But I wanted to think she would like Gabby, approve even. It was hard not to when she looked at you with those big, doe eyes. Plus, unlike the other Thorntons, Mother never said anything bad about Gabby, which made me think maybe she liked her just a little, which in Norah Kincaid’s world might as well have been an entire ocean of love.
“Where are your parents?” she asked Cordelia. “The host and hostess should usually be near the doors to greet their guests, but I suppose Thorntons do things differently.”
I could have sworn a muscle ticked under Cordelia’s right eye, but her smile never wavered, even if it had stiffened around the edges.
“I believe they’re in the parlor,” she said through barely moving lips.
“The parlor?” Norah twisted one hand into the other. “I see. Maybe it’s like a game. Hide and seek.” she turned impatient eyes to me. “I am off to seek our hosts in the parlor. If I don’t see you by the end of the evening, best regards, and I had something put into your car for you.”
A journal. I didn’t even have to see it to know.
“Thank you. I’m sure I’ll love it.”
With nothing more to say, she turned and flounced away, only to get caught by a group of women and forget all about the parlor.
“Your mother is so spirited,” Cordelia mumbled in what she probably considered good grace.
I ignored it.
“You look very nice tonight,” I told her, because it was expected, and because it was true.
Her smile widened. “Thank you. You look quite handsome yourself.” She lifted a small hand and adjusted my bow tie. Her hand settled on my chest, palm flat. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about last weekend. Work had me swamped all week or I would have swung by your place to apologize. I was hoping we could talk I’ve Friday lunch, but...” she didn’t say, you cancelled, but the implication was there. “That entire situation was simply unacceptable.”
I captured her hand and lowered it.
“You already apologized,” I reminded her. “And I told you it was forgotten.”
“I know.” She bunched up her nose that reminded me a little of Gabby. “I just ... I can’t believe I behaved that way. It was improper and so rude.”
“Cordelia.” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “It’s fine. Let’s move past it.”
I followed my own example by attempting to move past her. But she bolted right back in front of me.
“Mom and Dad asked if I could start the dancing tonight. I was hoping you would help me.”
There was nothing more pretentious than being the couple following the guests of honor onto the floor. It was nothing more than a claiming ceremony announcing to the entire room that I had been claimed. Every year, Cordelia asked, and every year, I refused.
“Let me consider it,” I told her. “I’m just going to find your parents.”
“They’re in the parlor,” she said, motioning in the direction I’d walked a million times in the past.
Thanking her, I dodged around her and made my way in that direction. Part of me hoped Gabby would be there, but knowing she wouldn’t. She had a knack for turning invisible during those things, like a mirage, one blink and she was gone.
My hunch had been right. Gabby was nowhere near the parlor. But David and Marcella were, surrounded by a dozen crotch lickers in thousand-dollar getups. I was about to become one of them.
“Kieran!” David waved me over. “Delighted you could make it, my boy. Did you see Cordy?”
I made my way over to the group, gaze still scanning the room in case I missed Gabby hiding somewhere. She wasn’t.
“Congratulations on your anniversary.” I clapped hands with the man before turning to the wife. “You look beautiful, Marcella.”
She leaned in and enveloped me in a plume of something floral and citrusy that stung my eyes. Her lips brushed my cheeks on either side before she pulled back.
“We’re so glad you could make it,” she said with just enough pep to not make it feel like she was repeating herself for the hundredth time that evening.
It was strange that I never noticed before, but there was nothing of Gabby in her. Not the eyes, not the face. I always thought kids got something of their parents, but apparently not Gabby. Cordelia, on the other hand, was the spitting image of Marcella. Even Eric had his mother’s jaw. I couldn’t help wondering if Gabby hadn’t been taken from a mall somewhere.
“It’s my pleasure.”
“Did you already have a drink?” David cut in.
I shook my head. “I only just arrived.”
“Go get a drink,” David ordered. “We’re going to move this into the next room shortly. Actually.” He slipped free of his wife and shifted his body closer to mine. “There are some people I want you to meet before you go.”
I had no interest in meeting anyone. I wanted to find Gabby. But I raised an interested brow and let him lead me away from the group.
The people turned out to be four of my dad’s old friends. Simon Wiliger, Joseph Knight, Leshan Gurier, and Dennis Hall. The tiny group stood in the corner of the sitting room, tumblers of scotch in hand and arrogant expressions. They perked when we approached. The conversation dimmed into silence. Arrogance dissolved into amusement.
“What’s this, Thornton?” Joseph took a sip of his drink. “Escaping your wife already?”
David ignored the question and set a hand on my shoulder. “You boys know Kieran, Walter’s kid, don’t you?”
I was thirty-five, too old to be anyone’s kid. But I inclined my head mutely and waited to see what my purpose was.
But Walter’s kid had their attention. Grins melted into exchanged glances of interest that made my spine itch.
“We’re sorry for your loss,” Dennis said first. “Your father was a good man.”
I nodded. “Thank you.”
