"Be your date?" I'm so shocked that I nearly drop the bowl in my hand. "You've got to be kidding me – the wedding is this weekend. How does the Alpha's son not have a date for his sister's wedding by now?"Marcus laughs aloud. It's a gorgeous sound, thick and syrupy, like rich honey. I could drink that laugh; I could pour it into my bedtime tea and let it warm me from the inside out. His laugh is as comforting as his smile, and I wish I could catch it in my hands and keep it.He shakes his head as he dries his hands on a dish towel, the dishes finally done."My standards are far too high," he jokes, winking at me yet again.My god, I never thought that a man's wink could leave my knees feeling like jelly. In fact, if you'd asked me yesterday, I'd say that winking was cheesy as hell. From Marcus, though, it comes across as the sexiest form of subtle flirting.Still, I don't answer right away. Marcus has money and status, and that's enough to drive any woman crazy. However, I don't care
Becki is stunned. Nicole – Marcus's date? The universe has to be playing some kind of sick joke on her. She stands staring at Marcus, open mouthed with disbelief.Lucky for the family, Darlene is a bit quicker on the uptake. She grabs Becki's arm and steers her a few steps away while Paul, who had arrived behind them all unnoticed, smoothly beelined up to Marcus and started making apologies."It's my daughter, she's been under a lot of stress recently, clearly made a mistake, bit on edge, you know how these young girls are…" Becki can hear Paul soothing and chuckling.Boy, does that piss her off. She breaks free of Darlene's grip and shoulders her way back over to the little trio, glaring at Nicole's serene, glowing face as she glanced up at Marcus, still tucked protectively into his side."What is going on here?" Becki shouts, louder than she'd intended to. "Why is this – this tramp here as Marcus's date? Charles promised me that he'd introduce me to the Alpha's son. This is so unfai
Charles is clearly terrified by my presence. I hate to admit it, but I kind of love the feeling. It seems petty – I never thought of myself as the type to thirst for revenge – but it's satisfying.Oh, well: Charles ruined my life. It's surely not too awful to enjoy watching him sweat a little bit.I do feel a little bad for Daisy, Marcus's sister. Charles is so distracted by me that he keeps stumbling over the most basic tasks, like not tripping over his own feet. He's jittery and on edge, eyes darting nervously around the room whenever he loses track of me.The mixed look of relief and renewed horror on his face every time he spots me again is pretty funny, and I'm finding it a little tough to keep a straight face. You'd think I was a rattlesnake or a poisonous spider loose in the room, the way Charles is acting.Still, I don't feel bad enough to excuse myself from the reception. Charles should be afraid of me; he should face at least some kind of consequences.It gets especially bad
My eyes flicker evasively; I can't help it. What am I supposed to say to that? Although I decided not to use Marcus to get revenge on Charles, I still have no intentions of falling in love with him. I can't afford that kind of entanglement.For one thing, there are dozens of very rich, very pretty young women here who are currently staring at me with daggers in their eyes as I dance with Marcus. They're all from other prominent werewolf families, politician families, business families – you get the idea.Their families have money. They were raised to live in this kind of world, the world of Plaza weddings and real crystal chandeliers and sleekly expensive car collections in the second garage.The world of dinner menus with no prices listed, where the food was made according to the chef's discretion and the wine only comes by the bottle.The world of yachts and jets, second and third vacation homes. The world of Swiss bank accounts and handbag collections designed by people whose names
Charles still looks sick, but it's in a grim, determined sort of way. He knocks back the rest of his whisky and signals for another before standing up and facing me head on."All right," he says, his voice heavy and a little slurred from all the drinks he's probably had today. "You're right, we do need to do this. Let's go somewhere private, though. We can't talk here, right in front of the dance floor."He grabs the fresh whisky the bartender places in front of him and gestures for me to follow him out of the room. I do, peeking behind me as I go to see if Marcus has noticed where I've gone. He's surrounded by a knot of society ladies and is chatting avidly with them, without a spare glance for me.Satisfied, I hurry to follow Charles out of the ballroom. He's paused in the doorway, looking impatient."Hurry up," he grumbles when I get close to him. "And be careful. The last thing we need is anyone noticing that I'm sneaking out with you. I've had enough rumors to combat after that h
I don’t have much time to think about the bomb that Charles has just dropped on me. He wipes away the tears and focuses on my face with an intensity that makes me feel uneasy.“But what about you, Nicole?” he asks, sounding less sniffly than suspicious. “Why are you here? How are you here? Entrance was strictly controlled, and I know you weren’t on the guest list. You seemed awfully cozy with Marcus, though.”His words hang in the air, heavy and accusatory. I’m not really sure how to answer him, at least not in any way that won’t arouse further suspicion.I accidentally stumbled on the opportunity to wrangle an invitation from the hot werewolf Alpha’s son after a weird chance encounter at the soup kitchen, which was good luck for me because I’ve been trying to figure out a way to gatecrash your wedding to ruin your reputation probably isn’t going to go down well.I’ll have to make something up, something that will sound believable but relatively innocent. Something that won’t overcomm
I’m uncertain about whether to approach him. But then I remember the recording in my bag. I duck into a nearby alcove and turn it off, then hit replay. Listening, I can tell that it’s definitely picked up my conversation with Charles.I have proof.That settles it for me: I need to find a way to bury my past, once and for all. But before I can even think long enough to move toward approaching Kent, I hear hushed voices and rushed footsteps coming down the hallway.Oh, my god. It’s Charles again, and he’s practically dragging my father by the arm in the direction of the private little room where he and I had just had our talk. Darlene and Becki follow behind them, glancing around as if they’re worried about being followed.Once they’ve passed me, I peer around the corner of my alcove and look at Kent. He’s watching me. I raise my eyebrows at him, and he nods, subtly gesturing toward the blacks of my family as they skitter down the hallway.Got it: follow them.I wait until they turn th
Marcus takes me to the cloakroom and collects our coats. He waves off both his bodyguard and his driver when they approach him, even going as far as to step aside to have what looks like a short disagreement with the bodyguard.Finally, the bodyguard shakes his head ruefully, and Marcus waves him off with a smile."Sorry about that," he tells me, helping me into my coat and even buttoning the top for me when my fingers fumble over the material. "Yasin is a little too good at his job sometimes.""How can a bodyguard be too good at his job?" I ask with a smile. "Surely he can't be too good at keeping you alive and away from all the crazy stalkers who might want to corner you or creep through your bedroom window at night."Marcus laughs, really laughs, with his head thrown back and rich mirth coming from deep in his belly. I love being the one to make him laugh like that."Okay, good point," he says, taking me by the arm and leading me out into the chilly night air. "No, he's just a litt