Chapter 10

The celebration dinner was Devereaux Holdings' idea, a small gathering for the two boards and a handful of major investors to mark the partnership properly now that the cameras were gone. Seraphina knew not going would deprive her of a chance to get under Cassian’s skin so she went.

The private dining room was in a lowly lit room with far better wine than the occasion required.

She did not understand the dim light, it was a partnership dinner not a romantic date where ambience probably increased your chances of getting lucky with someone you found attractive enough.

She recognized most of the faces from the press conference, minus the cameras, plus a few investors circling the room the way investors always did, looking for whoever seemed most worth flattering.

One of them found Cassian before the appetizers had even cleared.

She was younger than the rest of the room, sharp in a red dress that did an excellent job of showing her well endowed chest if Seraphina had anything to say about it, they looked shiny like she had oiled them to draw attention to it , and she had positioned herself at his elbow with ease. Seraphina had to give it to her, maybe she could learn a lesson or two from her, the oiling of your rack maybe.

"Mr. Devereaux, I have to say, the partnership announcement was brilliant. Very bold." Her hand found his arm. "I'd love to hear more about what's next for Devereaux Holdings. Perhaps over drinks sometime, away from all this."

Cassian's expression stayed neutral. "I appreciate the interest. My assistant handles my calendar."

"I was hoping for somewhere with a lot less eyes"

"I'm sure you were."

Seraphina watched the exchange from across the table occasionally sipping on her wine. The taste was not what she’d usually reach for but she was in no mood to be picky about wine tonight. She waited until the woman left very clearly disappointed before she leaned toward Cassian, voice low enough for only him to hear.

"That's your type, then?"

He glanced at her. "Excuse me?"

"The sexy dress. The hand on the arm. The drinks away from all this." Seraphina took a sip of her wine. "I'm simply gathering information, Mr. Devereaux. For future reference."

"There is no future reference needed."

"No? She seemed rather confident there was."

"She was wrong."

"Interesting." Seraphina set her glass down. "You didn't seem entirely opposed to the attention."

"I was being polite."

"You were being polite for four full minutes. I counted."

"Careful, Ms. Voss. That sounds like jealousy."

"It sounds like observation." She held his gaze. "I like to know who I'm dealing with. Business partners with wandering attention tend to make unreliable business partners."

"My attention isn't wandering."

"No?"

"No." He said quickly "If you'd like to know where it actually is, Ms. Voss, you're welcome to ask."

She did not ask instead she drank her distasteful wine, needing something to do with her hands, and let the silence between them stretch.

Across the table, one of the board members raised a toast to the partnership, and the room lifted their glasses, and for a moment the noise of it was a good excuse for her to catch her breath. She wanted to get under his skin not the other way around.

"To Devereaux Holdings and Voss Holdings," the man said. "May this be the beginning of something neither of us saw coming."

Seraphina raised her glass along with everyone else, and caught Cassian watching her instead of the toast.

"You're staring, Mr. Devereaux."

"I'm observing," he said. "You told me it's a useful habit."

She did not have an answer for that. She drank her wine instead, and told herself the warmth spreading through her chest was due to the alcohol flowing through her system even though she didn’t believe it.