But I’d been right before. I was really going to have to watch myself here. It would be way too easy to fall for him, especially while we sipped wine side by side and soaked up the Italian zest for life that seemed to be present in every molecule of air we breathed.
All day, we’d spent together with hands linked loosely as we wandered around some more. It had only been about an hour and half ago that we’d gotten back to the hotel to get ready for the gala that would kick off his conference.
Cyrus had gotten me a dress—without my knowledge—that had been wrapped in a white box with black and silver ribbons wrapped around it. He’d had it delivered to my room while we’d been out and it fit me like a glove.
It was an electric-violet color, a floor-length gown with sheer straps and according to the embossed paper note from the designer that had come with it, handmade beads and sparkling crystals sewn onto the bust. The skirt cinched around my waist, then kicked out just enough to provide balance to the width of my shoulders.
I’d never had the perfect hourglass figure, but the dress was a masterpiece that sure made it look like I did. After my shower when we’d gotten back from another day of sightseeing, I’d braided my hair into the fanciest plait I could do. Then I’d tucked it up into an elaborate twist behind my head.
It had taken a lot longer than I’d thought it would, but I’d used the bathroom mirror and a small compact I carried in my purse to check it out, and I thought it was more than worth the time. Going with smoky eyes and a neutral shade for my lipstick, I only just had enough time to give myself a final onceover before a knock came at my door.
I hardly recognized myself, and I smiled as my heart stammered in my chest. Let’s see how you keep it all business tonight, Cy.
I’d managed to put all those weird emotions I’d had before we left into a box, and though I was disappointed about the two-room thing, I was genuinely excited about going to this event with him. I also hoped seeing me in this dress would inspire him to use only one of the rooms tonight.
Because hey, why not get laid while in the city of love with your friend, right?
When I opened the door, a lot of those weird feelings came punching out of the box and they most definitely were not friendly. Cyrus in a suit was beyond hot, but I’d gotten used to that. Cyrus in a tux, however, was just plain beyond. There were no words for how good he looked.
Fire burned in his eyes as they raked down the length of me before coming back up. His lips curved into a smile as he hooked his thumbs into his pockets.
“You look stunning,” he said, a rasp I usually only heard in the bedroom in his voice.
“Thanks. You look okay, too.” I lifted the dress and dipped into a silly curtsy. “Shall we go to the ball?”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling from his chest when I straightened out again. “We shall. There’s just one thing we need to complete your outfit.”
I titled my head. “Yeah, what’s that?”
One of his hands slid into the inside pocket of his jacket, and when he pulled it out, a small velvet box came with it. My breath caught in my throat and my heartrate kicked up a few notches.
No. That can’t be what I think it is, right?
But, of course, it was.
Cyrus lifted the top of the box and presented me with a ring that managed to be dainty and flashy all at the same time. It had the finest filigree work around the band and wasn’t gaudy, but the center stone was large, and the smaller ones inlaid around it weren’t exactly subtle either.
“With this ring, I thee wed.” A slow smirk spread on Cyrus’s lips. “For the night, anyway. What do think? It looks pretty legit, right?”
My hand came up to my chest and I tried to smile, anything not to show the inner maelstrom of emotions from showing on the outside. There was no way I could let Cyrus see how him presenting me with a ring, especially a ring that was so close to the one I’d always wanted, and hearing him say those words affected me.
A part of me that was wholly too big had leaped in joy and it wasn’t just because of the ring or the idea of marriage this time. It was because the man in question was one I would have given my all to if he’d have let me. Or if I’d have let myself, for that matter.
While we hadn’t been intimate since we’d been here, we’d hardly stopped touching. We laughed and talked and walked hand in hand. I’d seen glimpses again of that man I now knew lived inside, the one Peter had alluded to when he’d said there was good guy beneath all that dick demeanor.
Even now, with that one unruly lock of hair refusing to stay back and falling across his forehead, his eyes shining with humor and his posture radiating that cool, calm confidence I’d come to expect from him, I felt connected to him. Almost like I belonged to him.
Well, technically, you do. For tonight, anyway. Just like he’d said.
“Yeah,” I said, blinking back the harsh reality that Cyrus wasn’t really anything more than a friend at most, and forced a smile. “It’s pretty darn legit. You ready to get this show on the road?”
“Let’s,” he said, then reached for my left hand and slid the ring onto it, even bringing it up to his mouth to kiss my hand once he had. “Perfect.”
For one moment—just one moment in time when our eyes connected again—it felt like this wasn’t temporary. Feeling the weight of his ring on my finger felt right, even though I knew it wasn’t right, and for that one moment, I imagined he felt it as well.
Then he opened his mouth and shattered the illusion, or as April would have said, the delusion. “God, am I glad you agreed to fake marry me. I would have hated to have gone to this thing on my own.”
Right. I closed my eyes and sucked in a quiet breath, fortifying myself for the night ahead. “Sure, because you made it so easy to say no.”
He shrugged and held his arm out for me. “Hey, tell me you aren’t glad you said yes. Aren’t you having fun? Doesn’t knowing you’re going back debt free and having seen all this make it a little easier to be fake married to me?”
