Chapter 15 #2
“Only good things,” she promised, her voice playful. “And maybe one thing about desks.” My cheeks flushed as Rose choked on her champagne. “This is Rose, my best friend.” I offered quickly, trying to change the subject. “We are here for the gala and some sibling time.”
“Sibling time,” Nico echoed, smirking at Elena. “That’s what we’re calling it now?”
“Better than ‘gossip hour and trauma unpacking,’” Elena replied. Everyone chuckled, the tension easing. Theo stayed long enough to offer pleasantries, then Harper appeared at his side, whispering something with that no-nonsense tone that only assistants and older sisters could perfect.
“I’ll be back,” he told us, giving me one last glance before following Harper into the crowd. “Is it always like this?” Elena asked me once he disappeared. “What, the tux, the charm, the slow smolder?” I said.
“No,” she laughed. “The tension.”
“Oh,” I said, faking innocence. “That? That’s just unresolved power dynamics and sexual history in formalwear.” She cackled, clinking her glass to mine. “I like you already.”
We started chatting, falling into an easy rhythm.
Turns out Elena was an artist—illustration and mixed media—who’d spent the last few years bouncing between Lisbon, Florence, and Copenhagen.
Her vibe was chaotic-neutral with a soul-deep kindness I hadn’t expected.
Meanwhile, Rose and Nico were in their own orbit. Flirting.
Full-on, no-subtlety, laughing way too loud, eyes sparkling, lean-in flirting. I watched them for a moment, smirking. “They’re going to hook up,” I whispered to Elena.
“Oh, 100 percent,” she whispered back. “He’s already picked out his best boxers.
” I nearly spit out my drink. I could see how she was Theo’s sister, clever, quick, and quietly disarming.
But unlike Theo, she didn’t carry that edge of calculation.
She was open, breezy. If he was the storm, she was the sea.
The clink of glasses and soft hush of the crowd around us signaled a shift in the room.
“Looks like the gala’s officially starting,” Elena said, checking the time on her phone. “I should go mingle with my family,” I said, straightening the fabric of my dress and reaching for my clutch. “Keep Rose safe from your best friend.”
“No promises,” Elena grinned. “She looks like she bites.”
“She does,” I said, winking. “But only if he asks nicely.” We both laughed as I stepped away from our corner of comfort and glided into the storm.
The moment I reached the main cluster—Max, Naomi, Cameron, and Theo—I could feel the air change. It was thicker, heavier. Like all the unspoken things between Theo and me had walked in with me.
Naomi barely glanced up, deep in conversation with Cameron about the silent auction list. Max gave me a once-over with a rare soft smile. “You look beautiful, Samantha,” he said, voice warm and low. “Thanks, Max.”
Theo didn’t say a word. But his eyes dragged over me for just a second too long.
And that was more than enough. My father stood beneath the grand chandelier, a glass raised, his voice calm and commanding as ever.
“Thank you all for being here tonight. The Hayes Foundation was built not just on business, but on belief, belief in change, in legacy, and in the future. Tonight is about that future.”
He continued on, gracious, proud, practiced, mentioning the foundation’s work, the family company’s evolution, and how honored he was to be surrounded by those helping to shape its next chapter.
Naomi gave a perfectly polished follow-up.
Cameron charmed the crowd. And somewhere in there, I smiled and nodded and let flashes of cameras wash over me.
We were the picture of power, composure, and carefully chosen designer outfits.
And then there was Theo. He stood with that calm intensity only he could pull off, his hand briefly brushing the small of my back as we took a group photo. I didn’t dare move, not when I could still feel the imprint of his fingers, the heat of that touch in the hollow of my spine.
“Smile,” Harper whispered from behind the camera, and I did.
But I felt him step closer. “You look amazing in that dress,” he murmured, low enough that only I could hear.
I turned my head slightly, lips still fixed in a smile.
“Careful, someone might hear you flirting with your strategist.” His lips were right at my ear now.
“It’s my company, no one can tell me what to do or say,” I swallowed. Hard.
“I can’t wait to take it off,” he added. My blush was immediate. I laughed, soft and controlled for the cameras, and whispered back, “No need. It’s got easy access.” His breath caught, just a little, and I felt that tiny, delicious shift in the air between us.
“You are a dangerous woman, Samantha,” he said under his breath.
“A strategic woman,” I corrected, still smiling. “Who knows how to pick her battles… and her underwear, which is nonexistent today.” Theo straightened just as the cameras clicked again. Naomi gave me a suspicious side glance but didn’t say anything.
I stayed perfectly composed, the picture of corporate daughter charm, while my pulse raced like I’d just sprinted through midtown.
