Chapter 18
it’s not polite to eavesdrop
CANDY
I felt bow-strung with the awareness of what could have happened between us again if we hadn’t been in a public setting. But to what end? Every glance, every touch, every moment we gave into…us, something we hadn’t entertained in a long time, made things feel even more like a powder keg.
Volatile.
Dangerous.
Explosive.
It all felt foolish given our impending divorce. There was nothing left for us. We were done, at the end of the line.
Luckily, I had been able to step away from Nick when William had walked over and started up a conversation with him.
I had used it as my opportunity to go to the bathroom.
The solitude there reminded me that this evening would be over soon enough, and the dread for attending an event was merely because it was Irina’s party.
So much was going on right now, and this too would pass.
Walking down the stairs to make my way back to the main floor where I had left Nick, I kept my head down and focused on my steps.
After all, I was wearing boots with quite the heel.
They’d make most acrobats shudder, but they closed the gap in the height difference I had with Nick and made for better photos.
Plus, it gave me a confidence boost that I’d known would do me a world of good.
I was turning to head down the next flight of stairs when Irina’s voice filled my ears. She was gossiping, engaging in idle chit-chat at another person’s expense. “It’s true. Maribel’s husband saw it himself.”
“Nick was wiping down glasses behind the bar?”
“Mmhmm.”
What? I paused, my hand practically stuck to the handrail like it’d been glued there.
My lips parted on a silent gasp as my stomach fell, and my heart beat so rapidly in my chest I thought I might have a heart attack.
That still wouldn’t have been the most embarrassing part of this night.
No, hearing Irina gossiping about Nick would have taken the cake.
“Maribel thought they might be facing financial troubles. It’s such a shame,” Irina said, continuing in her quest to tarnish my husband’s reputation and name.
My shock and disappointment quickly dissipated, leaving nothing more than anger in its wake. Embers of irritation trickled throughout my body. It was as though someone had lit a match, and I was standing amid the flames, daring them to burn me and send me straight to hell.
I pursed my lips and did nothing to conceal my hostility toward Irina.
If she wanted to sit around and spend her precious time talking about me, then fine, so be it.
But Nick didn’t deserve for his name to be smeared.
He was a good man, more than the man they saw him as, which was one of the best businessmen on Wall Street.
It was all they ever saw, and it was all they ever would, because it was all they cared to see.
It disgusted me, truly made me sick. That feeling would have to wait, though, because I wanted to pull every last strand of colored hair out of Irina’s head.
I took a deep breath in and exhaled before forcing a smile onto my face.
Stepping down with one foot at a time, I listened to the murmurs and shocked gasps of the women as they kept this absurdity going on with disorganized side conversations.
It was pathetic, really, that they had nothing else better to do.
And Irina…I was surprised that she wasn’t mingling with everyone at her party.
You would think she would have cared to know what was going on right under her nose and what everyone thought about the affair she wouldn’t have been able to plan on her own if her life had depended on it.
“Candy,” Irina said, spotting me first as I did her, our eyes meeting.
Her smile was as devilish and dishonest as they came. She put mine to shame, but that was probably because she didn’t have a nice bone in her body. Deep down I knew the meaning of the word pleasant. She did not.
Everyone began dispersing like the flies they were now that the carcass had been found. That didn’t faze me, though. I wasn’t worried about them. I didn’t pay them any attention and homed in on the woman who was the real problem—Irina.
I had already seen her tonight, but I couldn’t help but think once again how she was clearly trying too hard.
That gown… She’d chosen a red mermaid gown with a corset and long sleeves to cover her trouble spots.
It was designer, but it was nothing special.
Just like her. If I’d seen one, I’d seen a million red mermaid gowns.
“Candy, darling. I trust you and Nick are enjoying yourselves.”
I nodded, raising a brow. Her words were benign, but I knew they were laced with so much more. Irina had a tendency to carry around a gavel and used it mercilessly. “Why, of course, Irina. I wouldn’t expect anything less than a marvelous affair from you. Nor should anyone else.”