“He’s definitely been missed,” Simon added. “We had some good times with him.”
The unease increased along my skin, but I said nothing.
“The boys and I usually get together on weekends and ... socialize,” David said. “Nothing too exciting, but we definitely get our money’s worth.”
The implication made my skull throb. I didn’t know what it was about me that made everyone seem to think I had any sort of interest in that kind of thing, but it was beginning to bring out the homicidal tendencies out in me.
“I’ll have to see my schedule,” I lied.
That had the five exchanging glances.
“Of course,” David said before the others could open their mouths. “We didn’t expect anything different. We just wanted to extend the invitation.”
Marcella appeared in the doorway and motioned her husband to her.
“That’s my cue,” David stepped away from the group. “I’ll see you gentlemen in a bit.”
He left me with his friends, an awkward situation I couldn’t leave fast enough.
“I’m going to get myself a drink,” I lied. “It was nice seeing you all again.”
“You should join us,” Joseph interjected before I could leave. “You might find you have quite a bit in common with our interests.”
I paused and turned back. “How so?”
“We know,” Simon piped in, keeping his voice low. “About your father’s ... tastes. He had a nose for finding some of the best entertainment.”
“We know you have his lists,” Leshane said.
“If you’re not interested, we’d be happy to buy them off you,” Joseph finished. “Just name your price.”
There it was. The whole purpose behind the meet and greet. David wanted my dad’s folders, the names and locations of all the underground clubs. The good ones. The ones every true sadist coveted. Walter had spent years collecting them and protecting them, using them to show off to his friends.
Walter was gone.
The power was all mine now.
“They’re not for sale,” I told them flatly. “But I appreciate your interest.”
&
nbsp; I may not have been able to stop the pain and torture that took place beneath the city streets, but I wasn’t going to pass that information along to men like them, sick, twisted men who preyed on the weak and helpless. Those files would either get burned to ashes, or kept somewhere no one would ever find them. But they were never going to get used if I had any say.
“Just like his father,” Simon muttered when I started to turn away.
I stopped and faced them for a second time, my patience at its end.
“I am nothing like my father,” I told them quietly. “I am nothing like you. That should worry each of you greatly. Men of wealth, power, and esteem. Imagine what the papers would say if they knew what you do in the dark.”
I left them with those words for company and made my way in the direction of the rec room. I checked my watch, hoping enough time had passed so we could leave.
It took three full circles through most of the main floor before I found her.
She’d wedged herself near a bookshelf in the library, an untouched flute of champagne in hand. She caught sight of me and her face lit up.
“Hey!”
“You are not an easy woman to find,” I told her, joining her in the dark, little corner. “What are we hiding from, lady spy?”
She chuckled, and to my surprise, leaned against my side. I made no comment, but slipped my arm around her waist.
“Everyone. No one ever comes into the library. I think books scare them.”
I made a humming sound. “Interesting considering most of them are judges and elected officials.”
She giggled. “Right?”
She turned her face into my chest and I tightened my arm.
“Hey.” I tipped her chin up with a finger. “We can leave. Right now. Say the word.”
“I have a weird feeling,” she whispered as if sharing a dark secret. “I always get them at these things, but...” She flattened a hand to her stomach. “It seems more intense tonight. I think I’m just nervous about David finding out that we’re together.”
“There isn’t a fucking thing he can do,” I told her. “Do you hear me? I could kiss you right in front of him and if he makes one move, I’ll fucking kill him. I promise you that.”
Her drink was set on a shelf, leaving her hands free to wrap around my middle. She sighed my name and nestled her face into my shoulder.
“I love you.”
I kissed the side of her head. “Love you, too, baby.”
“Kieran?”
“Yeah?”
She tipped her head back to peer into my face. “Can we not stay for dinner? I’ll make something, or we can pick something up—”
I kissed her. “Do what you need to and let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Her smile was beautiful, a bright bloom of relief. “Let me just congratulate my parents, okay?”
I skimmed her lips again with mine. “I’ll get us a reservation.”
Still grinning, she broke away from me and hurried from the room. I pulled my phone out and dialed the first place I could think of — a Mediterranean cuisine — and booked a table. I stowed the device away and went in search of Gabby.
I found her in the sunroom with everyone else. The space had been cleared of all furniture, leaving it open and spacious with fairy lights and candles. It was the perfect place for dancing, but no one was.
A stage had been erected at the head of the room, a wall of windows overlooking the starry night. The entire family stood up there, including Gabby.
David stepped up to the mic and smiled over the crowd.
“Hello.” His voice boomed over the room, silencing the chatter. “Marcella and I want to thank each of you for coming. It means a great deal that you would share this night with us...”
I tuned out the rest of his speech, my focus on the woman standing on the other side of Eric. The one part of the perfect picture, but not really. While Marcella had her arms looped through Cordelia and Eric’s elbows, no one was holding Gabby’s arm. She had her fingers laced in front of her and was watching David give his speech with quiet interest.
