Page 65 of Until The Stars Don't Shine

Talk turned to vacation spots next as they each name-dropped islands so exclusive that Kane had never heard of them. Lexi fell silent, this part of the conversation not interesting to her when she caught Kane’s eye.

She smiled at him, causing Ellie to notice him. She crossed the few steps to him. Laying a hand on his arm, she purred up at him. “I would love a glass of champagne.”

Lexi froze, horrified by her assumption. The smile that had been in his eyes only moments ago faded. Keeping his voice calm but firm, he replied, “I’m not part of the wait staff.”

Ellie laughed, shaking off his objection with a wave of her hand. “Oh Darling, you do work here though don’t you?” She looked his outfit up and down, clearly insinuating that it wasn’t off the standard of the guests.

At the look on his face, Lexi’s heart plummeted to her stomach.

She wanted to elbow the bitch out of the way and throw her arms around him. How dare she insult her man? She was embarrassed, wishing that she’d never invited her to the party — money or not. But before she could respond, Mandy defused the situation by grabbing the said drink from a passing waiter.

“Here,” she pressed the drink firmly into Ellie’s hands. “Kane is our head of security and he’s far too busy to see to our every silly whim.”

She had graciously offered him a way out which he took, but Lexi could see from his stiff posture that he wasn’t overly pleased. Bud knew it too, in the way he kept looking up at him.

She made a move toward him, but was stopped by a hand on her wrist.

“Isn’t the show about to start, Dear?”

Her mom inclined her head at the stage where singing sensation Stella Speed waited to be announced. Long white curtains hid her from view, and they wouldn’t be lifted until Lexi had made her introduction.

Every nerve in her body wanted to stay to talk to him, but there wasn’t time for this right now. Kane would have to wait until her work was done.

Then she would fix the damage the stupid Ellie had wrought.

21

Blood pounded in his ears.

All around him came the sounds of merriment, but he could barely hear it above the fury that raged within.

That actress had taken no small amount of pleasure at belittling him. Worse than that, Lexi had been there to hear it. Until she had spoken, Lexi had been smiling at him like the sun shone out of him. At her words, her smile had dimmed until it had vanished completely.

She’d looked horrified, but it was her embarrassment that had cut him to the quick.

He glanced down at himself, trying to see what the woman had seen so quickly: that he was a fraud.

He wasn’t one of them, not worthy of the air they breathed.

His fingers curled into claws by his side.

For some reason he couldn’t fathom, he recalled an image of him as a child, hiding beneath the kitchen table as his drunk parents argued with the authorities who had been called out by the neighbors, concerned with the racket they could hear. By the time he was yanked out from under there by his father, Kane had heard plenty about how their “kind” was a stain on the rest of the community.

He was feeling like that small little kid again, the one he’d thought he’d long gotten rid of. Stalking through the grounds, staying close to Lexi, the image of Ellie’s smug, upturned face refused to go away.

Having worked in this industry for several years now, Kane knew what he was feeling had everything to do with his relationship with Lexi. Although it had only been a short time since they’d been together — since they’d even known each other really — but she’d gotten under his skin in a way no woman ever had.

Yet they came from two different worlds, which had been made so clear by this recent interaction. Much as he’d wanted to, he hadn’t been able to defend himself or put Ellie in her place, not without risking the job and therefore his protection of Lexi. This also wasn’t the place to do this, not when he knew how much she had invested in the night.

His phone buzzed against his leg.

One of the sensors had been tripped again, but it was one on a side of the property that was off limits to the guests.

With a mansion as big as this, it would be almost impossible to guard every area without bringing on an army to patrol. Kane had compromised by keeping several parts of the property off limits, including the wings the Rockefellers slept in.

The alarm that had been tripped was by Mandy and Stonewall’s quarters.

His mind went back to Lexi, to the times she had admitted that nothing was ever about her. It was always about her parents.

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