One Unforgettable Weekend (Millionaires 0f Manhattan Book 6)

by Andrea Laurence

  There was no suppressing Violet’s expression of wide-eyed horror as she turned back to Betsy. “Betsy, is Father coming tonight?”

  Betsy bit at her lip as though she were hesitant to say the words aloud. “He is. Both he and your mother are planning to come. But I didn’t know you didn’t want him here or I wouldn’t have said anything to him. I thought it was just an oversight. There’s nothing I can do about it now.”

  “It’s not that I didn’t want them to come,” Violet said, hoping her shocked reaction wouldn’t get back to her parents somehow. “I’m just avoiding having an important conversation with them and I don’t want to do it here, tonight.”

  “About Mr. Rosso?”

  Violet blinked a few times in confusion. What did her ex-fiancé have to do with any of this? “What makes you think this has something to do with Beau?”

  Now Betsy looked as though she wanted to disappear into the velvet drapes behind her. “Because they’re bringing him with them tonight,” she said in a voice so small, Violet almost didn’t hear her.

  “What?” Everyone nearby heard Violet’s sharp response, with several people turning to look their way. “Are you serious? Beau will be here tonight, too?”

  “I’m afraid so. You know how they are. Every time they come back into town, they ask me if Beau has come around the office or if you two have reconciled. With the champagne flowing and the slow dancing, they probably figured it would be a good environment for romance. They’re so anxious to have you and Beau get back together.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of that.” Violet turned back to the crowd, this time her eyes seeking out not only Aidan, but her parents and ex-fiancé, as well. The bottom had fallen out of her stomach, making it ache with worry. She took a few sips of merlot to drown the sensation, but it didn’t work.

  “Have I screwed up, Miss Niarchos?”

  “No, Betsy.” Violet used her most calm and practiced voice. “You had no reason to think it was an issue. It’s my fault for not telling you. I should’ve known this would happen anyway. It’s my luck.”

  “Would it help at all if I were to say that you look lovely tonight?” Betsy offered. “The copper shade of your gown is stunning with your coloring.”

  “Thank you, Betsy,” Violet said.

  It had taken her hours to choose a dress for tonight. She wanted just the right thing so she would look amazing on Aidan’s arm. In the end, she’d opted for a taupe halter gown that was covered on the top with copper metallic beading and sequins that faded away down the length, leaving only the draping, sheer fabric from the knee down. The dress had a cluster of copper flowers around her throat, so she’d worn her dark hair up in a messy chignon and opted for only a fancy bracelet and understated earrings to go with it.

  She couldn’t tell Betsy that she’d chosen the color because it reminded her of Aidan’s hair, though.

  “Oh, look,” Betsy said. “Here comes Mr. Murphy.”

  The couples scattered from the dance floor as a song ended, revealing Aidan as he strolled toward her. When his light blue gaze met hers, she forgot about all her other worries for tonight. He was always handsome with his strong build and wild ginger hair, but tonight with that tailored Tom Ford tux, she had to remind herself not to stare. Not even the black satin mask he was wearing could obscure how sexy he looked. In fact, it just highlighted his piercing eyes, square jaw and full mouth. She couldn’t wait to feel that mouth on her body once again.

  He approached with a coy smile that made her core melt and the collar of her gown feel uncomfortably tight. “Good evening, ladies.”

  “Good evening, Mr. Murphy,” Betsy said in a chipper voice. “You’re looking so handsome tonight.”

  Aidan turned to the assistant and took her hand in greeting. “Why thank you. You’re looking lovely yourself. Perhaps you’ll grant me the honor of a spin around the dance floor later.” He lifted the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it.

  Betsy blushed crimson from her cheeks to the respectable amount of cleavage her black beaded gown revealed. She quickly brought her mask up to her face to cover it, but it was too late. Violet had never seen Betsy react this way to anyone. It seemed that women of all ages were quick to succumb to Aidan’s charms. Violet hadn’t stood a chance, really. He was handsome, charming, thoughtful and the sexiest devil she’d ever had the pleasure of sharing a bed with.

