Page 56 of King of Justice

“Already have a few ideas that can work.”

“Perfect. Waiting for you.”

When they arrived, I was sitting in my study with a bottle of great whiskey and my raging thoughts. I wanted my party to be the story on everyone’s tongues the day after. To defy everything that Valentine’s Day stood for and…

“How about a matchmaking game?” Chad grinned before excitedly downing a sip of whiskey.

I pulled down the corners of my lips. “Isn’t that a little… speed-date-y?”

Cocking up a finger, he chortled and slowly shook his head. “Not what I have in mind, my friend.” Dean and I kept our attention on his face as he elaborated, “I’m thinking blindfolds and a random matchmaking technique.”

“Please, don’t say car keys,” Dean objected.

“No, no.” Chad quickly wagged his finger. “That’s where I’m stuck, though.”

Dean then suggested, “How about numbers given at the door?”

“Very… library?”

“Colors!” I said. They both looked at me with wide eyes as I laughed and quickly explained, “Of underwear.”

“What?” Dean snickered in disbelief.

“Oh, I love it!” Chad hollered as if his favorite team had just won. “But how do we get the guests to wear something other than boring black or boxers with little hearts on them?”

“The invitation?” I suggested. “The disclaimer will be something like… make your unmentionables exciting or whatever. The planners will handle it.”

“Where were these ideas when I needed them?” Chad forged comical disappointment as he shook his head.

And so we went ahead with it, and the planners made it even better. Lace curtains, sexy lights, velvet love-seats in every corner and the most inspiring soundtrack in the background. When they were done, I almost didn’t recognize my own place.

“I can’t believe Abel’s missing this.” Dean shook his head the second he stepped in.

“I’d choose this over an engagement party any day!” Chad joked, chuckling like a high school kid.

I wanted to say that I wouldn’t, and that I would much rather spend the night with Sophie. But then again, what part of me was so self-loathing and masochistic as to want that after what I’d witnessed? Adamant on forgetting all about her, I grabbed another beer and examined the flawless decorations with a keener eye.

A couple of hours later, my guests started pouring in, each one excited about the prospects that the evening held. At the door, masked ushers handed them their masks and blindfolds with an elegant card that had the game instructions on it.

After a couple of cocktails, I was matched with the gorgeous, red-haired Stephanie Gibson, socialite and heiress of a multi-million-dollar business. After we were both blindfolded, a hostess placed what she had described as ‘a heart-shaped cookie’ between our teeth, advising us to try to break it in half so we could go into the next phase of the game. If one of us took a bite, leaving the rest of the cookie to the other person, we would have to repeat the step again with a new cookie.

With some focus, I tried to position myself properly so that I wouldn’t ruin the game for my partner. My attempts to also convince myself that I was having a fantastic time were in line with my efforts, letting out grunts and noises as if to say to the world, “I’m very invested in this.”

In reality, I thought the whole thing was absurd.

However, it was too late now.

That was when I felt a hand suddenly land on my shoulder and heard the hostess’ antagonizing voice say, “Excuse me, who are you?”

Without hearing a response, I felt the blindfold being yanked upward and off of my face. It took my eyes a second to acclimate before I recognized that the person towering over me was Sophie.

“Miss, you’re ruining the game,” the hostess said before turning to me, then quickly looking away, yelling, “Security!”

“No, no.” I stood up, and in that instant, my match pulled away her own blindfold.

“Excuse me? You’re not playing anymore?”

Realizing that some of the other couples and their hostesses were starting to pay attention, I leaned over to Sophie and hissed from between my teeth, “How did you get in here? This is a private party.”

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