Chapter 29
AURORA
Raiden and I linger at the edge of the party.
I’ve got my hand on his arm and an adoring expression on my face, a requirement of my role, but Raiden isn’t playing the social rich guy very well.
He stares broodily around the room, his jaw pulsing, teeth clenched so hard it’s a miracle they don’t shatter.
“It’s going to be okay,” I whisper, standing on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.
“When I’ve got word the cops have found him, I’ll try to relax,” he says gruffly.
“I’m sorry about this. You must be devastated.”
“I thought my father loved my mother. I thought Grandma was always honest with me.”
“It’s a lot to take in,” I say, squeezing his hand.
“I’m too old to pout.”
“Don’t do that.”
He looks down at my sudden sharp tone. “Do what?”
“Downplay your feelings. Act like you’re not allowed to have any. You’ve learned some devastating news, Raiden, news that would shake anyone to their core.”
“Everyone wears masks,” he says sourly, looking around the bright ballroom, the chandeliers glistening, a band playing soft music from the stage, men in expensive suits and women in elegant dresses mingling and networking.
“All this time, Sebastian has been wearing a mask. The loyal butler. He was my brother this whole damn time.” His voice suddenly grows louder. “Julian!”
Julian, his cousin, approaches us. His curly black hair looks wet with sweat, and thick beads slide down his forehead.
“Nervous about something?” Raiden says.
Julian laughs… nervously.
“Get a call from the detective?” Raiden goes on relentlessly.
Julian’s face goes pale. “You got the same call?”
“Did you know?” Raiden grabs Julian’s shirt and gives him a shake. “Don’t just look at me, dammit. Answer me.”
I touch Raiden’s arm. He’s burning up even through the fabric of his suit. “Raiden, people are looking. Remember your mask.”
He lets his cousin go, but he’s still visibly shaking.
“Well?” he snaps.
“No, man. Jesus. If I’d known I had another cousin, I would’ve said something. This is a shock to me too.”
“Do you know who it is?” Raiden says.
Julian narrows his eyes. “Do you?”
“Think, Julian. It’s someone we know. It’s someone who’s always been there, but we’ve never looked too closely at. Because we were born into a certain class and certain kinds of people are invisible to us. That’s an ugly fact, but it’s a fact all the same.”
After a pause, Julian’s mouth falls open. I’ve heard and read the phrase jaw dropped countless times, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in real life. It’s like his jaw is going to dislocate.
“You don’t mean… Sebastian?”
“Right there in plain sight all this time. It explains everything about him and Grandma.”
“Oh, fuck,” Julian says. “It was him, Raiden. It wasn’t me. It was him.”
Julian’s voice trembles as though he’s about to have a panic attack.
When Raiden touches his cousin’s shoulder, offering comfort despite everything that’s happened between them, my respect for him soars. That can’t be easy, yet he’s doing it anyway.
“Relax–and explain.”
“He blackmailed me to screw you over on that deal. He forced me to take an escort to the Retreat. When you found us arguing that time, it was because I learned she was spying on me for him.”
“Blackmailed you,” Raiden says. “Hell, with what?”
“With… photos.” Julian’s pale cheeks color red. “He pretended to be a woman. A couple of years ago. On a dating app. I sent some photos I shouldn’t have. Ever since then, he’d had me. He’s owned me.”
“You didn’t want to betray me,” Raiden whispers.
“Of course not. No damn way,” he says with conviction, and I believe him. “Fuck, I’m getting out of here. I can’t handle this shit.”
“Be careful,” Raiden says. “Sebastian may have it out for you too. Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m taking a cab home, locking the door, and forgetting about all this for a while.”
Julian walks away, shoulders slumped. I smooth my arm around Raiden. He holds me tight, as though he needs support now more than ever. As we clutch onto each other, it’s like my metaphorical mask slips away.
This is genuine. I want to be with him.
“Oh my,” a man says, wearing a glittery black suit with painted nails, his hair dyed jet-black. It takes me a moment to recognize him as Martino Luis, a famous fashion designer. “Darling, this dress is simply divine. Excuse my forwardness, but I must ask. Who are you wearing?”
I’m too flabbergasted to speak. I’d check behind to make sure he really is talking to me, except we’re standing against a wall.
“Wait a second, Martino,” Raiden says. “Guess.”
“Guess? Hmm, I like this game. Let me think.” He taps his chin.
Raiden grins down at me, his bad mood temporarily lifted.
“Silvia Venturini, Fendi?”
I gasp when I hear the famous designer’s name. He seriously thinks my work is that good?
“Uh, no,” I mutter.
“Is it Prada?”
“It’s hers, Martino,” Raiden says with clear pride in his voice. “She didn’t just design it; she made it. She creates masterpieces from scratch. And she’s got a knack for it, hasn’t she?”
