Chapter Ten #4
"I believe they're the guests of honor tonight," Richard Balefire declared, walking up beside the woman.
"I know you!" Savea declared suddenly, making my head turn to look down at her, finding her gaze on Richard.
"Maybe you saw me on the news..." he started.
"Don't get her started on the news," I mumbled, feeling her elbow jab me in the stomach.
"No. I know you from the store I work at.
You came in with your daughter and her bunny...
um... Ted. His name was Ted. He was a girl," she added, smiling big as Richard seemed to soften a bit in her presence.
"I thought that was cute. Did he like the yogurt drops? Oh, and did those nail clippers work?"
By the time she stopped talking, Richard's lips were curved up, his eyes bright.
"She renamed her Tedadora once you told her that he was actually a she. And, yes, the nail clippers work perfectly. And I have to buy those yogurt things in bulk. It's nice to see you again..."
"Savea," she told him, reaching out to take his hand.
"Richard. And this is Faye," he added, nodding his head toward the woman at. "Our resident madam."
"Yes," Faye said, slowly raising her glass, taking a long sip, making us wait. A power move. "As in madam," she went on, lips curved up when Savea's lips fell open slightly. "With bone structure and an ass like yours, you could be making a fortune," Faye went on casually.
"Well, that's..." Savvy started, making me tense, not wanting her to offend any of these clearly influential people.
"Incredibly flattering," she surprised me by blurting out.
"That you think anyone would pay to have sex with me," she added, beaming.
"But I am pretty happy with this guy right here," she went on, curling into me a bit more, placing a hand on the flat of my stomach. Almost possessively.
"Yes, well, you would be, wouldn't you?" Faye asked, eyes roving over me in that cool, assessing way. "He hangs a suit well, but in a way that says he looks much better without anything on."
"Well," Savvy said, trying to hold back a smile by pressing her lips together. "Ah, he looks good in, and out, of everything."
"This sweet, animal-loving, devoted girlfriend thing isn't an act, is it? You're really this cute?" she asked, shaking her head. "Such a shame."
"That she can't convince you to give up your nice little life to work for her, she means," another man informed us, walking up.
Tall, lean, bald, black, wearing a navy suit on the tight side with a crisp white shirt underneath.
"Faye here prides herself on snatching up the real deals.
If her table talk is anything to go by, guys eat that sweet shit up.
Me, I tend to go for the ice queen thing," he said pointedly, casting a sly look toward Faye.
"I'd crush you and you know it, Aero."
"Oh, but I would enjoy every second of it," he told her, white teeth flashing. "Did I hear right? You're here because Eamon is apologizing to you?"
"Where is he?" Savea asked, voice dropping like it was some kind of secret.
"He likes to make an entrance," Faye supplied, rolling her eyes a bit. "As though we all haven't gotten to ogle over him several times before."
"Was he a model? I heard he was a model," Savea asked.
"He's been a great many things," another voice joined, a hint of an accent I couldn't quite place. British or South African. Which said that even if he had been a gutter kid in Pakistan like the other rumor implied, he had somehow found a way to travel around in his life.
I knew it was him before I turned even though he hadn't spoken to me when he'd dropped off the chip.
"Oh, wow," Savea whispered.
Maybe some men would be offended. Lesser men would feel intimidated. But, well, I knew her eyes were for me. And, quite frankly, Eamon Awan warranted that response when first seeing him.
So I just shot her a smile when she turned her head up guiltily.
"Eamon," I greeted him, inclining my chin.
"Kingston," he said, gaze holding mine for a moment before going to Savvy. "Savea. Can I get you a drink?" he asked.
"Oh, I, ah, I, I don't hold my liquor well."
"Oh, stop," Faye demanded with a sigh. "You're just making it worse."
"We've talked about you trying to secure talent at my club, Faye," Eamon told her with an indulgent smirk like he had a sweet spot for her.
"Look at her skin, though," Faye said, shaking her head. "Come on. Someone lose gracefully to me. A couple grand might take the sting away."
With that, she, Richard, Aero, and the other woman, red-headed, older, more standoffish, walked over toward the table where a dealer was already waiting with cards still in plastic.
"I heard you found an interesting way to make Harry learn," Eamon told me, turning to make his way toward the bar, leaving us to follow behind.
"After seeing the group here, I'm surprised he was allowed to keep coming."