Page 106 of Priceless

Micah took my hand and kissed the back of it. A wave of light crashed over us with all the flashes. “Ready?”

“No?”

“We’ve got you,” Cam said.

It was only a few feet of distance, but it felt like a mile. The noise was now a physical force, questions being hurled at all sides. This was more than a product launch, I realized. It was a press event of all kinds. A way for the rich and famous to see and be seen and also to advertise for the brand. All their brands. Since myself and others were wearing their clothes.

Maybe next time I could design the flowers.

I stopped that thought in its tracks.

“Cameron,” someone shouted. A male voice. “You’re on your honeymoon?”

“Almost. First, we have to spend the evening with all of you.”

A female voice now. “How is marriage treating the DuPont pack?”

In response, Micah lifted my hand to kiss it again, making me smile. The wave of light in response didn’t even bother me while I was looking at him. “Very well,” he said. “It’s going very well.”

We moved down the carpet, being asked various things. There were a few questions I caught wind of that weren’t kind, and I just as swiftly saw Everett mark them, and I saw someone pulled out by security.

Turning, I reached for his hand, taking a turn with him next to me. “You don’t have to kick out everyone who has a mean question.”

“Watch me, little nymph.”

I tried to squash the smile and failed. “Don’t alienate someone who could be good for your business.”

Everett snorted inelegantly and glared in the direction the reporter had been taken. “Fuck them. There’s not a reporter in the world that can break our business. We don’t need them, and I won’t tolerate bullies. Or assholes. Every single one of our companies tries to be inclusive. Why should there be reporters here who don’t value that?”

Tears blurred my eyes, and I blinked them away. Not only so the cameras didn’t see, but so I didn’t ruin the beautiful makeup I had on. Rett’s face softened. “Are you all right?”

I swallowed. “It’s just nice to hear someone say those things and actually mean them. It’s not just words with you.”

“Never just words.” His gaze strayed downward to the way my breasts pushed against the gown, nearly touching his chest. “Have I mentioned how fucking incredible you look?”

“No.”

“You do. Micah has the right idea, wanting to design a whole collection for you.”

“Everett. The three of you have barely been seen with women in the past. Is it because you have a fat girl fetish?”

My husband’s head snapped up so fast there were gasps. In a single breath he went from my husband to the predator that had built a worldwide empire. I felt the visceral rage that built under his skin.

Cameron and Micah were with him, searching the crowd for the source of the question. But they kept their rage leashed. Barely.

Everett growled. “Where is he? I’m going to beat him into the ground.”

I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “Everett. Look at me.” He didn’t. “Husband?”

That word got through and he looked down, anger pouring through his gaze. “Don’t attack him. Kick him out if you want, but don’t touch him. I need you for the rest of the honeymoon, not in a Venisian jail.”

One long, harsh breath out through his nose, and he closed his eyes before pulling me closer, gluing me to his side with an arm. “Fine,” he muttered, inhaling me. “I’ll murder him later.”

“No murdering,” I teased him.

“Yet.”

I just shook my head with a smile. The way he jumped to my defense sent delicious heat shivering along my bones. I loved it, but I also told the truth: I didn’t want him to hurt anyone and I didn’t want him in jail.

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