The night blurred into a parade of perfectly polite conversations and backhanded compliments wrapped in satin and ego.
I sipped my champagne like it was armor, smiling on cue, listening to industry types tell me how proud my father must be, while silently wondering if any of them would recognize me outside of this silk dress and borrowed legacy.
Theo and I moved through the crowd like magnets repelling, always circling, always aware.
At some point, Harper whispered something to Theo, and I took the opportunity to slip away past executives, socialites, and people who liked to call themselves ‘old family friends’, but couldn’t name a birthday.
I found my way back to the one place that didn’t feel like a performance, our little corner of chaos.
Elena, Rose, and Nico posted up near the bar like it was their private island.
“There she is!” Nico announced, raising a flute like I’d just walked into my own party.
“We were about to send a search party.” I rolled my eyes.
“I was being corporate.” Rose handed me a tequila shot.
“Now be feral.” We clinked glasses and downed them, laughing as we scrunched our faces through the burn.
Elena topped off our flutes while Nico reached for another round.
Theo reappeared, with a smile on his face that was enough to make me forget how to blink. He didn’t say anything, just grabbed a shot and joined the circle like he belonged there, like he always had. We did another round, and there was more laughter and more glances that lingered.
And then, of course, Naomi. She materialized like a thundercloud in Louboutin heels, lips pursed tighter than her updo. “Samantha,” she said in that voice she used when she was pretending not to judge me. “It’s not great optics, taking shots with the CEO and… whoever these people are.”
I blinked at her. Then turned around and shouted over the music, “Cameron! Come take a shot with us!” He looked surprised, then amused, and shrugged before making his way over. Naomi sighed so hard I could feel the air shift. Rose leaned over and whispered, “Is she always like this?”
“Only when she’s breathing,” I muttered.
Nico watched Naomi retreat into the crowd, as if she had somewhere important to be.
“Who was that?” he asked, brows raised. “Because she just gave me a very specific urge to behave badly.” I pointed at him with my half-empty glass. “Nope. Don’t think about it.”
“But—”
“Nope,” I said again. He grinned, completely unbothered. “I love a woman with an attitude.” We all laughed again, and for a moment, it didn’t feel like legacy or pressure or corporate optics. It just felt like life. Chaotic, tipsy, and weirdly… good.
Theo caught my eye from across the circle, and even with the noise and the music and the people, I felt it, but I looked away.
Harper’s hand was barely on my arm when she leaned in, voice low against the hum of the gala.
“Right stairs. Don’t use the elevator. Room 389.
” She slipped a key into my palm like it was an invitation and a warning all at once. I turned to ask, but she was gone.
I blinked once, twice, heart thudding as I scanned the room again. He wasn’t with Max. Not with Elena. Not even pretending to listen to Cameron wax poetics about next quarter's projections. Just… vanished. Like smoke. My fingers closed around the key. Cool metal, warm pulse.
Shit.
“Cover for me,” I said to Rose, who immediately narrowed her eyes. “Oh, okay.” I slipped away before I could change my mind.
The stairs were quieter than I expected, carpeted in rich navy and lined with antique sconces. Room 389 was three flights up and to the left, tucked just out of sight, just like him. The key turned smoothly. My heart did not.
The door clicked open to low lights, soft music, and something that looked suspiciously like romance.
A bottle of Dom chilled in a bucket of ice.
Two long-stemmed glasses. French doors open to a small garden terrace where a fire pit crackles softly.
And there, back to me, hands in his pockets like he wasn’t deliberately unraveling my entire life, was Theodore Jones.
He turned at the sound of the door, his expression unreadable in the flickering firelight. But those eyes, they knew exactly why I was here. “Took you long enough,” he said, voice low and steady. I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. “You didn’t even say please.”
“I didn’t think I had to.” He paused.
I kicked off my heels by the door, letting them fall with soft thuds against the carpet.
“Would’ve been polite. But then again, you’re not exactly known for playing fair.
” He moved then, slowly, crossing the room until we were toe-to-toe.
He took the key from my hand without breaking eye contact, then set it on the table beside the Dom.
“I didn’t ask you up here to be polite.” My breath caught. I should say something witty. Tease him or something, but his hand was already grazing the small of my back, and I melted like I’d been waiting for that touch all night.
“You really had Harper do your dirty work?” I asked, barely above a whisper. He smiled, close now. “She believes in efficiency.” I snorted.
“And what do you believe in, Samantha Hayes?” I met his gaze. “Right now? Letting my boss fuck me in a beautiful hotel room.” He took my hand, brought it to his lips.
“Then you’re exactly where you belong.”