14. Founders’ Day Gala
CHAPTER 14
Founders’ Day Gala
Henry
I punched the pillow and threw it across the dimly lit room. Sleeping down the hall from Nikki was impossible, pure torture. Worst part was, every time I closed my eyes, I saw that asshole with his hands all over her. Days had passed since the incident at the bar, and I still couldn’t get that picture out of my mind. I blocked out the image and focused on Mom instead, scanning my brain for what little memories I had of her.
Those years when we’d been a happy family, completely unaware of the horror looming. Her smile when she saw Dad or watched me play in her garden. Those thoughts used to make me sad, but now they were the last good thing I had of her.
My breath slowed to a rhythmic pattern, and the room fell away. The bad dreams were no longer nightmares but a chaotic web of memories. Like many other times, I ended up back in the dark tunnels.
The musk in the air made my nose tingle. The cool breeze scraped across my bare arms, and I shivered. Those small details, I remembered well. Those were my constants, the totems that separated dream from memory.
The door opened, and the light at the end of the tunnel appeared, followed by a figure. It was male. No, female, hair up in a twisted updo I recognized. She wore a cocktail dress and kept her hands tucked between the folds of her skirt. What was she doing? Hiding something? I stepped toward her. My feet slapped on the cement as cold seeped through my bedroom slippers and the rest of my body. I ran after her, but she vanished like smoke.
I woke with a jolt, heart pounding. Was that dream a memory? I wiped a hand across my forehead. What had Mom been doing in the tunnels? I threw my feet over the side of the bed and got up. If she’d hid something in the walls, there was only one way to find out. I had to get back to Cavalier Manor.
Downstairs, I used Nikki’s espresso machine to make a mocha. Did I hope she’d come out and demand I stop touching her things? Sure. But she didn’t. Disappointed, I sat on the sofa and took a long sip of the coffee. Getting back to the manor might not be as easy as it had been the first time. Not that the first time had been all that easy, but by now Jonathan knew I had access to the grounds. Why else would he hire someone to give me a scare? I gripped a handful of my hair. I hoped the asshole he’d sent to rough me up was telling the truth. Would Jonathan try to kill his own nephew? If so, why now?
I set my mug on the coffee table and immediately spotted my name on the ripped envelope sitting on top of today’s mail. One of the perks of living in a small town? Getting my mail delivered no matter where I went. By the fancy envelope, I had to guess this was the invitation to tonight’s Founders’ Day Gala. Nikki must’ve had the same thought. Why else would she open mail not addressed to her? I threw the letter on the sofa and rushed upstairs, swiping the hanging sheets out of the way. The ones meant to remind me which side of the hotel was mine, as if I could forget.
Leaning on the doorframe, I braced for impact and knocked. It was nine in the morning. She should be up. Another knock. Nothing. I pressed my ear to the door and pushed it open when I didn’t hear any movement. Suddenly, the hotel felt empty. Had she left for good? The hollow feeling in my chest grew as I rummaged through the room. Her clothes were in her closet along with the suitcases.
“Fuck. Nikki. You’re driving me nuts.” I sat on the bed and buried my head in my hands.
There was no time to worry about her right now. I had to get ready for the gala.
The last time I stood at the front door of the manor, Jonathan had given the guards strict orders not to let me on the property ever again. But tonight was different. I was a guest in my own goddamn home. Admittedly, coming in through the main entrance sure beat the tunnels. I smiled at the security guard checking names on the guest list. He hadn’t even asked my name. His eyes darted across the page, blinking fast. I chuckled. What was he afraid of?
“There you are, Mr. Cavalier. Welcome.” He swallowed.
“Thank you.” I strolled in, taking in the foyer already crowded with Francesca’s friends.
When Mom was around, this party had been open to everyone in town. I put all thoughts of Mom and the past aside and relaxed my facial muscles. As usual, the bar had been set up in the study. Making my way there, I glanced at the tunnel access behind the velvet settee where three women chatted away, sipping champagne. The access in the kitchen was my only option, but no doubt that room would be just as crowded. How the hell was I supposed to go back into the tunnels without being seen?
When I reached the threshold to the study, a laugh filtered out into the hallway, sweet and full of promises. My back tensed. I didn’t have to turn around to see who the laugh belonged to. Nikki was here too.
“Whiskey, please,” I said to the bartender. Maybe it was my imagination, but I could swear I felt Nikki’s eyes on me.
“Ms. Swift, you truly are a breath of fresh air.” Jonathan’s voice was like a jackhammer to my eardrums.
“Oh, Mr. Mayor, I’m sure you say that to all the girls.” Nikki laid it on thick.
I took the drink the bartender offered and spun around. Big mistake. If Nikki looked surreal in jeans and a silky top, she was absolutely breathtaking in that dress. The royal-blue velvet hugged her waist tight and pushed up those perfect breasts. I touched the glass to my lips. My gaze never left hers as I downed the whiskey.
