Page 123 of Dex

Tonight is going to be impossibly difficult.

***

We get out of the sleek chauffeured limo.

There are crowds here, held back by barricades.A strong police presence.Cameras everywhere, and people yelling out for Dexter, and for me.I’m surprised they know my name.Dexter leans in, slipping his arm around my waist.“You’re famous on account of your mugging.”His lips brush close to my ear, his breath warm against my skin.

To anyone watching, it looks intimate.Natural.Real.

To me, I wish it were real.

I smile and try not to shiver as the scent of his cologne intoxicates my senses.

“You look more breathtaking with every passing minute,” he says, making my breath catch.That’s when I feel it again.That spark.That heat.What he did to me in the hot tub.

“You’re a really good actor, darling,” I whisper close in his ear.So close, my lip grazes his earlobe.All around us, the lights dazzles magnificently.A sea of lightbulbs explodes.

Dark eyes stare down at me.Steady, and sure.“Who says I’m acting?”

A firework explodes in my chest.I don’t have time to fully process his words because he grabs my hand and leads me into a plush hotel.Shimmering crystal chandeliers hang majestically above us, and marble floors echo with the sound of my heels.Thankfully, we’ve left the chaotic madness of the press and paparazzi behind us.

As I look around me, I’m aware that this world, Dexter’s world, is all about power, about perception.And tonight, we are the performance.

We play our roles perfectly.Smiling at people.Mingling.He strokes my arm, keeps a constant touch on me, reminding everyone, reminding me, that we belong together.

That I belong to him.

That I am Mrs.Knight.

We work the room well, and I forget the blur of faces and the names in so many introductions.Cari finds me and we hug and talk.She fusses over me, asking how I’m doing and we make plans to meet up again.Dexter is pulled away but Rio approaches and Cari excuses herself, saying she needs the restroom.

Rio grins, leaning in.“You’re a badass, you know that?”

I laugh.“So I’m told.”

“You really are.You have a reputation and now you’ve given the Knights some street cred.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“I’d take it as one.”He coughs lightly.“I hear Dexter’s been fussing over you?”

“Too much.I had to tell him to go to work, he was fussing so much it was starting to grate on my nerves.”

Rio throws his head back, a rich laugh spilling from him.“I had a feeling something like that might happen.”The way he says it, his voice laced with something cryptic, makes me wonder if these two have been talking about me.

Something cold and heavy lands in my stomach.All I really want is for my husband to talk to me.

***

DEX

We’re surrounded by New York’s elite.Billionaires, politicians, models draped over aging tycoons like expensive accessories.The usual.

The gala is a performance orchestrated by the old man.He’s here and so are my brothers, Jett and Zach, and the Italian Knights..Everything about tonight, the cameras, the whispers, the knowing looks and tender touches, is a perfect PR stunt, courtesy of Paul Knight.

It’s his way of controlling the narrative.In his world the Knights don’t marry for love.They marry for power.

And I married Daniela.

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