Chapter 20 #2
Suddenly, Duke was at Viv’s side. He lowered himself onto one knee and traced a hand along her wrist as he spoke. “They said it’s too risky to try and stop her now. We’re going to just go up there, and hope she says all of her lines, and leave it there.”
“Wait.” Viv reached for Duke’s arm as he came to a stand. “What if you just let her do it by herself?”
His eyes went wide. “That could be even worse.”
Viv gave that some thought. “Maybe…”
“Look, Vivi,” Duke said, leveling a look at her. “I’ll do whatever you want me to. You want me to tell them I’m not doing it, I will. You want me to go make the most of it, I’ll do that too.”
His eagerness to do what Viv wished should have made her feel better, but she only felt more flustered than before. Now it was on her to decide.
Inwardly, Viv knew how very much Sylvia resented her for dating Duke. Resented anyone who dared venture beyond their own social circle and into such high society where they didn’t belong.
A quick look to the podium said Sylvia was already there. The gentleman hosting was scanning the floor with a worried brow.
“You better go,” Viv finally said.
Duke nodded and rushed in for a kiss. “It’ll be fine. I love you.” And then he was off, hurrying through the crowd toward the spotlight.
Viv closed her eyes and muttered a plea to the heavens. Please…please, help this turn out alright.
Sparks of heat raced through Duke’s blood as he stepped up to the podium with its dual microphones, one at each side. He rubbed his thumb over the stone in his pocket, musing he could wear a hole through the surface in that moment.
Sylvia nudged him with her bare arm and surveyed the crowd with a lifted chin. “Hello, Dukee Duke Duke Duke.”
He gave her a curt nod. “Sylvia.”
Mr. Dunkle stood beside the main cameraman, pointing to the digital clock counting down the seconds until they went live.
Ten.
Nine.
“Are you excited?” Sylvia asked.
Eight.
Seven.
“Sure.” Duke said.
Six, five, four.
“Me too,” she cooed.
Three, two, one.
The cameraman pointed at Duke.
“Good evening,” Duke said. “Welcome to the final segment of our Stanford Alumni Gala. For those joining from home, we hope you’ve enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane with the slideshows put together by our incredible team. Let’s give them a hand, shall we?”
Sylvia put her bright red lips up to her mic as the audience clapped.
Just say your lines, Sylvia, for the love.
“Mr. Dinkle made a teensy tiny mistake when he introduced us earlier.” Sylvia’s words came out with a slur. “He implied that Duke and I were here together when, in fact, we are not. Would you like to tell them why that is or should I?”
Duke’s mouth dropped open. “I think what we should do is announce this award—”
“Sounds like it’s on me,” Sylvia spat. “Duke couldn’t bring me because he was too busy pretending to like some poor girl from the valley who interviewed him for Slipper Magazine.”
Duke approached his own mic. “Very funny,” he said. “Great joke, Sylvia.”
“Her name’s Vivia Tripoli but she writes as Verit? and she’s been in love with Duke Benton for ten pathetic years,” the woman continued.
Duke caught eyes with the audio crew in back. They were scrambling, hopefully cutting to alternate footage or something. But suddenly he realized what they’d done when the deep echo of Sylvia’s voice was muted.
“…never going to be one of us, Vivia, so why don’t you just give up?”
Thank heavens they’d cut her mic. It was likely the online audience hadn’t heard her. Hopefully those in the banquet hall hadn’t either.
Duke cupped his own mic with both hands so she couldn’t go for his next.
“Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen,” he said as two big men dressed in black came up alongside Sylvia. From his periphery, he saw them escort her off the small stage.
“He’s only pretending to like her,” Sylvia cried while struggling against the men. “He’ll be calling me once this is through. You wait.”
Duke hurried to speak over her, glad she no longer had access to a mic. “Think we forgot to put a cap on the champagne bar tonight, folks,” he said as the tension tightened around his neck. Sparse laughter rose over the chattering hum of the crowd.
Heart hammering, anger revving, Duke glanced at the spot where the Benton’s table stood, but the brightness of the spotlight kept him from seeing Vivi or anyone else seated there.
His palms went hot and damp as he eyed his lines. He’d have to read them word for word in order to make it through.
“Getting back to the purpose of tonight’s event, I’m proud to introduce this year’s…”
To say he was ruffled as he read off his lines was a gross understatement. Duke had enough adrenaline to take down ten men twice his size and then some.
At last, the crowd began to clap, an act that made Duke realize he’d finished his lines.
Mr. Dunkle was at his side next, reading off Sylvia’s lines with a flourish.
The cameraman gave them a nod once Dunkle was done, and Duke felt the host’s shoulders drop.
“Tell me that did not just happen on our live segment,” the man said.
Duke only shook his head as the severity of the incident seeped in.
“I wish I could.” He shot a look toward the Benton’s table.
The spotlight had dimmed, allowing the sight to come into full view.
Still, it didn’t look like their table at all.
Viv was missing, and so were Kat, Betzy, and Camila.
James, Zander, and Sawyer stood huddled beside the table in conversation.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Duke said to Dunkle with a nod.
“Oh, sure, sure,” he heard him saying from behind.
Duke was already halfway down the stairs and darting through the crowd of glistening gowns and tailor-made suits.
