“He’ll be pissed if he doesn’t see the dress first.”
“Trust me, he’s going to have plenty of other things on his mind, so he won’t even remember that he hasn’t approved it.”
I took a drink from my wine. “Has the party been stressful to plan?”
I was surprised I didn’t know what Eve was talking about, and I wondered what else was on his mind. Brett didn’t talk business a lot, mostly because any communication with his clients was confidential. But he did mention things about The Agency in general, like how well his team was producing and how quickly they were growing and how they needed to hire more support staff.
“The guys aren’t planning the party. Some big-time Miami party planner is doing all the work. I’m talking about the guest list.”
“What do you mean?”
She turned toward me and stared into my eyes, searching them like she was looking for something. And then, almost immediately, an expression of shock covered her face. “Oh my God, you don’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Brett is going to murder me.”
“Why?”
“No, Brett won’t have a chance to murder me because Max is going to kill me first.”
I set my wine on the ground and put my hands on her shoulders to stop her from moving. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She shook her head, her mouth finally opening. “I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to come out and say it.”
“Okay.”
“James, I’m so sorry.”
I held her tighter. “Eve, you’re dragging this out, and it’s making me nervous.”
“That’s because I have to tell you something I really don’t want to, and I wanted to hurt someone when I found out myself.”
“Say it already.”
“Sophia and Abel are coming to the party.”
She’d blurted it out so fast, I wasn’t sure I’d heard her correctly.
“What?”
“Yeah, I know. And, now, you know why I was so pissed when I found out. I mean, it’s one thing to represent the enemy. But to invite her to a party that you’re going to be at? That’s just shitty. He told me they couldn’t not invite her. It would be crappy from a professional standpoint, but…”
I stopped listening to what she was saying and tried to process what it would feel like when I saw Abel and Sophia in Miami.
Florida had become my safe place. It was where I could be myself and not hide. It was where I felt most comfortable, and now, that was going to be taken away from me.
By two people who had hurt me so much.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“No, you’re not,” she said, putting her arm around my shoulders and leading me toward one of the couches on the other side of the patio. When we reached it, she sat us both in the middle. “Listen to me, you’re going to put on the sexy dress I got for you, and you’re going to walk into that party like you’re the hottest, most successful actress in the room. No matter how those two dickheads look, no matter what they say to you, no matter how much you hate them, you’re not going to let them get to you.” I tried to say something, but she cut me off, “Remember, if you show them how much they affect you, then they win. We will not let that happen.”
“I’m definitely going to be sick.”
“You’re already letting them win, James.”
I faced her, crossing my legs over the cushions, rubbing my hands on my knees to get rid of the sweat. “Eve, you have no idea how hard it was to see Sophia at that restaurant in LA.”
“Because of Abel?”
“No. It’s not even about him. I don’t care that she has him. I’m not in love with him anymore. It’s all the things she said to me that day in their house. She made me feel like I was the worst person in the world, and I can’t seem to let that go.”
She grabbed my hand and held it between hers. “What can I do?”
“Maybe I just won’t go.”
“You’re going. Don’t even say that.”
“Ladies,” Max said from the doorway, “dinner is ready.”
Eve’s eyes moved from him to me. “Fuck, you’re going to say something, aren’t you?” She put her other hand on my cheek. “You can’t hide it. It’s all over your face.”
“I’ll try not to bring it up.”
“It’s okay; you’re allowed to scream at him. He should have told you, so I don’t feel bad for spilling the beans.”
I’d been so caught up in the news, I hadn’t even considered Brett’s involvement in all of this. He had a horrible habit of keeping things from me. He’d been doing it since the day I met him, and it had only gotten worse.
“Come on,” she said, helping me stand and leading me back inside.
The guys were in the kitchen, filling their arms with dishes and carrying them into the dining room. On the table, there was wine in the glasses and a basket of bread in the middle along with large plates of pasta and meatballs, what looked like chicken Parmesan, and something else with eggplant.
It smelled good, but I didn’t think I could put a bite of it into my mouth.
Eve brought me over to the table. I lifted one of the glasses, held it to my lips, and guzzled until it was empty.
When I pulled it away from my mouth, I felt Brett’s stare on me.
And Eve’s.
And Max’s.
Brett then broke contact to look at Eve before he came back to me. “Thirsty?”
I reached for the bottle and refilled my glass halfway, gazing at the dark red liquid, not sure if I could even take another sip. Eventually, I glanced up. With the three of them still looking at me, I said, “You should have told me.”
“Jesus, Brett,” Max said. “I hope she’s not talking about what I think she is. And I hope to hell you weren’t the one who told her, Eve.”
“I thought Brett had told her,” she snapped.
Brett said nothing. He just continued to stare at me.
“You’ve done this to me too many times.” My voice was so quiet. I couldn’t yell. I couldn’t get mad. I was too hurt for that.
