Chapter 46 Rachel
FORTY-SIX
RACHEL
TONIGHT, TONIGHT - SMASHING PUMPKINS
THAT SAME EVENING
“Holy shit, Rachel!”
Lily’s exclamation had me hiding a grin. “Do I dress up well?”
“Damn straight you do.” She blinked. “Rex doesn’t know what he’s missing.”
“I don’t think he’s the designer sort,” I mocked as I slipped into my heels and put on my earrings.
It was a deceptively simple dress. Sweetheart neckline, fishtail skirt, but it had a kind of bustle at the back with a bow that was made for sin—a couple of tugs on that bow and the back gaped and it’d be beyond easy to slip out of.
Funny how I was dressed for sex but the only guy I wanted was on the other side of the country.
“I figured you’d be wearing a black turtleneck or something.”
I snorted. “It’s a black-tie event.”
“I said black turtleneck. I’ve never seen you in anything other than workwear.”
“That’s most of my wardrobe, but I always dress up for the fundraisers.” I cast her a glance as I patted my hair down. “You look gorgeous too. No Link to drool over you?”
Her smile was smug as she patted the neat LBD that hugged her slim curves. “He drooled earlier, but nah. Not only is this not his scene, there was a…” Her lips firmed, but her eyes gleamed with amusement. “…shall we say altercation at the clubhouse, so he’s there.”
“What kind of altercation?” I groused. “I’d better not get a call halfway through the goddamn event, Lily!”
“Nothing like that. Kendra pissed Giulia off, and Giulia was cooking, so—”
“She was armed?”
Lily snickered. “Yeah. Went at her with a cleaver, or so Steel told Tiff. Then, and this is the best part—she puked all over her!”
My nose crinkled, but I was fighting a smile too. “I’m sure Kendra deserved it.”
We shared a look, and Lily nodded. “I’m sure she did.”
With that news perking me up, I asked, “Everything set?”
“It is. Management here actually offered to donate a weekend break in their Presidential suite too. I just got an email from them—”
My brows rose. “Your doing?”
She shot me a sheepish look. “Maybe.”
“You’re good at this,” I told her softly. “I wish you’d been around when I was starting up.”
Hope lit up her eyes, but excitement made her cheeks flush.
“Donavan—” Her father. The piece of shit.
“—wanted me to major in husband, but I decided that I could make use of school too. I minored in accounting and event management. With what Mom taught me as well, it’s exciting to get things happening. To make change.”
“I hate this side of things,” I admitted. “It’s a weight off that you don’t and that you’re good at it.”
Casually, I looked at her in the mirror as I slipped on the tennis bracelet I was wearing tonight.
“Need some help with that?” she offered.
“Thanks.”
As she reached out, from beneath her own diamond-studded tennis bracelet, I saw her ‘Property of Link’ brand.
It wasn’t the first time I’d seen it, but an odd feeling settled in my being. Much as it had when Stone and I had talked about the MC and belonging.
A craving had stirred inside me.
A need.
But it was also a reminder of her loyalty to the MC. She was an Old Lady. One who needed more than just to be Link’s woman.
I understood that duality, however. The need to belong, as well as the need to forge one’s own path.
As she slotted the bracelet's clasp into place for me, I asked, “Would you like to be more involved in the next event?”
“I’d love that,” she breathed shakily, her glee clear and more befitting a lottery win than the offer that she’d be shouldering months’ worth of headaches on my behalf. “You mean that?”
“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. The last couple weeks ran ten times more smoothly than the previous twelve, and trust me, things are supposed to get more chaotic, not less.
I can’t even thank you enough for all you’ve done.
” I turned to her and reached out to grab her hand so I could squeeze her fingers.
“You’ve been a lifesaver. I genuinely don’t know what I’d have done without you. ”
Her gaze turned knowing. “How’s the morning sickness?”
“You’re not supposed to know.”
“Giulia asked me to watch out for you,” was her unapologetic reply. “How is it?”
“Worse than before.”
“Giulia said there’s nothing you can do.”
My lips curved. “I know. I don’t want the antiemetics the doctor suggested. Mostly she told me to calm down, which doesn’t exactly make a person calm down, does it?”
“Not really, no,” she said with a laugh.
“That’s why I’m grateful too. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been if I didn’t have your help. So, if you’re amenable, I’d like to take this from a part-time thing to a full-time operation—”
“You’re not serious?!” Lily squeaked, her eyes flaring wide.
