The Charity Gala (1)

A shiny black Cadillac limousine came to a halt in front of the grand Emerald banquet hall. It was an exquisite hall. The valet, a young man, rushed to the car and opened it. Almost immediately, two burly men jumped out of the car, wearing black suits and matching shades, their hawk-like eyes scanning the area for any possible threats. A man who appeared to be in his forties was the next to alight, dressed in a black tuxedo. He smiled as he took one long look around before he turned to the door and extended a hand. A beautiful red-haired lady took his hand. Her emerald green eyes matched the dress she had on. She flashed a wide smile at him.

“Shall we, my love?”

She nodded curtly and slipped her hand into the crook of his arm. He led her to the entrance.

The event was underway. Guests were arriving, waiters scurried quickly serving drinks. Soft tunes filled the room from the large piano at the corner of the room.

“Tell me why we come to these things again, my love?” he asked underneath his breath.

She flashed a wide smile at a man she recognized from across the room. “To keep up appearances.”

He shook his head. “It never makes sense to me.”

She took two flutes of champagne from a waiter walking by. “That’s why you leave the understanding part to me.” He took a flute from her. “Cheers.”

She took a sip and shut her eyes, relishing the taste on her tongue.

He groaned. “Don’t make that face, it makes me want to snatch you up, hurl you over my shoulders, and make love to you in front of everyone.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. She looked behind her to see if anyone had listened in on them. “Maximillian…”

He smirked. “Tell me you’re not thinking the exact same thing, Celeste.”

Their hands were intertwined as they strolled around the room. “I just find the champagne to my taste, one of my favorites actually. An NV Armand de Brignac, sold for close to fifty-one thousand dollars…”

Maximillian gawked at her with awe in his eyes as she spoke. “How do you know everything?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, but inside she loved how in awe he was of her.

“I have nothing but admiration for you…”

“Good evening, everyone,” a lady’s voice drowned out his, but he knew she had heard because she flashed a charming smile at him.

“I want to welcome you all to the heart and soul fundraiser,” the lady continued. At this point, she had everyone’s attention. “It means so much to me that you’re gathered here not for me but for the underprivileged…”

Maximillian drowned out her voice, his eyes fixated on something much more important, his wife Celeste. They had been married for five years now, and every day he found himself much more in love with her. She had a small smile on her face as she stared at the woman on the stage. Her delicate fingers wrapped around the champagne flute; she was perfect for him.

He did not want to be here; he could care less for charities, but she took care of this part of business for him. Just like she had said, it was for appearances' sake. It did not matter…he was roused out of his musings by the resounding applause at the end of the speech.

***

There was a man in the gala dressed in a fine Italian suit, his long hair framed his perfectly chiseled face. His hawk-like eyes watched everyone in the room. He stayed in the background, nursing a glass of champagne. It was important that he stayed alert. He was not one of those guests who pretended to enjoy events like this; he didn’t. He didn’t like the pompous, pretentious people in the crowd, who showed up to events like this not because they gave a rat's ass about charity. To them, it was just another opportunity to showcase their new fancy car and priceless jewelry. It was only an avenue for the vilest ilk to connect with each other.

However, that was not why he wanted to kill tonight. Far from it, as much as he couldn’t stand them, he didn’t usually play judge, jury, and executioner. Quite frankly, the lines of morality were skewed, and he was not going to pretend that he didn’t cross those lines one too many times, but that was beside the point.

There were people who teetered on the lines of morality, and there were those who went further past those lines, and tonight he was going to play executioner. It might have been an order, but he could not deny he was going to enjoy every single bit of it.