She angled her head, but her hair had so much hairspray in it that it didn’t move more than a fraction of an inch. If I wasn’t paying close enough attention, I might have missed it. “Oh, well, don’t stress about making your event just as extravagant. We’ll all attend, nonetheless.”
I was sure they would, if for no other reason than to try to get something on me. Or Nick. Or both of us.
Looking over my shoulder, I made sure no one was in sight, and I doubted they would be as I heard Teddy making an effort to get everyone’s attention downstairs. “So, I hear you have been sitting on a little gossip about my husband.”
We both knew our place, had been trained accordingly, so she twisted her neck before looking back at me, that stupid smile still lackluster on her face. “I’m sure it’s not polite to eavesdrop, Candy.”
“My apologies. I must have missed that lesson.” I leaned in and was practically whispering in her ear now. “After all, I didn’t grow up in this world.”
She only chuckled, a light tremor evident.
“But I’m sure you already know that.”
“This is my party, dear. I’ve spent a lot of time planning it, and it would be rude not to tend to my guests.” Her smile faltered but for a second.
I brushed off her comment with a quick gesture of my hand.
“Nonsense.” I leaned in a bit further, and the only way it would appear to an outsider was that we were two old friends having a lovely conversation.
“We both know you don’t care about your guests, only how much they fear you, because that’s how you earn their respect, isn’t it? ”
I didn’t give her enough time to respond, only lick her lips.
“See, I’ve been around long enough to have picked up on a few things.
I’m not the same girl I was when I first got together with Nick.
And don’t think for a second that I didn’t catch the disapproval and disdain in your voice when you were talking about my husband.
The thing is that I find it ironic that you feel you could judge, considering you were working behind the bar of some run-down place in a small town when you met your husband.
He was there on business, and I’m sure his wife at the time hadn’t thought he’d be tending to new business with you there as well.
“Unfortunately for her, and all of us, you seemed to mystify Teddy. Now, as far as I’m concerned, the two of you deserve each other.
We don’t, however, deserve to be gossip fodder for your own self-amusement.
And I’ll tell you what I told Maribel, which is that we are not in financial trouble.
As far as him working behind a bar, Nick is a man of many talents and interests.
If that means him serving drinks at a pub on Long Island a few hours a week, then I’m just counting my lucky stars that he isn’t picking up women there like Teddy has a fondness for doing.
What’s that thing everyone always says? Once a cheater, always a cheater? ”
Satisfied with the way I ended things, I backed away and maneuvered around her on the stairs, descending them as though nothing happened. After all, that was what the best of us did, wasn’t it? Pretend everything was finer than a man in a twenty-thousand-dollar suit?
Nick was at the bottom of the stairs when I got there, a hand extended for me to take, which I did.
His hand engulfed mine, but I appreciated the way he held it.
It made me feel secure and took me away from the drama I’d experienced with Irina.
“There you are. I was about to come and get you. Thought you might have gotten lost or something.”
I slipped my hand away from his, my pulse racing. “Yes, well, no need. I managed to find my way back just fine. I ran into Irina, and we got to talking, that’s all.”
He cocked a brow, scrubbing a hand down his face. “About what?”
I shook my head. “It makes no difference. I’ve already been through the conversation once. I don’t have the energy to go through it again. All you need to know is that we have a newfound understanding.”
“What does that mean?”
I laughed, trying to get him to let this go.
This wasn’t the time or place, and I hadn’t lied when I’d said I wasn’t in the mood to rehash the story.
“How about we call it a night, hmm? Have you seen everyone you needed to?” I hooked my arm with his, needing to feel him close to me.
I wasn’t typically this needy, but it was grounding me and preventing me from running back upstairs and strangling that poisonous woman.
His eyes met mine, and we stared at each other for a brief moment. The air grew thick around us. “I don’t see a reason to stay here any longer.”
“So, we’re in agreement,” I breathed, neither of us moving. It felt like the moment had been suspended in time, nothing going on around us.
“Nick. Candy. I didn’t think I’d see anyone worth sharing my breath with here at the late hour.”