Page 21 of Black Tie Billionaire
Eight
“Trevor, the gala is a wonderful success. You should be proud. I’m certain your parents would be,” Senator Julian Reus praised, pumping his future son-in-law’s hand.
I don’t know how you can say that, since you never met either of them.
Shay mentally winced over the snarky comment echoing in her head. God, she really wanted to like the influential man who would soon bepart of her family. But he was such a...politician. Charming. Affable.
And phony.
Good thing she never voted for him.
“Thank you, sir.” Trevor smiled, then slid an arm around Shay’s shoulders. “I wish I could take the credit, but it belongs to Shay. She’s the reason we’ve already surpassed the donations from last year.”
Pride glowed like an ember in her chest, and for the firsttime that evening, a genuine smile curled her lips.
“Thank you, Trev,” she said, wrapping an arm around his waist and briefly squeezing.
“Next year, it’ll be even more of a success, with Madison by your side. I’m sure she will be more than happy to step in and help organize this special event.” Senator Reus announced his daughter’s involvement in Grace Sanctuary as a foregone conclusion.
“Of course I will, Daddy,” Madison agreed, tilting her head back expectantly, and Trevor obliged her with a soft, quick kiss on the lips. “Shay and I will make a wonderful team.”
Madison turned that wide smile to Shay, and even though all the warmth that had filled her faded away, Shay returned it with one of her own.
Trevor’s fiancée had been nothing but cordial to Shay, but again,there was something not quite genuine about her. Madison reminded Shay of the ice sculpture in the lobby outside the ballroom. Beautiful but cold. To stand too close would send a shiver through the body.
“Let’s get through tonight first before thinking about next year,” Shay said, not committing to anything. Trevor stiffened beside her, but she ignored the telltale sign of his irritation.Her mind jumped to that dark brown file Gideon Knight had slid across the table. She thought about how her brother donated significant funds to the senator’s campaign. And she couldn’t help but wonder if some of that money came from their mother’s organization.
Stop it.
The sharp order ricocheted off her skull. Damn Gideon Knight. She hated that he’d infiltrated her head, and she couldn’tevict him. Not his damn dossier or the man himself. It’d been four days since that meeting—no, ambush. Four days since she was supposed to give him her decision about his preposterous ultimatum.
Four nights of heated fantasies that left her twisting and aching in her bed.
What kind of sister did it make her that she woke up shaking and hungry for the man who blackmailed her? Who threatenedher brother’s livelihood and freedom?
A sad excuse for one.
Smothering a sigh, she excused herself from their small group on the pretense of checking with the catering staff, and headed across the room. She’d taken only a dozen steps before tingles jangled up her bare arms and culminated at the nape of her neck.
She sucked in a breath and immediately scanned the crowded ballroom forthe source of the unsettling,excitingfeeling.
There. No...there.
Gideon Knight.
The unexpected sight of him glued her feet to the floor.
Unexpected? Really?
Okay, maybe not. As soon as that prickle had sizzled over her skin, a part of her had instinctively known who’d caused it. Only one man had ever had that kind of effect on her.
She stared at him, trapped in an instantof déjà vu. Seeing him in his black tuxedo, she was swept back to the first night they’d met. Once more he seemed like the imposing but regal warlord surveying his subjects, his armor traded for perfectly tailored formal wear, his hair emphasizing the stark but gorgeous lines of his face. The distance of the ballroom separated them, but she somehow sensed those black eyes on her, just like then.
Just like then, she fought the dual urges of fight or flight.
And by fight she meant the warring of their mouths and bodies for dominance.
Damn.