“I am. Deadly,” I teased. “I arrange three to four of these a year, but I’ve always been constrained, timewise, to keep the events localized.
"If you could make them bigger, get more of a push out there, liaise with whomever to get these fundraisers more known—”
“I have ideas,” she enthused, her voice high and squeaky. “So many ideas. I was going to talk to you about them, see if you thought they were achievable.
"I own the Landis Scraper on the Upper East Side—”
My eyes bugged. “You do?”
“Yeah,” she admitted sheepishly. “So I can pretty much guarantee that we’d have a venue tailored to our needs.”
I beamed a smile at her. “That’s brilliant. Next week, we’ll pencil down some time to sort through your ideas—”
She snagged both my hands and squeezed my fingers.
“Thank you, Rachel. Thank you so damn much. I’ve been trying to get things off the ground with a foundation in my mom’s name, but what with everything, it’s just not been doable.
To be a part of the good work you’re already doing is more than I could have hoped for. ”
“You’re welcome,” I said, both amused and touched by her enthusiasm as I slipped my cell phones into my clutch purse and tucked it under my arm.
Giulia, it seemed, was right.
Lily had been struggling to find her place, and for Link’s sake, I was glad to have given her somewhere to land.
This might not work out; Lily could hate working for me or might not want to carry on, but we all needed to feel as if we had roots.
It made sense that someone with her past, from her family, who’d dived into the MC lifestyle, would flounder.
Before I could head out the door, Parker texted me.
Parker: You haven’t sent me a picture yet.
Rachel: Damn. I barely finished getting dressed! Bossy!
Parker: Just making sure you don’t forget.
*picture sent*
Rachel: Happy now?
Parker: You look beautiful. Rex doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.
Rachel: Lol. Lily just said that.
Parker: Everything okay there?
Rachel: Yeah, she’s got it all in hand.
Parker: Break a leg.
Rachel: I’ll try to break two. <3
Parker: <3
The next twenty minutes were spent confirming the schedule and that there were no changes to any of the auction lots.
There’d be a meal, dancing, an auction, some speeches, followed by more dancing.
Personally, I’d be glad when the damn thing was over.
I hated dancing with clients and making small talk, but it was all for a good cause.
Reminding them of the favors that indebted them to me always made for better auction prices.
Mostly, what I loathed was the behind-the-scenes stress.
If I could put those jobs on Lily’s shoulders too, I knew I’d dread these things much less. She was far more fitting as the face of FAST than the MC brat of a whore, anyway. Self-made criminals loved rubbing shoulders with American royalty like the Lindenbourgs.
You had to love the US. She might be the daughter of a criminal sex trafficker, but being associated with the Lindenbourgs stopped her from being a total social pariah.
Time squirreled away from us as we headed downstairs and made sure that everything was running smoothly.
I greeted some of the new arrivals, watched as most people found their seats without any problem, smiled when I saw a bunch of these so-called hardened criminals dancing with their women like they were on Dancing with the Stars.
The Victoria was a five-star hotel deep in the heart of Manhattan, and I’d always used their event halls because they gave a touch of much-needed class to my foundations.
Maybe Lily and her help had brought it to my attention, but I realized I had a chip on my shoulder. A massive one.
Nobody here made me feel like I didn’t belong—how could they? Most of them had worse reps than I did! But that limited my charities’ endeavors. It meant that we weren’t receiving as many donations as we should be getting.
Lily would rectify that, and FAST and my other foundations would benefit from it.
FAST, more than the others, was particularly close to my heart.
Amid the Art Deco glamor of a ballroom that twinkled with lights from massive chandeliers with beautiful parquet flooring that only added to that touch of class, I swirled among the crowd, wearing diamonds I’d bought myself, a ten-thousand-dollar gown that I’d comfortably purchased for this event, and with a set of heels that made my inner teenager swoon.
I’d done this.
That was the thought that rammed its way home as I circulated.
Me.
I’d done this.
I’d bought and paid for everything. My foundation existed because it was my brainchild.
It was only now that I realized what I’d achieved, what I’d accomplished, and while I knew I had let Wynter down, this was something I could be proud of.
The next time she asked me about my job and my clients, this was what I’d talk about—not the murderers I defended because they paid exorbitant fees for me to get them off capital punishments, not the mafioso who had me on retainer because I was better with loopholes than a knitter. This.
This was my legacy.
Flushed with success, I did the unthinkable—after listening to the speeches of some of the charity workers, the heads of the homes my charities funded, the coordinators, I took to the stage.
I’d never done that before, but I felt on top of the world for once.