  No wonder she was in love with him.

  “And you are looking stunning tonight, Miss Niarchos.” Aidan turned his attention to Violet, taking her hand and kissing it, too.

  The warm press of his lips on her skin sent a shiver up her arm and down her spine. The simple touch was enough to make her nipples tighten with anticipation and press eagerly against the silky fabric of her dress. She tried not to squirm, delicately extracting her hand before anyone nearby noticed how their touch lingered.

  “And where, pray tell, is your mask? This is a masquerade party, isn’t it?”

  Violet sighed and reached into her small clutch to pull it out. It was a copper metallic mask, with intricate swirling cutouts. The color perfectly matched her dress, but she’d been too busy worrying about getting the party started to put it on. Pressing it to her face, she tied the satin ribbon behind her head. “Is that better?”

  “In truth, not really. Now I can’t see your beautiful face. I guess I’ll have to settle for gazing into your enchanting eyes.”

  Violet giggled nervously, worried Betsy would read too much into their exchange. “You’re laying it on thick tonight, Mr. Murphy. Perhaps you’d better use that charm on the potential donors instead of me. I’ve already given you money.”

  “Will you excuse me?” Betsy smiled and headed off to the other side of the ballroom where something needed her attention.

  Violet gave a heavy sigh of relief once she was gone, although she feared it would be short-lived. “Do you want everyone to know we’re together?” she asked.

  “I’m being charming. That’s what you told me to do. I can’t help it if my words sound more sincere when I’m speaking to you. I mean every one. I also mean it when I say that I’d like the next dance with you.”

  Aidan held out his hand, and Violet knew she couldn’t resist it. “Just one,” she warned.

  “One is all I need.”

  * * *

  Aidan led Violet to the already crowded dance floor. He made his way through the couples to the center of the crowd and then turned to pull her into his arms.

  She moved into him, gripping his hand and resting her other hand on his shoulder. Even then she was stiff in his arms. She seemed anxious, although he wasn’t sure why. The event was going smoothly. Just like everything she did, it was perfect.

  He wondered if there wasn’t more to it, though. The ring in his coat pocket felt like a hundred-pound boulder pulling him down. It was a constant reminder of what he intended to do tonight, although at the moment, he was rethinking his plan. It felt like a proposal would just pile more stress upon Violet, who was already strung tight as a drum.

  “Are you worried someone will see us dancing and think too much of it?”

  “Yes and no,” Violet admitted. “Just be careful tonight. Betsy just told me that my parents and Beau plan to attend despite me not inviting them.”

  Aidan’s brow knit together beneath his mask. Just when he seemed to think he was making progress with her, she would say something that set them back. “Why didn’t you invite them? Don’t you usually include them in foundation events?”

  “I do. And they attend when they’re in town. But tonight was different. I didn’t invite them because I didn’t...” Her voice trailed off.

  “You didn’t want them to see us together.” Aidan felt a bitter taste rise up in his throat. He knew then that the ring was staying in his pocket tonight, no matter what.

  God forbid her rich, perfectionist pare
nts find out she was slumming with someone like him. That had to be why she seemed so adamant about keeping the lid on their relationship. “After everything I told you about my breakup with Iris, I can’t believe you’re going to stand here and tell me you didn’t invite them because I’m not good enough for them to see us together.”

  Violet’s eyes widened, filling the large space cut out of her mask. “No. That is absolutely not why I did it. Don’t put horrible words in my mouth like that.”

  “Then enlighten me,” he demanded.

  Violet sighed and looked around them at the nearby dancers for a moment. “This isn’t about you, Aidan. You are amazing. You’re a great father to Knox. I love every minute I spend with you. This is completely about them. I didn’t want to subject you to them until it was absolutely necessary. I’ve told you how they are with me... I’m never good enough. I wanted to protect you from that. But know that no matter what they say or do, their opinions are their own, not mine.”