I set the glass down and ambled over to Nikki, ignoring all the assholes ogling her. “There you are. Mr. Mayor, I see you met my girlfriend.”
The color drained from Jonathan’s cheeks. He glanced down at his empty drink, then turned to face me, the whites of his eyes bigger than normal. What did he expect? That I’d be home recovering from a beating or dead in some ditch?
“The lady didn’t mention you.” He blinked fast and swallowed.
What a pathetic excuse for an uncle, for a human being—full of tells and no spine. That was how I’d been able to beat him at poker. How I’d gotten a small piece of my father’s fortune back. Or half of it.
“Good for you,” Jonathan stammered .
“Yes, it is. Now if you’d excuse us, I promised my girlfriend a dance.” I took Nikki’s elbow and escorted her out of the study before she decided to call me a liar in front of everyone. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked under my breath.
“Same as you.” She smiled at the men who wouldn’t stop looking at her. My mouth went dry when she pressed her body closer to mine. “I’m here to celebrate Founders’ Day.”
“You’re not staying.” I led her to the drawing room, where a live band played a slow song.
All the furniture had been removed, replaced with small tables that were arranged around a dance floor. She didn’t argue when I stopped in the middle of the room, pulled her close to me, and began to sway to the beat of the music. I didn’t feel like dancing, but I didn’t feel like letting her go either.
“That’s not for you to say. Just like it’s not for you to go around telling people I’m your girlfriend. I thought I had been loud and clear before.” She pushed on my shoulder, and I held her tighter.
My gaze dropped to the cleavage pressed against my chest. She made a little sound, something between a sigh and moan, before her eyes closed.
“You feel it too,” I whispered in her ear.
Desire rushed through my veins when her hand gripped the lapel of my tuxedo jacket. She shook her head once and glanced up at me. The glow from the shimmering chandelier overhead played with the golden highlights in her hair, and something tugged at my insides.
“I’m not going anywhere. I came here to get something, and I’m not leaving without it. I was making progress with your uncle until you showed up, by the way. Now because of you and your macho display, we have him, Francesca, and everyone else watching us like we’re on some cheesy soap episode.”
“You need to get upstairs?” I held her tighter .
“Do you think they’ll let you have a private moment with your girlfriend?” She relaxed in my arms and smiled.
Even if it was pretend, I liked hearing her say she was mine. Like Dom had said—it was hard to think clearly when your cock was in the way. But this plan might just work. I leaned in and pressed my lips against hers. God, I wanted to do more than that. I wanted to feel her tongue in my mouth, taste all of her, but I kept the kiss as innocent as I could and focused on our goal.
If I wasn’t careful, I could get lost in her kiss. This was all pretend . I repeated those words over and over in my head when she snaked her arms around my neck, and the tip of her tongue grazed my lips. For a moment, I couldn’t remember why we were here, or why we weren’t doing more than this.
She pulled away first. “Let’s go upstairs, darling.” Her voice was pure honey and sin.
We had a plan before, but somewhere between her soft lips and her hips pressing against me, my cock came up with a plan of its own. I swallowed hard and nodded.
“For that, you’ll need to release me first.” She lowered her gaze as a tint of red covered the apples of her cheeks.
“Right.” I dropped my hands from her waist and stuffed them in my pockets, thankful for the tuxedo jacket that hid my erection.
She gripped my bicep and ushered me toward the door. The women began their gossiping before we even crossed the threshold, while the men just stared. No doubt they thought we’d left the dance floor to continue our kiss upstairs. I sure as hell wanted to. How was she so calm?
“How about a drink?” She raised an eyebrow.
“What would you like?” I asked.
“French 75,” she said to the bartender.
He nodded and reached for a bottle of champagne .
“Whiskey for me,” I added to her order and pulled her to me.
“Watch it.” She stepped back.
“What is it?”
She blew out a breath and pressed two fingers to her temple. “Nothing. For a moment, I forgot I was allowed to step on the rug.”
She had perfected her Nikki act so much that sometimes I forgot about all the shit she had to put up with when she lived at Cavalier Manor, how cruel Francesca was to her and Lisa. I was an asshole for not considering how it would make her feel to return to this place.
“She can’t hurt you anymore. I promise. I won’t let her.” I cocked my head to meet her gaze and cradled her neck.
She cupped my jaw, flashing me one of her Nikki Swift bright smiles. “Are you up for this or not, darling?”
One of these days, we had to find a way to reconcile our feelings, to put the past behind us. Nikki and I deserved a second chance. She had to know that. Did she not feel it every time we touched? I rubbed my thumb over the dip of her waist, and her breath hitched.
“You’re affected by this as much as I am,” I whispered in her ear.