“Where is she?” he asked as he joined the cluster of men.
“She took off,” Sawyer said.
“The girls went after her,” James added.
Duke moved to bolt out of the room but Zander put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s just…give them a little time.”
“Why?” Duke asked, looking from his brothers to Sawyer for an answer.
“Because women are better at this stuff than we are,” Zander assured. “They’ll be able to calm her down.”
Duke shook his head. “I should be able to do that too. None of this was my fault.”
James and Zander looked at one another.
“Hey,” Sawyer said with a shrug. “I agree. There was nothing you could have done.”
His brothers didn’t look so convinced. “You had the floor,” James said. “You should have told everyone watching that Sylvia was crazy and that you are in love with Vivia.”
Zander seconded the notion with a nod. “It would have put it at rest right then.”
What? This was absurd. “I was trying to ignore her.” Anger exploded like a bomb in his chest. Duke clenched his fist and looked for something to deck. Who cared if he had to replace a table or chair? He needed a good release.
“I could barely even think up there,” he spat. “I’m lucky I didn’t yank the mic from her and make even more of a scene. Heck, she could’ve gotten violent.”
“You’re scared of a woman?” someone mumbled from behind. Duke glanced over his shoulder to see they’d attracted a small audience.
“Only women like that,” James answered for him.
Sawyer shot the bystander a look. “Mind your own business.”
“Come on,” Zander said with the wave of his hand. “Let’s get out of here.” The adrenaline, mingled with the testosterone in the group, did nothing to calm Duke down.
“I’m not leaving without Viv,” Duke assured, folding his arms in place.
“You won’t have to,” Zander assured. “Just follow me outside. We’ve got to get out of here before you blow your top and cause even more of a scene.”
His brother was probably right. Still, as Duke followed him toward the door, he caught a chair leg with his shoe and gave it a good, hard kick.
“Watch it,” James said from behind.
Zander shoved open an exit door along the edge of the banquet hall. Duke wondered if an alarm might sound; it looked like one of those open-only-in-case-of-emergency type of exits.
And so what if it did sound an alarm? Duke was too ticked off to care. And had his brothers been right about speaking up for Viv?
Maybe. A curse slipped through his lips as he followed Zander and Sawyer into the alleyway.
“This looks real safe,” James grumbled from behind. “Group of men with money like us…probably gonna get jumped.”
Duke gritted his teeth. “I’d welcome a good excuse to knock someone out right now.”
“She’s probably not even mad at you,” James said. “She was just…”
“Humiliated,” Sawyer filled in. “It sucks to feel like people are judging you. To know that some people think you just don’t belong in their crowd.”
Duke nodded, knowing that if any of them understood her perspective, it was him. Sawyer had grown up with similar means, all the while mingling with the wealthiest crowd in all of LA.
“I’ve never made her feel that way.” Duke could hardly believe the sentence had fallen from his lips. The more accurate statement would have been that he’d never viewed others as outsiders because of their financial status. There was no argument that what he’d done prior made Viv believe otherwise.
“I just got a text from Kat,” Zander said, slowing as they approached a busy sidewalk. “Says Viv wants them to take her home. We’re supposed to meet them at Vivia’s place.”
“Okay,” Duke said, a beat of relief coming over him. “So she just wants to hurry and get away from the crowd?”
Zander lifted his gaze from the screen to Duke. A nearby street sign illuminated his expression in blue hues. “No, man. Betzy’s going to drive, the other girls are going with them, and me, James, and Sawyer are going to head there so we can get our wives.”
“It doesn’t say anything about me?” Duke leaned over to look at the screen, catching a few simple words at the bottom of the text.
Tell Duke to go home. Vivia needs some time.
“How am I being made out to be the bad guy here?” Duke asked, balling up his fist once more. He pictured himself grabbing the nearby trashcan, hoisting it over his head, and hurling it into the street like the Hulk or King Kong or…
“I’ve got to get out of here,” he mumbled. “Catch you later.” He heard a few of them attempting to call him back or offer words of comfort. They were halfhearted attempts; the men knew him well enough that he wouldn’t stick around.
“…head over there to pick up your wives,” he grumbled under his breath. How nice it must be to know those women belonged to them. That they belonged to each other. He wanted that with Vivi too. It’s all he could think about in the days that passed.
He’d even signed up for a popular ring of the day club online. Spent time while in the office looking at rings, scouting dates, and dreaming up the perfect way to ask her to marry him.
James’ words came back to him. “You should have said that you do love Vivia.”
If he could go back, Duke might do that very thing. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to validate Sylvia and her ranting session. It seemed like the best thing was to move forward with the program like he’d done. Try to make a small joke in the awkwardness along the way.
Duke came to the entrance where the valet waited, but rather than pick up his car, he opted to pick up his pace instead, tearing off his suit coat and balling it in his fist. Heaven knew he had steam to let out before he got behind the wheel.
And if he climbed into his car at this point, there’d be no stopping him from heading over to Vivi’s house.
She needed time, fine. Perhaps he needed time too. He only hoped that, whatever frustrations Viv was dealing with, she wouldn’t gear them at him. Duke loved her more than he’d ever loved anyone, and if she couldn’t see that by now, he wasn’t sure how they’d ever move forward.