Page 127 of Savannah Royals
“But that’s not the reason I’m standing up here now—though, of course, you are all invited next October.” He winks, and the crowd laughs. “The real reason I’m up here is because the beautiful Katarina down there—the one so many of you noticed tonight because she’s been wearing the DaMolin rubies—has just agreed to marry me.”
There’s a loud whoop from the corner of the courtyard, and I know without looking it came from Ethan. An excited ripple torpedoes through the crowd.
“We couldn’t think of a better moment to announce our engagement than right here, right now, with so many friends in the room. Katarina, will you join me?” He looks earnestly at me and offers his hand.
I would never leave him hanging, not ever. He has me eating from the palm of his hand, just like the rest of the guests. I smile, heart still hammering, and let him pull me onstage. The crowd screams as he does, and I laugh. Bubbling with something that, incredibly, feels like undiluted happiness.
“This is myfiancée,” he continues. “The one and only and very beautiful Katarina. The theme of tonight’s party is Bejeweled Ides of March, and for the rest of this beautiful March evening, she will be wearing the only jewel that matters. The one I gave her. The one here on her finger.”
The crowd descends into cheers of madness as Matthew lifts my left hand. He has them completely spellbound. I look at him in wonder, marveling at his quick thinking, at his ability to provide this spin at the drop of a hat. For me.
“I’ve never loved you more than I do right now,” I murmur to him, sliding my arms around his neck. He dips me low and pauses, letting the crowd have their moment as they think they’re sharing in ours.
“You’re not going to let me down, right?” he whispers, a glint of nerves barely visible in his eyes.
“I'll never let you down. Now kiss me like you mean it. For them and for me.”
He beams, giving me a full dose of Matthew DaMolin dazzle. It lights me up from the inside out.
When the crowd screeches this time, I barely hear it. It’s the intensity and purity of Matthew’s happy kiss that’s roaring in my ears instead.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Theremainderofthenight is a whirlwind. A hundred different hugs and congratulations. A hundred different faces. Champagne glass after champagne glass. One brief encounter with a security official inquiring after the necklace, which Matthew quickly puts to rest.
“I have the necklace—my family’snecklace—in my pocket. But thank you for your overactive concern,” he tells them.
Hours pass before it’s socially acceptable for us to slink away. So many hugs offered, so many best wishes given and inquiries about the wedding made.
The wedding.
Suddenly, somehow, I’m planning a wedding. To Matthew DaMolin. A luminescent Mellie, cheeks flushed with excitement, has already reminded me of the fact no less than eight times.
When Matthew finally drags me out the front door of the club, I’m nearly dead on my feet. Silence hangs between us, heavy as the Spanish moss overhead. Revelations too dangerous to share dance in the moonlit shadows, secrets crunching unassumingly like the gravel beneath our feet.
Matthew’s hand is wound tightly in mine as he leads me into his family’s house. He pulls me up the ivory staircase and down the hallway. I pause, a little uncertain, but propriety be damned, Matt swings open the door to his room and tugs me inside. He closes and locks it behind us, then presses me back into the wood.
“All right, out with it you little minx. What the hell happened tonight?”
“What do you think happened?” A smirk plays on my lips.
“I have no clue, but you better have that necklace hidden on you somewhere. Shall I strip search you to find it?”
“I do have it.”
He drags his gaze up and down my body. He reaches and dives his hands into both my pockets.
Empty.
I laugh at him. “I swapped the necklaces in the ladies’ room,” I explain. “I put the real one in my pocket and the fake around my neck.”
“But it’s not in your pocket anymore,” he points out.
“No. Because when I met up with Paul, he deviated from the plan. Thankfully, it was nothing I wasn’t prepared for.”
“How so?”
“I gave him the fake necklace and put the real one back on. But being Paul, he couldn’t resist trying to royally ruin me. He told me to give him both necklaces, just in case I was trying to trick him…I suppose I can’t exactly blame him, since I was.”