It left a bitter taste in my mouth actually, but I didn’t mention it. “Well, if there’s anything that makes it worth putting up with you, I guess it’s that.”
Laughing as he gently rested his hand over mine in the crook of his elbow, he shook his head at me. “At least now I know there’s something that makes it worth putting up with me. How about Greece next time?”
“I don’t know,” I said dryly. “What’s the next favor you’re going to need from me?”
“Don’t know yet.” He smirked and pushed the errant hair off his forehead with his free hand. “I’ll let you know, but Greece?”
I sighed but couldn’t hold back just one small smile at how genuinely enthusiastic he sounded. “Sure. Greece, it is.”
It turned out the gala was being held in our hotel. When the elevator let us out in the lobby, it was swarming with elegantly dressed people holding champagne flutes and waiters carrying big silver trays of hors d’oeuvres around.
My eyes slid to the front door and I noticed a sign outside the massive glass windows stating that the hotel was closed for a private function. Holy cow. I didn’t realize this is such a big deal.
As the night wore on, however, I learned a lot of things I hadn’t realized before. Firstly, this event was not only such a big deal, but it was ridiculously fancy as well.
Secondly, Cyrus was as much of a big deal to these people as the event itself was. He was the center of attention and he absolutely rocked the role. More than ever, he practically oozed power and dominance.
Even in a room full of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, Cyrus didn’t blend in. He stood out like an impeccably dressed sore thumb. He kept me close to his side, boasting about how he’d married the most amazing woman in the world, and even though I knew none of the compliments were real, I still found myself proud to be next to him as people fawned over him.
“Let’s go find our seats,” he said as we walked into an actual ballroom. It came complete with cha
ndeliers, about six thousand different pieces of silverware on the tables, and what looked like real diamonds as part of the centerpieces. “We’ll sit for dinner while some speakers take the stage.”
“Are you a speaker tonight?” I asked because he hadn’t mentioned being one but after seeing how revered he was around here, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was.
He chuckled and shook his head as he led us to one of the tables right up front. “They asked, but I’ve spoken two years in a row. I’m pretty sure everyone around here is as bored of listening to me as I am of speaking to them.”
“Only you,” I mused, taking a seat in the chair he pulled out for me.
Cyrus chuckled again and took the seat next to mine, then leaned over to say something in my ear only to stiffen before a word came out. I turned my head, our mouths so close together that we were breathing the same air.
“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” A faint grimace tightened his impression. “Don’t look right now, but the woman who just walked in wearing the red dress? That’s my ex.”
My breathing faltered and my mouth went dry. I was about to get my first look at the only woman Cyrus had ever loved enough to make his wife, the very woman who was the reason I was in this magical place to begin with.
When I finally did turn slowly to take a peek at her, I almost wished I hadn’t. My eyes nearly fell out of my head and I suddenly felt nauseated.
The former Mrs. Coning was beautiful, as I’d imagined she would be. She was simply breathtaking, the kind of gorgeous that had most men in the room turning toward her, even those with what I suspected were models on their own arms.
Blonde hair fell in a sleek curtain around her shoulders, her pale skin perfectly set off by her blood-red dress. Everything from her makeup, to her figure, to the small silver clutch she carried was perfect.
On her left hand, the same one carrying the clutch, sat a ring that was only just on the smaller side of the size of Australia. She flashed a dazzling, red-painted smile at the room, as though she was royalty we had all been waiting for.
A strong arm wrapped around her waist and she turned into it like a flower toward the sun, one graceful hand landing on a broad chest as she turned that smile on the man she had married after Cyrus. It was once my gaze finally left the stunning creature who was apparently as soulless as she was beautiful that I realized who her next target had been.
It was no wonder I’d immediately known the arm was strong or that I’d recognized the broad chest even without really taking him in because I’d had that arm around me plenty of times before. Countless nights I’d set my own hand or head on that chest before falling asleep.
Because the man she had married after Cyrus was the one I’d thought I was going to marry once. He was none other than Landon Parker himself.
In this one instance, I was giving myself a pass. Mentally, at least.
Fuck. Fuckity. Fuck. Fuck.
This was just my fucking luck.
Chapter 32
Cyrus
“Well, that was just as boring as ever,” I said as I led Luna to the bar. “I’m going to need something stronger than wine to shake myself out of the stupor those idiots put me in. What do you feel like drinking?”
Her arm was linked with mine, but Luna was staring off straight ahead like she was in a stupor. All through the speeches, she looked like she’d seen a ghost and had had some kind of mind control exercised on her to forget it.
Every movement she made seemed robotic, automatic. The dessert had been out of this world and she’d hadn’t even made a sound. It was almost like she hadn’t tasted it at all.
I’d chalked it up to her tuning out the speeches, which I totally got, but now I was starting to think there was more going on. I faced her when we reached the bar, propping one elbow on the counter and snapping my fingers in front of her eyes.
“Earth to Luna. Where’d you go, babe? I mean, I know that was boring but it’s over now. It’s okay to come back.”
