Page 90 of Let Me Say It Again

She nodded, that smile still tugging on the corners of her lips. Even her eyes were dancing, alit with amusement. “That’s Dom’s brother, Marco. I like him.”

It was a weird feeling. My mind was at odds with itself. On the one hand, it was nice she finally genuinely liked someone from this world, and he was the family of her family’s family. Was that even a coherent thought? Anyway, on the other hand, he was a red-blooded man, and Jade was both hot and intriguing—a winning combination. Yeah, it was decided, I didn’t like it, but I’d have to let it go.

The thing was, that guy could piss in a bush because Jade was wearing my ring. In every sense of the word, I was proud to say, Jade was my girl.

For now. . . .

Damn it.

Then she elbowed me. “That’s him. That’s Marco.” She pointed to the stage as the emcee talked about this guy and how he worked for a casket company. Morbid, but okay.

“Mmhmm.”

I couldn’t stop myself from studying him closely though, the little shit, standing there like he was some hotshot. Angling his head this way and that way. Pulling on the lapels of his jacket. Spinning on his heel to give everyone a nice shot of his ass. He was obviously young. Too young for Jade. She needed a mature man. A man with a respectable job, like CEO, not Daddy’s little bitch. Yeah, it went without saying, I did not like this guy.

But the women of New York City did, if the bidding war that was currently underway was any indication. There were three women throwing up paddles like they were up a creek.

“Fifty grand?” I seethed as I checked with Jade. This couldn’t be real. My ears must’ve been mistaking me.

She shrugged, still smiling like she’d slept with a hanger in her mouth. “It’s for charity.” Then she nudged my arm againand pointed to my side. “My money’s on the older woman with the hat. She’s intense, and besides, I think she can show our guy a good time, right?”Our guy?Since the fuck when? “Meanwhile”—she kept whispering in my ear while the bidding war went on—“do you think she already has plans for their date?”

“Sure, yeah.” I glanced down at my watch. Suddenly, charity or not, this event couldn’t end soon enough. Goddamn Cavallos for sucking us into this shit.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Jade

“I have tosay,” I started, before stopping mid-sentence to drink the last of the champagne in my glass. I wasn’t a huge champagne drinker, but I was getting used to the bubbly stuff. After I swallowed, I finished my sentence. “This wasn’t half bad. In fact, I’m thinking of asking Sherrilyn if I could be involved in planning the next one.” I’d have asked her now since we were sitting next to each other, but she’d gotten up a few minutes ago to mingle with Mark and neither returned.

Red placed his arm around my waist as we got up, the event having all but ended. “Is that so?”

I nodded.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” he said, his eyes filled with amusement. “Jade Logan, enjoying herself at an event like this.” He exhaled. “Did hell freeze over?”

“Hell froze over when I became your fiancée,” I answered, a hint of laughter evident in my voice. I shocked myself, if I was being honest. However, it turned out that anywhere I was with Red, I was happy. We could have been stranded on an island with no food or water and no way off, and I still would have been at peace.

It was Red.

He was my tranquility.

He gave me a sense of security that I hadn’t felt in a while.

My pulse quickened as his thumb gently brushed up and down the small of my back in a comforting manner.

Leaning in, causing a shiver to run down my spine at the way his warm breath hit the shell of my ear, he whispered, “I can’t wait to get you home, so I can show you how much I love it when you call yourself my fiancée.”

The corners of my lips turned up, and I was about to respond when Mark walked up to us. His lips were pulled into lines so thin that if I hadn’t known any better, I’d have said he didn’t have any. His eyes were narrowed. His nose was even bright red, and just so you knew, it wasn’t warm in here.

I was no detective, but that could only mean one thing—Mark was pissed.

Oh, shit.

Mentally, my hand flew to my mouth, and my eyes bugged out of my head.

I felt sick to my stomach. I needed a toilet so that my head could become better acquainted with the inside of it while I disposed of all the contents in my stomach.

“Fuck, he’s going to say no,” Red practically muttered under his breath. Only, we were so close that I heard every word clear as day.

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