Page 54 of Beautiful Liar

Wearing the nicest pair of jeans I had, paired with a light blue button down that may have belonged to Morgan, and my Jordans—blue and white colorway to match—I headed to dinner. I’d ignored the penguin suit. Fuck that. I wasn’t going to parade myself the way they wanted. My one last fuck you, anyway.

Except when I arrived among the sea of people wearing fancy clothes, I did stick out. The students watched me with a smirk on their face. I felt itchy underneath my skin. I wanted a joint. I’d need one to face Enzo. I scanned the hall looking for him. Maybe if I spotted him first, he wouldn’t take me off guard.

The hall was filled with the sponsors of the chosen. The reapers. I rubbed the fabric over the tattoo of la Santa Muerteon my chest. This place wasn’t a prison. It was purgatory and we all were getting reaped. And everyone acted normal. As if in eighteen hours we weren’t going to be trying to peel each other’s faces off.

My breath caught in my chest when I caught sight of Kieran in a tuxedo. I always knew he would fit in with events like this, but I was wrong. He stuck out like a powerful force of nature. Kieran’s suit fit him like a glove. The broad shoulders, tapered waist, and nice ass accented in that fancy suit. His hair was perfect, and he smiled when he spoke, working the room as if he were a magician, stripping each and every person of free will. The women wanted to fuck him, and the men wanted to be him. And some might’ve wanted to fuck him too. Kieran knew every person in the room. Not just superficial stuff, he knew their names, family history. He asked questions like how’s his first year. Congratulations on the new baby. How’s your grandmother? He made everyone feel worthy of his attention.

A part of me felt jealous that he could make other people feel the way he had made me feel. I wasn’t special. I was a piece of the puzzle that was Kieran’s life. A small piece.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Wren asked beside me. Like everyone else, Wren wore a tuxedo, his dark hair impeccably styled, and he didn’t even smell like booze.

“The closet door won.”

“Yeah, dude, closets here are sliding doors.”

I smirked, but that stretched my lip and it hurt, so I stopped and returned my attention to Kieran.

“He’s good, isn’t he,” Wren said beside me.

“Yeah. Who are all these people?”

“The sponsors of the chosen … can’t really call them family. They come whenever the Four are here. A way to kiss ass. And you already know the Mancini and Brennans,” he said. “That beautiful psychopath with Henry is Constance Locke, theheiress of that mess of a family. She’s Henry’s oldest sister.”

The woman wore a white dress that hugged her curves quite nicely. She was talking with a taller man, but her eyes were over his shoulder spearing Charity with a look that made even me squirm. Fortunately, Charity didn’t catch it. Henry was sitting at the Locke table looking all kinds of uncomfortable. At least Micah sat with him. I caught them holding hands under the table.

“So, Henry and Micah.”

Wren shook his head and sipped his drink. “Don’t ask. I just know Tor will kill anyone who hurts Henry. He’s been itching to kill Constance since he pulled Henry out of her clutches.”

I snapped my head to Wren, eyes wide.

“Don’t ask.”

I wanted to ask, but then Wren finally landed on the last table. “That disaster over there laughing like an idiot.” I didn’t have to look far. There was a tall, thin man with thin blond hair, beady nose, and eyes to match laughing way too loud. “That’s Edward Marz. River and Fox’s uncle. The only brother in that family and a figure head for the company. It’s actually run by the sisters—Joanna and Cecilia Marz, Fox and River’s mother. But they are unmarried to their fathers so … bastard.” He led my eyes to River sitting at a table with a pretty brunette.

“Is that—”

“Yup,” he popped his p. “That is Adeline Weston. River’s fiancé.” The way he said fiancé made me believe he wanted to stick her with a sharp knife. “She’s heiress to Weston Transportation. With the Marz fortune, River is looking to inherit forty-two billion dollars.”

I almost choked on my spit. “Wow.”

“Yeah.”

“Does he even have a choice?”

That stumped Wren for a second. “We all have choices, Tomás. We make them and live with the consequences all the time. Yeah. He has a choice and he made it.”

At that moment River looked our way. Wren grunted and took off. River kept his eyes on Wren. I knew that look. I’m sure that’s how I looked whenever I watched Kieran from afar.

Dr. Casera smoothly made his way toward me. His eyes lowered to my lip before the scowl appeared. “What happened to your face?”

“I was kinda born with it,” I said, because I was a smart ass.

“How unfortunate,” he said dryly, and took a sip of his drink. “Did you not get the invitation? This is a black-tie event.”

I pulled out the tie from my back pocket and handed it to him. “I brought the black tie.”

Casera threw back his head and laughed. Surprisingly, it suited him. “Tomás, you are a conundrum.”

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