Chapter 10 #2
"You look amazing." He murmured as he came up behind her. "This should top off the look." He draped a glittering platinum necklace around her neck, the teardrop diamond settling into the groove of her breasts. "What do you think?"
He had been giving her gifts on and off ever since they had settled in as a married couple.
"It's exquisite." Touching the diamond, she lifted her head and met his eyes through the full-length mirror. "Should I be concerned?"
"That your husband gave you a necklace?" He turned her to face him.
The dress was fire engine red, a shimmering silk that dipped and enfolded her generous curves.
"I think you should be." Tilting her chin up, he brushed his lips against lips coated in the exact shade of the dress.
"This is going to cement the fact that we're together, together. You know that right?"
She shrugged and straightened his bow tie, the small automatic move sending emotions tumbling through him.
They had officially moved into his suite and had plans to redecorate the master suite.
At the office, they were their usual competitive and argumentative self, but it was starting to come across to whoever sees them together, that this was the real thing.
And she did not care. She wanted everyone to know.
"I think it's time."
"I thought we wanted the 'Rents' to suffer some more."
"That was my initial idea, but now things have changed. Ready?"
"When you are."
*****
The Dewberry affair was a grand one. Eloise Dewberry was a very wealthy patron of the arts. A widow for the third time, she was secretly called the 'black widow,' outliving yet another husband and inheriting his immense fortune.
She was also very generous with that same inheritance, creating charitable organizations that spanned everything from research into various medical conditions to sponsoring struggling artists and rescuing children from homelessness.
She never had children but enthusiastically reached out to kids who had been abandoned or neglected and placed in the system.
Her house was a sprawling mausoleum that hosted the annual fundraiser of which several successful businesses, including McCreary/Ryder, were involved in.
The lights glimmered from a mile away, throwing the old property into stark relief.
"It looks like a crush." Ingrid observed as they made their way up the sweeping driveway. Valets were busy parking vehicles. The doors to the house were thrown wide open, despite the icy November weather with two uniformed maids on duty to take coats and usher in guests.
"Say the word and we'll leave early." Sliding out of the driver's seat, he beat the valet who came rushing forward and opened the passenger door.
"Oh, I will." Breathing in the sharp air, she took a moment to look around. "One cannot help but like Eloise, but God, this is a lot."
Grinning, he tucked her hand through his arm and led them up the steps. "Classic Eloise."
"I just bet she's wearing enough jewelry to outfit a store and a dress much too young for her aging body."
"Behave." He whispered against her ear.
They were ushered through the grand foyer, their coats magically taken from them. Lights spilled out from every room and the sounds of laughter, music and conversation reached them.
Following the sounds, they entered the grand drawing room, with its glittering chandeliers, antique furnishings and a raised dais where a live band was seated.
The hostess herself, predictably draped in diamonds and sapphires dripping from her lobes, throat, and wrists and wearing an emerald green gown that was way too tight.
Her brassy red hair was piled on top of her head, with tendrils escaping over a face that had seen too many face lifts.
"Darlings!" She gushed, arms wide open, light green eyes glowing.
"Look at you. I've decided to forgive you for not inviting me to the ceremony.
" She embraced them both, brushing her lips on their cheeks before stepping back to admire Ingrid's dress and her necklace.
"Darling, you look stunning." She sent Kyle a sweeping look beneath thick lashes.
"I hope you don't mind, I had to invite a certain actress. She told me she's moved on." Eloise flicked a hand in the air. "An actor on her latest series. Too young and much too eager to please." She gave Ingrid a catty smile.
"I have a feeling she's trying to get over this handsome husband of yours. Come. Come, have a drink or two. Your family are all here and this promises to be an interesting evening." With her big braying laugh, she took their hands and led them through the throng of people.
They circled and mingled the vast room and were looked over with curiosity as if they wanted to confirm whether or not the couple had come together because of an arrangement.
What they saw was a stunning couple who were devoted to each other.
