Page 227 of Savage Bosses

Dani Bond smiled benevolently. “I'm just an author but thank you. Fantastic cosplay. A couple cosplaying my characters—I love it. “

“We're not—“

“Thank you, Ms. Bond,” Victoria said graciously.

The grin on Dani's face was all it took for me to go along with it. Besides, it was technically accurate. We cosplayed as a couple and we had sex. People became couples with less. She wouldn't see us again to know the difference.

“We are honored that we will share your table at the masquerade,” I added.

Dani brightened. “Oh, you are number 1 and 2? Even better.”

She wedged in between us and wrapped her arms around ours. “I want to hear all about the two of you, and how you met.”

“I'm in an industry where I can't talk too much about my personal life.” Dani was an author goddess, but I would have to give up too much if someone found out about me. I wouldn't have my passion tainted.

She nodded with benevolence. “Got it. I'm a 757 girl. With all of the military around, I know all about job discretion. Just tell me what you are comfortable telling me.”

We walked into the ballroom, and it was an almost frame-for-frame recreation of the white ballroom from the iFlixx show based onHunter's Creed. All of the tables and chairs in the room were white or silver and every nuisance of it. The look was blinding from a distance. If it were faithful, there wouldn’t be champagne carpets with a dark gold and brown geometric design. Nor would I be able to see a hint of gold through the white fabric used to cover the walls and create the surreal dreamy effect in the room. Other than that, the white clothed round tables and cocktail tables were just like the show.

“It's the white ballroom. We have all access to the supernatural.” Victoria’s voice lifted as it became a squeal at the end.

I could relate, minus the pitch change. “This is a true fanfiction—sort of a Paris in Springtime meets the Asranian Chronicles fic.”

Dani squeezed my arm. “I know, right? This is kind of what it's like in my head, all the worlds mashed together, and I'm constantly putting them in boxes to keep them straight.”

“That's cool.” My voice broke, and I cleared my throat. Of all the badass things I could have said,thatwas what I chose to say?

Be better, Ryu.

“Thank you,” Dani replied. “You know when I wrote the scene describing the white ballroom? I wrote every word I could think of for white to get a visual.”

“What made you use white to designate the supernatural areas of the club?” Victoria asked. “I always wondered about that, along with why use gray and purple for the other club sections.”

Excellent question. I wondered the same, but I figured it was arbitrary.

“We have to borrow Dani for a moment,” a staff member in white and blue said. “She has to preside over the opening dance while you start it. It will be 3 minutes of just you two, and then everyone else will join.”

“What opening dance?” Victoria asked. “No one ever said anything about that. “

“It was a fan vote after the live stream of the trivia game. You two were epic,” the staffer replied.

Dani clapped her hands. “Yes, I'm looking forward to that. Have fun and relax. I know it was a surprise, but if you don't want to, we can have the cover models do it.”

“We have it,” I said.

“Excellent. This is going to be epic!” Dani sashayed away in blue fabric and energy.

“I have a plan,” Victoria said.

“The Magic Games opening dance from theBasis of Comparisonmovie,” we said in unison.

My groin tightened again. “After this ball, woman.”

Her mouth twitched. “Work first.”

She was making it difficult for me to remain focused. Fortunately, the opening bars of the music did the job my discipline could not. It was a stringed version of the dance from theBasis of Comparisonmovie. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea as us. Or our expertise showed through even more than I thought.

I wanted to see the recording of the live stream. I'd check it out later. For the moment, I had to usher in the first Martini Ball while Dani watched. There was no way in hell I'd mess this up. I held out my hand to Victoria. “Ready?”

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