  “Okay. Then kiss me,” he challenged.

  Violet stiffened in his arms. “That isn’t appropriate at a foundation event.”

  Aidan only shook his head. “Maybe not, but do it anyway. Thumb your nose at the people who say we’re not a good match and show them all we’re together.”

  She glanced around the room, anxiously looking for someone. He parents most likely.

  “Come on.” He captured her chin in his hand and gently turned her face toward his. “Kiss me, Violet. Forget about everything and everyone else and show me how you feel about me.”

  “Aidan...”

  “If you can’t do this right here, right now, we might as well stop seeing each other and just stick to coparenting Knox. I’m not going to spend our whole relationship as a dark secret you’re afraid of people finding out about.”

  Violet’s delicate brow creased in concern as she studied his face. “You’re not my dark secret, Aidan.”

  “Then kiss me and prove it.”

  Violet sighed and placed a hand against his cheek. “If that’s what it’s going to take for you to believe me, then fine. Let the whole world see this.”

  She leaned into him, reaching up to press her lips to his. He met her halfway, scooping her into his arms and holding her close. Then their lips met, and the world seemed to fade away for a while. There was no crowd, no disapproving parents, not even an orchestra playing nearby. It was just him and her. He wished he could bottle how it felt in the moment so he could remember it when life seemed too complicated.

  Or once she was gone from his life forever.

  A loud “ahem” interrupted the moment.

  Pulling apart, they turned to find an older, well-dressed couple standing beside them. It only took half a heartbeat for Aidan to realize that it was Violet’s parents. The woman looked like a more mature version of Violet with more gray than brown in her hair and soft wrinkles creasing her eyes and mouth. She was wearing a sparkling gray gown and easily half a million dollars in diamonds and gray pearls. The man was shorter, rounder and mostly bald, but he had shrewd dark eyes just like his daughter. Neither of them looked happy to find their daughter on the dance floor kissing some stranger.

  Violet moved even farther away from Aidan once she realized who had interrupted them. Aidan noticed the move, but now wasn’t the time to mention it.

  “Mother. Father. You’re home early from your trip,” she said with a forced smile as she untied her mask.

  Aidan noticed there was no warmth between them. No kisses or hugs of greeting after all that time apart. Not even a handshake. Just a polite, verbal exchange. He couldn’t imagine having that sterile of a relationship with his parents, even when his father was at the height of his drinking.

  Mr. Niarchos didn’t comment on his daughter’s words, instead turning to Aidan and ignoring her entirely. He studied every inch of him, then sighed heavily as though he recognized the similarities between Aidan and Knox and was less than impressed with the man who must be his grandson’s biological father.

  “Our invitation got lost in the mail,” Mr. Niarchos said with a dry tone that indicated he didn’t believe that for a second. “I’m glad we were able to make it anyway, however. Wouldn’t have wanted to miss this.” He looked from Aidan to Violet with a displeased scowl distorting his face.

  “Mother, Father, this is Aidan Murphy.” Violet started the introductions with a hint of nerves in her voice. “He’s the one starting the Molly’s House transitional home in memory of his late parents.”

  Her mother smiled politely, but her father just continued to stare Aidan down.

  “Can I have a moment alone with Mr. Murphy?” her father asked after an awkward silence.

  “I’d rather you didn’t,” Violet said, but her father gave her a stern look that made her confidence shrivel right before Aidan’s eyes.

  “It’s okay,” Aidan interjected. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, stroking her skin to soothe her and keep him from punching the other man for talking to her that way. “I’ll be right back.”

  He followed her father away from the dance floor to a corner of the room that was more private. Private enough to talk, but not so much that there wouldn’t be witnesses if things went sideways.

  “I’ve been watching you two together, son.”

  Aidan straightened his spine, ensuring he towered several inches over her father, who wasn’t much taller than Violet. He might be a billionaire wearing more in gold and designer clothing than Aidan would make in a year, but Aidan wasn’t about to be intimidated by him the way Violet was. He didn’t have any power over him. “I’m not your son. My name is Aidan.”