“A knack.” Martino waves a hand at Raiden. “A knack, Raiden? That’s like saying Da Vinci was pretty good at painting. This is absolutely sublime. Darling, is he telling the truth? Did you truthfully design this?”
I’m tongue-tied until Raiden gives me a nudge.
“Don’t be shy now, beautiful.”
“I did, Mr. Luis,” I say.
“Martino, please.”
“I designed it. I made it.”
“Absolutely incredible. You must allow me to give you my card. Call me, I’d love to know more about your designs.”
Before I can say anything, he’s taken his card from his pocket and thrust it into my hand.
Once he’s gone, I turn to Raiden. He’s still beaming down at me, not allowing his own heartache to stop him from being happy for me.
“Did that seriously just happen?”
Raiden smooths his hand over my cheek, tucking hair behind my ear, then kisses me on the forehead, leaving a warm imprint. “It did, and you deserved it. You’re a genius, Aurora. Don’t roll your eyes at that.” When I stop mid eye roll, he grins. “I mean it. I’m so proud of you.”
I throw myself into his arms, and he hugs me tight. When we find each other’s lips, it’s not a show. The rest of the room drifts away, and it’s just us, the heat and the passion and the natural sensation of belonging.
It’s not as big as the L-word, like Evangeline said in the limo.
But it’s not nothing either.
“Oh, great,” Raiden mutters after the kiss.
“What’s up?”
He nods. It’s Victor, the man who went full douche on Raiden at the Retreat party. His eyes are no longer red, which means he must’ve been wearing contact lenses.
“Word is you set up the murder yourself,” he says, slurring his words. “Drum up sympathy—”
“Victor, just fuck off,” I hiss.
He gapes at me like I’ve grown not one, but several heads.
“Excuh… cuse me?” he snaps in disbelief.
“You heard me. We’ve got enough on our minds this evening without you stumbling over here like we’re supposed to care or be impressed or something. If you need me to tell you again, I will.”
Victor turns to Raiden as though he’s going to save him.
“Don’t look at him. He agrees with me, but he’s too civilized to say it. I’m just a poor girl with no filter who is seriously sick of the sight of you.”
Victor stumbles away as though I’ve hit him, supremely offended.
Raiden laughs loudly, pulling me in for another kiss. “That was amazing,” he says between the hot, hungry press of our lips. “You’re amazing.”
“We should get out of here,” I murmur, smoothing my hands over his back. “I know the deal was I had to be the perfect date, but I think I’d rather be alone with you right now.”
His hands glide to my hips, making my heartbeat quicken, the fabric of my dress rustling sensually against my body. His manhood grows hard, pushing against my stomach.
“I don’t care about the deal,” he says. “I just don’t want you and your grandma to lose the shop.”
If we have sex tonight, it has to be the last time.
I try to say the words out of habit, but I can’t. I don’t want to ruin the moment. Even if they should be true, I’m not sure I can stick to that.
“Let’s find Grandma,” he says. “We’ll see if she’s ready to leave.”
We walk through the ballroom together, finding her nowhere. The more time that passes, the more obviously worried Raiden becomes, until his hand is a tight talon on mine and his expression is etched with terror.
What if Sebastian got to her somehow?
When we finally find her in the hallway, she’s sitting in a chair, tears streaking down her cheeks.
“They searched the house,” she moans, gazing up at us with bleary eyes. “Didn’t they call you?”
Raiden checks his phone. “Shit. I didn’t feel it.”
“They searched the house. He’s not there. He has a small apartment too, but he’s not there either.”
“He’s gone on the run, then,” Raiden growls. “Which means it was him.”
“They found notes and photos in his room at the house,” she says. “Notes about me, you, and Julian. Photos which he’d drawn on. Letters about how much he hates us all, how he wants us to die, all of us. He was going to kill me too.”
“He wrote letters about wanting to kill you?” I say, bringing her into a hug without even thinking. “That’s just awful, Evangeline. I’m so sorry.”
She claws onto me desperately. “I thought I was helping him. I thought I was doing my best. The entire time, he hated me. He was thinking about how to take my life, my fortune, my trust, my… everything.”
I look at Raiden over the top of her head. Evangeline has melted into me like a scared child, pressing her face against my chest as if she can’t handle this. I don’t blame her. She gave him all her love, and he spit in her face in return.
“I think we should go,” I say.
Raiden doesn’t hear me at first. He looks like a man ready to erupt, his muscles bunching against his suit like the fabric is going to tear away Hulk-style, his chest heaving. He stares off into space as though he can see Sebastian, as though, in his head, he’s doing evil things to him.
“Raiden?” I say, louder.
“Hmm?”
“I said I think we should go.”
He nods slowly, with a spaced-out look on his face. His mask is stripped away. He can’t hide his true feelings from me anymore. “You’re right. Let’s move.”