost expected the lord to turn tail and run after Velario’s announcement. She did not expect him to turn a brilliant shade of red, shriek, and charge Velario.
With Reyn’s arms around his waist, Velario couldn’t evade Enzi’s attack. He staggered backward, out of her reach, in the collision. Enzi pulled back and cocked his fist. Then he stood there, swaying on his feet, his fist still raised, but a look of dreamy contentment on his face.
Reyn spun around to see Khiran standing in the parlor doorway.
“Lisca thought someone might need my calming influence back here. Also, Velario, you are wanted to help deal with whatever is going on by the carriages.”
Velario didn’t take his eyes off Enzi. “We need to get him out to a carriage, too.”
“Reyn and I will bring Enzi along. You go ahead, I think they need you faster than Enzi will be moving.”
“Are you sure you can manage him?”
“We’ll be fine,” Reyn assured Velario. “Go do what you need to.”
Velario walked back over to her and leaned down. This kiss was even briefer than the one from a few minutes earlier, but it was also more intense. She knew Velario wasn’t putting on an act for their audience, either. That kiss was just for them—a thanks and a promise all in one.
Velario stepped back. “Thank you. If you and Khiran can load him into a carriage and keep him there, I’ll get everyone else sorted out so we can head over to the palace.”
Velario strode out of the room. Reyn watched until he disappeared down the hall, then looked back at Khiran.
He was grinning. “So, I take it you and Velario have worked out your differences?”
“You know our fight yesterday was all a part of this plan.” Reyn gestured at Enzi, who still swayed with a huge smile on his face. “How do we do this?”
“I wasn’t talking about your fight.” Khiran walked over to the other man and put one hand on his back and grabbed his wrist with the other to direct him. Enzi shuffled forward without protest.
Reyn opened the door fully. “Then what did you mean?”
“I meant whatever had you and Vel glaring daggers at each other, even while you wanted to jump into bed together. The tension was thick enough between you that I didn’t need Lisca’s insights to know that your relationship was not the sweet courtship you made it out to be. I’m guessing whatever is going on with the Sablons and the bank was the initial reason you pretended to be together.”
Reyn hesitated to confirm or deny Khiran’s guess. She supposed the ploy was no longer necessary. But then again, she and Velario had moved beyond the bounds of their original scheme.
Khiran didn’t wait for a response. He ushered Enzi through a back hall Reyn had never been in and kept talking. “You and Velario are no longer dancing around each other, and I’m glad to see that your act is no longer an act. I’m happy for you both.”
Reyn opened the next door and was grateful for the rush of cold air that hit her. She didn’t have to answer Khiran, for he walked past her and told her to wait inside, since she wasn’t dressed for the cold.
Neither he nor Enzi wore coats, but their evening wear protected them from the chill far better than Reyn’s bare arms and low-cut gown.
She didn’t step back or close the door, though. She needed the cold bite of early winter to counter the heat flooding her after Khiran’s words. It wasn’t that he probably guessed that she had slept with Velario. She didn’t care if he knew, or even if he and Lisca speculated on what happened when she and Velario were alone.
But she didn’t know how to handle the truth of his words. Their act was no longer an act. At least not on Reyn’s part. When she had snuggled up to Velario in the library, she had done it to enrage Enzi. But it had also felt right. She had spent so much time pressing in close to Velario over the past weeks that the nearness was natural. It was comfortable. Comforting.