“James, that’s not fucking true,” Brett said. “I’ve only done it once before, and that was when I first met you. There was a reason I didn’t tell you I was an agent, and you know what that reason is. Don’t compare that to this, goddamn it.”
He waited for me to comment. I didn’t.
“I promise, I wouldn’t have let you walk into that party without you knowing who was going to be there.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
He walked over to me and put his hand in the back of my hair, tightly holding my head. “No, it doesn’t. I know it was wrong to keep it from you. But I didn’t want to hurt you, and I knew that was what this news would do.”
“Brett…”
He held me with even more power. “I’m just as fucking pissed as you are. The last thing I want is that cunt at my party. She’s going to ruin my time. I’d like to call her myself and tell her not to come, but I can’t, and you know why.”
“Max, everyone in this room hates you right now,” Eve said.
“Jesus Christ,” Max said. He was the only one sitting, the only one with food on his plate, the only one who was eating. When he realized we were all looking at him, he put his fork down. “When are you all going to accept that Sophia is my client? I’m not uninviting her. I’m not asking her to leave early. I’m not saying a goddamn word to her about any of this. You’re both adults, and you’ll have to figure out a way to play nice, for the sake of The Agency.”
My stare moved back to Brett as he said, “I want to make this better.”
I shook my head. “You can’t.”
I pulled his hand off me and walked over to my seat, putting a few noodles on my plate, knowing I’d have the hardest time even getting those down.
Sophia was going to come, and there was nothing anyone in this room could do about it. I could scream
at Brett, I could start a fight, I could spend the night at my place tonight instead of his. But it wouldn’t solve anything.
I just had to get through this party.
And, somehow, I would.
Brett
For tonight’s party, The Agency had rented out the patio and pool deck at one of the most exclusive hotels on South Beach. We’d told the party planner we wanted the vibe to be extremely upscale and sexy, and she’d certainly delivered. We needed our clients to feel confident in their choice of representation and that we’d never spare any expense when it came to their best interests. From the way everyone was laughing and smiling, I’d say our half-a-million-dollar budget had accomplished our goal.
The only thing missing was James.
She and Eve had been taking their sweet time in arriving, and I knew that had to do with Abel and Sophia being on the guest list.
Since James had found out they were attending, she hadn’t been acting like herself. I knew that was her anxiety kicking in, the same way I knew, at some point, she’d try to get out of coming. And she had this morning after I got out of the shower. She’d been sitting at the end of my bed, a robe wrapped around her, looking at me with the most pleading eyes. I’d told her she could do whatever made her comfortable but that I hoped, for me, she’d be there.
I’d worked so fucking hard for this company. I just wanted to share the success with her tonight even if that meant I couldn’t touch her. That part would have to wait until I got her home where I would live inside her pussy until she was too sore to take any more.
I tried to get that thought out of my head as I made my way around the pool deck, seeing Jack and Max and Scarlett doing the same, shaking hands with our clients, talking about upcoming deals and negotiations, hearing buzz about the industry. Some of the biggest names in sports, movies, and music were here tonight, and they all wanted in on the next best thing.
We would get them that.
And, in the morning, we would take everything we had learned tonight, and we’d meet with our teams. We’d separate rumors from fact, and we’d come up with a plan of how we were going to go after those contracts.
This party wasn’t just a celebration. It was the start of another wave of business, and millions of dollars would be earned on both sides of these deals.
This was why we threw an annual bash.
And this was why it had to go perfectly because the last fucking thing any of us needed was an outburst of any kind.
As I stepped away from one of Jack’s athletes, I headed around the side bar toward the other end of the patio. I made it about halfway before Scarlett stopped me and said, “She’s here.”
I knew she was talking about James because Sophia and Abel had already been here for a while.
“Is she all right?”
Scarlett knew James and I were together. Jack did also. I’d felt it was important that my partners were kept informed, just in case the media somehow got tipped off and outed us.
“She looks nervous, even with Eve trying to calm her,” Scarlett said. “I don’t think she plans on drinking, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea if she had just one to take the edge off. I wouldn’t suggest more than that.”
“That’s a good idea.” I called over the closest waiter and said to him, “Would you mind bringing me a glass of champagne?”
“No problem,” he replied.
“I got a chance to talk to Eve this afternoon,” Scarlett said once we were alone again. “She’s going to keep an eye on Abel and Sophia to keep them and James on separate sides of the room. And I briefed the security team, too, just to make them aware of it. You know I never like to be too safe.”
“If Sophia says a fucking word to James, we won’t need security because I’ll be kicking her ass out myself. I don’t give a shit if she’s Max’s client; I won’t tolerate her bullshit.”
“Max doesn’t seem worried at all.”
I glanced to my right and saw Abel on a chair, sitting around the fire pit, with Sophia on his lap. They had drinks in their hands and were talking to several of Max’s other clients.
