Page 15 of No Longer Safe

Chapter Thirteen

Audrey

The Cristof brother,Griffin, led me down a long hallway that was completely empty. There weren’t any pictures or artwork on the walls. The sound of my heels echoed horribly and I cringed at the loud clacking they made.

At the end of the long corridor was a single door.

“This is my mother’s favorite place,” He pushed the door open and I was in awe. It was a massive, private art gallery.

“Do you bring all of your dates here?” It was a snarky question that didn’t really need an answer, but his cherry-colored cheeks told me everything I needed to know about this flirty brother.

“You look incredible tonight,” He changed the subject and I wrapped my arms around myself. I didn’t know how I was going to move forward with this conversation, especially since I was with Brian. There was nothing wrong with feeling flattered, but flirting was a different story. I wouldn’t do that to Brian.

I smiled politely anyway. “Thank you.”

“What do you like to do for fun?” There it was.

My polite smile turned into one of sympathy. “I have a boyfriend, Griffin.”

He scrunched his nose up. “Then why was Alexei acting like he was claiming you for his own?”

One of my brows rose up on its own accord. “Oh? Is it a competition?”

“Shit, that’s not what I meant, I just thought you were single and up for grabs.”

“She is not a prize to be possessed,” Alexei growled from behind us and I whirled in surprise. Had he been there the entire time? Had he followed us?

I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled. It hit me like a ton of bricks immediately and for whatever reason, I felt my nose burn. This was a joke, right? There weren’t enough poor girls in the Big Apple? They needed to find entertainment with the new poor girl in town? I blinked a few times and pushed the emotions away.

I didn’t think so. I narrowed my eyes at the two of them and flicked my hair over my shoulder. They could fuck off. The last thing I was going to do was throw myself at the two rich, single boys who glanced my way, even if I didn’t have a boyfriend. I wasn’t going to be their entertainment. Not tonight and not ever. But I also had to play my cards carefully, I didn’t want to upset my best friend. She was marrying into this family, after all. I couldn’t hurt the rest of her life.

So, instead of blurting out the scathing retort on the tip of my tongue, I shook my head and marched out of the private gallery. These two weren’t worth it. Fuck this place, fuck these people, fuck their money. I wasn’t going to be easily pushed or swayed. I didn’t want private tours of their mansion. I didn’t need the dollar signs to be flashed in my face every chance they had. No matter what they did, I wouldn’t forget that I was beneath them. With my head held high, I went to find my best friend.

The soft music that had been playing when we got to the mansion was now a quicker beat and much louder. People werechatting animatedly and the small group of people was now a much larger one. I didn’t know how it was possible. I didn’t know how anyone could possibly know this many people but there they were. Carina was sipping on a glass of champagne while Ace nodded about something someone was telling them. They both looked bored, but at least Ace played it off better than my best friend did.

“Excuse me,” I said as I grabbed Carina’s hand and yanked her away from the biggest snore fest.

“Thank God, I never thought you’d come back.” One of her brows hiked up her forehead. “Where was it you escaped off to?” She smiled behind her glass of bubbly and I shook my head.

“Ace’s brother Griffin tried to make a pass at me,” I grumbled as I thought back to the whole disaster. I wanted to be as far away from them as I could be, but that wasn’t an option at the moment.

In the small amount of time I’d been gone, Carina found herself one too many bubblies. I could tell when she started to giggle, instead of being concerned. “That doesn’t sound like such a bad thing to me.”

I rolled my eyes to the clear night sky. “It’s a bad thing when I’m hoping to get proposed to by Brian.”

Carina grimaced and tried to hide behind her flute of bubbly. “I mean do you really want to get married to Brian?”

I blinked. What was she asking? How could she ask that? My eyebrows pulled together in the center of my forehead. “Are you serious?”

She downed the rest of her champagne and shook her head before her face smoothed out. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. Of course you do, you love him.”

But does he love you?My treacherous thoughts came back around to bite me in the ass. I squeezed my eyes closed and pasted on a fake face to not give away my conflicting thoughts.

“Don’t give me that look,” She put her glass on a tray floating by us, the waiter a quick blur moving through each crowd of people to collect trash and cups. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t know what got into me.”

“Your fairytale,” My nose burned and the last thing I wanted to do was cry here, in front of all of these people who thought they were better than me.

She nodded. “I want you to have that too.”

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