“It doesn’t matter how I feel.” She curled her hand into a fist and pressed it against my stomach to push me away from her.
The bartender set our drinks on the bar and moved on to the next guest. I picked up my glass and sipped, welcoming the warm calm the whiskey sent through my body.
Nikki wrapped her fingers around the champagne flute and met my gaze. “Meet me upstairs.” She practically glided out of Dad’s study as she made her way toward the grand staircase, making polite conversation with the other women also going to the restroom. That was it. Nikki had done her part. If I disappeared now for a few minutes, no one would wonder where I was. I could go upstairs and access the tunnel in Mom’s bedroom. At least that was the tunnel I thought I’d seen in my dream.
I finished my whiskey with one last swig and went upstairs. A few giggles came from the settee below the banister, but they were muffled by my heart thrashing in my ears. In the hallway, to my right, Nikki kept a group of women enthralled in whatever story she was telling them. All this sneaking around wasn’t how I’d wanted to do this, but Jonathan left us no choice. I went left, straight to the bedroom at the end of the corridor. Mom’s room looked exactly the way we’d left it the day Nikki and I broke in. She was really gone. My chest hurt. Breathing hurt.
Ignoring the pounding of my heart, I went in her closet and pushed open the hidden door that led to the tunnel, which went from Mom’s room directly into the kitchen. The familiar cool breeze greeted me, a mix of wet dirt and old wood.
In my dream, Mom had stood in a circle of light, maybe a few steps in from the entrance. I ducked under the doorframe, tapping the floor as I went, looking for anything loose along the edge of the wall. Several feet into the tunnel, I spun in place. She’d been standing right here. I walked up and down to gauge the distance and make it match the one in my dream. Had she been hunched or standing tall? Reaching?
I reached, and my hand touched the ceiling before my arm was fully extended. This place had seemed so big when I was little. Then I felt it. A loose brick at the top. Critters crawled over my hand. I shook them off and removed the shards of stone. To my amazement, an envelope fell out. I had no idea what Mom had left here, but I was relieved…relieved because now I knew for certain my dreams were littered with memories .
What else had I made myself forget?
“Henry?” Nikki called from Mom’s bedroom. I stuffed the envelope inside my jacket and went back out.
“You were gone a long time. Where did you go?” She sat up on the bed, probably not the best place for her to be right now.
I dusted my pants with my hands and pointed toward the closet. “I wanted to check this passage, see if maybe Mom left any more clues for us.”
“Did you find anything?”
“No. Another bust.” I didn’t want to deal with the Pandora’s box I’d just found. Not while Nikki sat on a bed, in a dark room, away from the crowd. I stepped toward her, aching to touch her exposed legs and see if her skin was as soft as it looked.
As if she could read my thoughts, she jerked to her feet. “We should go. Someone might notice we’ve been gone a long while. You know, longer than necessary.”
“I’m sure there are several people downstairs keeping time. Thanks to you. That was quite a display.”
“Scandalous.” She laughed, standing inches from me.
I reached for her hand and squeezed her fingers. “We should go,” I whispered.
Her perfume sent a shot of desire through me. My whole body felt alive, just standing here, breathing the same air as her. She sighed, and that was my undoing. I cradled her neck and kissed her the way I’d wanted to do since I first saw her in the study downstairs. And for once, she didn’t pull away. Instead, her teeth grazed my bottom lip before she deepened the kiss.
“Are you sure?” I tugged at the velvet straps of her dress and slid them off her shoulders.
Her dress fell to her waist, and my self-restraint fell along with it. She buried her fingers in my hair. A gesture that felt so intimate and familiar. When she pulled me toward her, I bent down and captured her hardened nipple in my mouth.
Was it so bad that I wanted her to replace the horrors in my past? Nikki was the only one who could make me forget about the life that was stolen from me. She was stolen from me too. But she was back, and I couldn’t let her walk away. My tongue circled the tip of her breast while I kneaded the other one, so full and supple. She felt so good.
“Sure of what?” She breathed into my ear, a sexy mix of a moan and a sigh.
“What are we doing, Nikki?”
“Oh, umm.” She stared at me, brows furrowed, as if considering her options. “I’m tired of hiding and shoving my feelings aside.” She reached inside my tuxedo jacket and untucked my dress shirt. Her hands on my bare skin put all kinds of bad ideas in my head.
“This would be a good time for you to say stop.” I pressed my forehead to hers. It hurt to want her this bad.
“This thing between us, I don’t see how I can stop it…I don’t want to.” She panted a breath.
“Let me taste you.” Gripping her waist, I walked her to the wall and pinned her against it.
The pounding in my chest drowned all sounds around us. With a sigh of surrender, she let her head fall back. I kissed her neck, gentle at first and then harder. Slowly, I nibbled on her chest, on the curve of her breast, and any patch of soft skin I could find before I fell to my knees between her legs.