“That’s because Max doesn’t know how much of a bitch that cunt can be or the things Sophia has said to James in the past.” The waiter returned with James’s drink, and I gripped her glass and mine in both hands. “Where is she?”
“When I saw her last, she was standing with Eve near the entrance.”
“I need to go see her. I’ll talk to you in a little while,” I said, and I made my way toward the front.
Every few feet, I got stopped by either a client or a team member. I told each of them I’d be back to chat and continued heading toward the entrance. Rounding the corner of the last bar, I walked up the steps that separated the upper section of the pool deck from the main level, and I saw her immediately.
It didn’t matter that only her profile faced me.
I would have spotted that body anywhere, and my cock immediately responded to it.
Dressed in the palest yellow two-piece, the tank top she had on was cut low over her chest and ended right below her tits. Her stomach was bare and revealed. Then, the skirt started right above her belly button where it tightly wrapped across her ass and thighs and ended at her ankles.
I hadn’t been shown this outfit.
She’d hear about that tomorrow.
Right now, I couldn’t get over how fucking hot she looked.
And how I was going to take those two pieces off with my goddamn teeth.
Shaking my head, moving that fantasy to the side, I joined the two of them and handed James the champagne. “Scarlett thought you could use this.”
Her gaze shot all over me. “Hi.”
Scarlett was right; James was nervous as fuck. When she put her lips around the glass, I saw it shake before the champagne reached her mouth.
“Drink it slow,” I told her.
She swallowed once and pulled it away.
“You look gorgeous.”
I held my tumbler with both hands, so I wouldn’t be tempted to touch her. It was painful that I couldn’t. That I wasn’t able to lean into her neck and take in her pear scent. That I couldn’t move that small piece of hair that was stuck to her glossy lips. That I couldn’t tell her how gorgeous she was while I was kissing her.
“Thank you.” She blushed, and this time, I knew it wasn’t from the champagne.
“Are you okay?” I asked and then looked at Eve, but her eyes were on James.
“I’m here, and I’ll stay as long as you want me to.”
She was such a goddamn pleaser. That was something I liked about her. What I didn’t like was that she wasn’t being honest with me, and I needed an answer before I could go anywhere.
“Are you okay, James?” My voice was quiet but demanding.
Her eyes shifted to the glass for several seconds before they came back to me. “I will be.”
“I’ll make sure of it,” Eve said.
“Do you need anything?”
She shook her head. “It’s your party; you need to go talk to everyone and have fun. I’ll see you later.”
I fucking hated that I had to walk away and not take her back to my place where she wouldn’t have to see those two bastards. But she was right; I needed to work the room, and it would take me most of the night to speak to everyone here.
“If you need anything, you text me. My phone is right in my pocket, and I’ll feel it vibrate.”
“She’ll be fine,” Eve said.
James said nothing. She just stared at me until I turned around.
I knew Eve had meant every word she said, and she would take care of her. Those girls would do anything for each other. But it wasn’t the same as having James next to me where I could make sure nothing happened.
It was going to be a long fucking night.
James
Brett thought the reason I was such a mess was because Abel and Sophia were attending the party. He was right, but that wasn’t the whole reason. The day
after Eve had arrived, while we’d been swimming in Max’s pool, I’d decided tonight was when I would confront the two of them about Calvin and see if they knew anything about him.
They were the only ones I hadn’t asked. And, because I knew Abel so well, I’d know if he was lying, so face-to-face was the only way to do it.
While Eve and I had been getting ready, she’d tried to talk me out of it. She knew Scarlett would be angry since Eve had promised to keep me away from them. She’d promised Max. And she’d promised Brett several times that she’d take care of me, and part of that meant keeping me separated from them.
I knew what everyone wanted.
But this wasn’t about them. This was about me getting my career back. We weren’t any closer to identifying Calvin, and if there was something Abel or Sophia remembered, maybe there was a chance the police could find him.
All I wanted was to clear my name.
So, while Eve and I had been hanging out on the top section of the patio deck, I’d had her constantly checking out Abel and Sophia’s location. I didn’t want to approach them when a lot of people were around. I wanted to wait until they were alone.
Less than an hour after Brett left us, the opportunity came.
They were standing on the far side of the pool, closest to the beach, leaning into a railing that overlooked the ocean. It appeared to be a quieter area, and there weren’t many people near them.
“Let’s go,” I told her, and I scanned all the different paths I could take that would bring us there.
“Are you sure?”
“No, I’m definitely not sure, but I have to do this, or I’ll regret it.”
“Brett is going to fucking kill me, so can we make sure he doesn’t see you guys talking? That means, no yelling and no fists being thrown.”
“I’m not going to punch the girl.”
“I was talking about me. So, don’t say anything to provoke her; that way, I won’t have to knock her out.”
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