She didn’t even almost crack a smile at my attempt to joke, but at least she blinked away the glossed-over look in her eyes. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
I smirked at her and reached up to cup her cheek. “I said—”
“Well, well, well.” A familiar, booming voice interrupted us. “Look what the cat dragged in, and with Cyrus Coning, no less.”
My head swung to face Landon fucking Parker, a scowl taking over my expression. “Landon. Meet my wife, Luna. Luna, Landon Parker.”
“Oh, Luna and I are old friends,” he said, reaching out to take a hand she hadn’t offered him and scraping his lips along the back of it. “How are you doing, Luna? I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Finally seeming to come fully back to earth, she pulled her shoulders back and lifted her chin. Her hand withdrew from his and a cold smile spread on her lips. Holy fuck.
“Of course you didn’t. If you had, I have no doubt you’d have left your wife at home. It wasn’t nice to see you, Landon. When I told you I never wanted to speak to you again, I meant it. Please leave my husband and I alone now unless you want me to start talking. Loudly enough that everyone around us will know how you and I know one another.”
I got seriously fucking hard watching and listening to her standing up to him like that. I’d always known the woman had balls, but for her to take on my arch nemesis like that was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.
Landon floated away from us like a balloon that had been punctured without me even having to step in, and Luna released a heavy sigh. I grinned at her and held up a hand. “That was fucking awesome. Just one question, though. How do you know him?”
Luna arched a brow at my unspoken request for a high-five but slapped my palm with one of hers anyway. “That’s my ex. The guy I thought I was going to marry.”
My amusement and libido took a backseat fast. Jealousy flared up instead, dark and angry as it pulsed through my veins and infected my brain. I had no reason to be jealous. I knew their relationship had ended two years before I’d ever met her, and even if it hadn’t, friends had no right to be jealous of ex-lovers, but the thought that she’d been with him drove me to the brink of fucking insanity.
It made me want to hulk out and smash things. Just the thought of him seeing her naked or her waking up with him or speaking to him the way she did to me was enough to make my vision blur and my muscles tighten.
“That’s the guy you thought you were going to marry?” I asked, managing to keep my voice deceptively calm.
Luna nodded and blew out an exasperated breath as she grabbed a flute of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter. She downed it in one go before slamming it down on the counter beside her.
“Yes, he was. Silly me, huh? Thinking a guy like that was going to marry me.”
Suppressing the urge to tell her how distinctly not silly she was and how every guy would be more than fucking lucky to marry her, I crushed my lips to hers instead. Maybe it was intense possessiveness that had taken hold of me as soon as I saw him touching her hand, but I suddenly couldn’t keep my hands off her.
Luna moaned into the kiss, her arms coming up around my shoulders and her fingers tangling into my hair. Both of us seemed to forget where we were and even what we were to one another for a minute, but we remembered at the same time.
She pulled away from me, careful to keep up the act by keeping her arms around me and smiling sweetly as she looked into my eyes. “Do you think I should tell his wife what he did? I’ve always felt like she deserved to know he was seeing another woman for the first few months of their marriage. I never thought I’d have a chance to meet her, but looking her up on social media to tell her just seemed tacky.”
I took a minute before I answered, absorbing the earnestness in the deep blue depth of her gaze. Her expression was open and vulnerable. She was really asking me if I thought she should tell Sam, not because she was vindictive or as a method for me to exact rev
enge.
She honestly wanted to know what I thought, whether I thought it would be the right thing. As I let memories wash over me of the time we’d spent together, I pulled up instances in which I’d seen how badly the asshole had damaged her.
The damage wasn’t too bad, but there were some scars. I also thought back to Luna asking me if I’d ever cheated on Sam, and I remembered the revulsion I’d felt at the idea. Whatever she had done to me, no one deserved to be cheated on.
I still didn’t know if Samantha had cheated on me, but this wasn’t about us. It was about them. Whether or not she had cheated on me, Landon had cheated on her. If he’d done it then, he was likely to do it again.
Hell, even if he hadn’t, I was almost entirely certain Sam didn’t know she’d been cheated on. As far as I was concerned, cheating was one of the most despicable things a human being in a relationship with someone else could do.
And despicable as Samantha Parker herself was, she did deserve to know that while he’d been married to her, Landon had been seriously dating another woman. To the point that he’d discussed marriage with her and had led her to believe they were on the brink of getting engaged.
“Yeah, I think you should tell her,” I said, splaying my fingers on her hips and bending over to plant a kiss on her lips. “I’ll be at the table. I think I just saw her heading into the ladies’ room, if you want to get it over with.”
I hadn’t been watching Samantha at all this evening, but the color of her dress made her impossible to miss in a sea of mostly black and white. Strangely enough, despite all the beautiful women around, I only had eyes for Luna.
I’d only seen Sam heading into the bathroom because there were a bunch of men in the required black and white that had parted for her to move through. And they happened to be standing right behind Luna.
She gave me a small nod, took a breath, and turned to move in the direction of the restrooms herself. I watched with rage simmering in my stomach as the leering group of men stepped aside to let Luna through as well, making a mental note of each of their faces and vowing right then and there never to do business with anyone who looked at her like that.
Say You Do Page 21