They also noticed that Kyle McCreary, a man previously dubbed a playboy, could not take his eyes off his wife. A wife who was not even his type.
But they all came to the same conclusion, that Ingrid Ryder-McCreary had changed. The woman was positively stunning.
They were also avidly watching if his former lover, the exquisitely beautiful actress, Carly, was doing her best to avoid her ex-lover.
"Don't you look a sight." William Ryder, looking dapper in his tux, snagged his granddaughter's hand.
"Let me have a moment with my granddaughter and go dig your sister out of the corner she's stuck herself into.
Get her on the dance floor." Without waiting for Kyle to agree, he tucked her hand through his arm and approached the wide space dedicated for dancing.
"Granddad, you look handsome enough for all the unattached females of every age to come sniffing."
He laughed as she expected him to and swung her easily into his arms. "I feel young and my dear, you're a true sight for these bleary eyes." He lifted a crafty brow. "And the marriage, it seems to be working out."
She gave him a gimlet stare as she smoothed out the lapel of his jacket. A touch of concern colored her emotions when she noticed that he had lost some weight. "I hate very much to give you the satisfaction of being right, but yes, we're working things out."
"Excellent." He brushed his lips on her cheek and lifted his head to find Kyle. A frown touched his brow. "Why is he with that actress?"
Forcing herself not to react or even to look in their direction, she shrugged. "That's history. But I don't expect him to simply cut her off."
Dark brown eyes studied her face. "You have real feelings for him."
"So?"
His grin split his face. "It's something Jack and I hoped for."
"You and Jack McCreary are scheming, manipulative bastards." She told him mildly.
His eyes glowered as he dipped her. "Is that any way to talk to your elder?"
"If that elder insists on trying to control the lives around him, yes, I'm entitled."
He glowered at her for a second and then smiled. "I love the fact that you've never been afraid of me."
"Why should I be?" Lifting a hand, she brushed it against his cheek fondly. "You're an irascible pain in the ass, but I put up with you because I tolerate you."
"You love me." His eyes flickered up, his frown coming again when he noticed the couple in a heated discussion. "I think it's time to go and rescue that husband of yours from that man stealing hussy."
She looked over and agreed.
"You're making a scene." Kyle's voice was cold and sharp as a whip.
She had cornered him while he was bringing his sister back from taking her out on the dance floor.
Jessica had tolerated the gesture and had had little or nothing to say to him.
He had finally given up on trying to have a conversation with her.
"How do you expect me to deal with you walking in here with her?"
"I expect you to forget about me and move on. I certainly have. And this is certainly not the place and time."
"It doesn't matter that I still love you?"
"Am I interrupting?" His wife's smooth tone had him jolting.
"I think we are. How about you take an old man out on the dance floor my dear?" William's voice brooked no refusal.
"Darling, shall we?" Taking his hand, Ingrid led him out. They danced for a minute without either of them saying anything.
"Are you going to say something?" He asked after the silence had become unbearable.
"Are you in love with her?"
His gaze dropped to hers, molten green fire, designed to scorch. "After all we shared, how the hell can you ask me that?"
"I can ask you, because we've been together for less than two weeks and you were with her for months."
His fingers dug through the material to her flesh and made her wince.
He immediately loosened his grip, regret flickering across his features.
"I'm sorry. I would never hurt you." His voice softened, losing its earlier edge.
"What happened between me and her is over.
What I feel for you is real and it's now.
" He searched her face, willing her to believe him, as the music swelled around them and other couples floated by, oblivious to their quiet storm.
"And if you don't believe me, then..." He shrugged and left the rest unsaid.
"What I saw, what everyone in this bloody room saw was a man and a woman who had been previously involved having a heated discussion." She let out a breath. "And I sound like a frigging jealous and possessive wife. Which I am, dammit."
He could not let her know how psyched he was by that admission.
"And you can damn well wipe that smug expression off your face."
"All right." Before she realized what he was up to, his mouth had closed over hers.