  “You’re right. And you never will be my son, you understand? You think I don’t know who you are with that bright red hair? The moment I saw you two dancing I knew the truth. But it doesn’t matter. You haven’t landed your meal ticket.”

  “Anyone who sees Violet as nothing more than a meal ticket doesn’t deserve her,” Aidan worked up the courage to say, interrupting him. Violet was smart and strong and a wonderful mother. To reduce her to the balance of her bank accounts was offensive.

  Mr. Niarchos scowled at him for a moment and then pointed a stubby finger in his direction. “Her future is with Beau. Someone who understands her and her life, someone who’s of the same class and background as her. I don’t know you, Mr. Murphy. I don’t know if you’re a plumber or a taxi driver or what, but I know this—you’re temporary in her life. You might be Knox’s father, but that won’t matter for long. Violet will come to her senses and you will be a footnote in the story of her life, I guarantee it.”

  Aidan tried to hold as stoic a face as he could while the older man spewed his hateful diatribe at him. He wanted to fight back, to argue the point with her father, but since a part of him agreed with every word he said, that made it hard. Since the moment he realized that his disappearing lover was billionaire socialite Violet Niarchos, he’d had those doubts running through his mind.

  He wasn’t after a sugar mama. Honestly, the money was more of a detriment to their relationship than a perk. He already knew he wasn’t good enough for her, and he didn’t want to deal with the kind of rich snobbery that followed people like Violet around. He would always be judged, always have noses turned up at him, always be accused of using Violet. He didn’t need that. He’d had enough of that at the advertising firm where he was one of the few self-made successes among a bunch of spoiled elitist kids.

  “You may be right, sir, but that’s Violet’s decision to make, not yours.”

  With every ounce of self-control he had, Aidan turned and walked away. There was nothing more to be said between them. Both had made it pretty clear where they stood. Now he had to go or he would say or do something he would regret. Like it or not, that was Knox’s grandfather.

  It might be his party, but Aidan had had enough for tonight. The rich would
continue drinking and mingling without him, he was sure. He had just cleared the ballroom when he heard a woman’s voice shouting his name in the hall. He stopped and turned to see Violet rushing after him.

  “Aidan, wait!”

  He held his ground until she caught up with him. “I’m going home, Violet.”

  “What did he say to you?” she asked with concern lining her face.

  “Nothing I didn’t already know.”

  “Please don’t take it personally, Aidan. He wouldn’t like any man that wasn’t Beau. Father’s got it in his head that Beau is the right match for me. And yes, it would be easier to date Beau, but—”

  “Easier?” Aidan interrupted. “Is dating me such a hardship? Is slumming at ballgames and eating hot dogs with me so horrible that you’d rather be drinking champagne and eating caviar on a yacht with an ass like your ex?”

  “No. Of course not. All I’m trying to say is that it would be easier for us if we were more alike.”

  “You mean if I was rich, too, so you didn’t have to feel self-conscious about your money and the fact that I don’t have any.”

  “No, Aidan. I mean everything. Culturally, religiously, family history... Beau and I come from very similar backgrounds so there’s less friction with things like that. We grew up together and went to the same Greek Orthodox church. We just have a lot in common.”

  “So it’s not that I’m poor, it’s that I’m poor, Irish and Catholic? Iris didn’t even stoop that low. She wasn’t much of a shining example of womanhood, but at least she was honest about money being the most important thing to her.”

  Violet dropped her face into her hands. “You’re obviously in a fighting mood and nothing I say is going to come out right in your mind. So go home if you want to. Just know that I don’t want to be with Beau, Aidan. I want to be with you. Because I love you.”

  If Aidan had heard those words at any other moment, his heart might have leaped with joy. But not right now. It just seemed like a bandage over a wound that wasn’t going to heal anytime soon. He was a fool to keep beating his head against the wall where Violet was concerned.