It made me wonder how I never noticed the subtle little things before. I’d always thought I knew everything about her, but I felt like everything I thought I knew was a lie.
Not the things I knew about Gabby as a person. All of that remained perfectly intact. I knew she was amazing, funny, intelligent, dedicated, driven, caring, generous. None of those things had changed. But I was beginning to notice everything else, like how completely alone she was, how she always seemed a little tenser around her family, how she always lost the colors in her face when David got too close.
An eruption of applause broke me from my deducing and I blinked. My gaze swung over the room before returning to the Thornton family, who were climbing off the stage.
Music started and David pulled Marcella onto the clearing. He spun her out under his arm and pulled her seamlessly back. Her black and silver dress billowed around her legs like a blooming flower. The crowd oo’d and ahh’d, but I’d lost track of my woman again.
Unlike Cordelia and Eric who’d moved off to one side, she’d climbed off the stage and disappeared into the crowd. Part of me wondered if she was heading to the car, but I doubted it.
“Are you ready?” Cordelia appeared next to me, eyes bright. “The dance,” she reminded me when I only stared.
Crap, I thought.
“Yes, I just need one moment.”
Her delicate features wavered. I could see her trying to pick her words carefully while maintaining her smile for those around us.
“We only have a moment,” she stated around tightly clenched teeth.
“That’s all I need.”
I moved away from her and delved in the direction Gabby had gone, murmuring apologize as I cut a path.
I found her in my usual armchair in the parlor. Her big eyes sprung up when I walked in and widened.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I could ask you the same question.”
Her gaze lowered. “Cordelia said you’d promised her the first dance, so I was just waiting.”
“No, I promised I would think about it. I never actually said I would dance with her.”
“Kieran...”
I extended my palm. “Come, love. Don’t make me go all Swayze on you; no one puts baby in the corner.” I grinned when she laughed. “Come on.”
She took my hand and I lifted her to her feet.
“This is a bad idea.”
I snorted. “But those are the best kind.”
I led her into the next room just as Eric pulled his buxom beauty onto the floor alongside his parents. I spotted Cordelia exactly where I’d left her, anxiously searching the faces for mine. I knew it was mine, because her face lit up when our eyes met. Her red lips bowed into a wide smile that almost immediately plummeted when she noticed Gabby next to me.
Confusion twisted her pretty features. It must have been a rare occurrence, because it didn’t seem natural the way she kept blinking and opening and shutting her mouth. I would have found it hilarious, except Gabby had gone rigid. Her grip had become a crushing vice around mine.
I pulled her onto the dance floor and spun her into my arms. What should have been fluid appeared tense and awkward by the stiffness that locked her limbs, giving her the appearance of a doll.
“Easy, love,” I murmured. “There’s no one here, but me.”
Eyes the bright green of fresh grass sprinted away from her sister and found my face. The genuine terror reflected in their glassy depths splintered all the way up my spine.
“You’re going to get me killed,” she murmured, her lips the only color on her face.
I pulled her closer despite her resistance.
“No one’s going to touch you.” I skimmed the ridges of her spine with the tips of my fingers, marveling at the silky softness beneath my touch. “Have I told you how fucking amazing you look tonight?”
Heavy lashes li
fted and I was caught in her stare once more, only this time, there was a pink flush in her cheeks that I was dying to stroke.
“I was hoping to get lucky tonight.”
There was my girl.
I chuckled. “Oh, I can guarantee it.”
I dipped my thumb over the satin bit of skin just above the line where her dress started over the curve of her backside and had the pleasure of watching her exhale softly.
“I don’t want this,” I told her quietly. “I don’t want to share you on our anniversary. I want it to be just you and me somewhere far away for a whole week. No families. No work. No phones. We’ll pick a place on the map and disappear.”
Her features softened. “Yes, I want that.”
“When we have kids, they’ll come with us, but I want you to myself for at least two nights. That goes for date nights, too. At least two weekends every month. Full weekends.”
She chuckled. “Anything else?”
“I have the full list at home,” I teased. “I’ll get you a copy.”
“A full list, huh?” She laughed and shook her head. “Can’t wait to see it.”
“You know what I can’t wait for?” I flattened my palm to the small of her back and pulled her closer, dissolving that sliver of space separating her from me and eradicating any doubts anyone may have had about my intentions. “To take you home, take that dress off, and relearn all the places that make you moan.”
Gabby bit her bottom lip. “You need to stop that.”
“Making you moan?”
Her color deepened. “Making me forget why—”
I never learned what I made her forget when the song ended and the other dancers I hadn’t noticed until that moment came into view.
Gabby started tugging out of my arms, but I held her firmly in place.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.
“You should dance with someone else next,” she said, the tension returning to her lips.
“I don’t want to dance with anyone else.” I tucked her back against me as the next song started.
“Kieran.”
“Hey, what have I said about using that tone when saying my name?”
She looked up at me, her expression a mixture of deathly fear and begging. “I thought we were leaving.”
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