Page 73 of Rivals
“Jeff! You made it!” she trilled, sliding down to pull him into a possessive hug. When she stepped back, she stared unabashedly at his outfit. “Don’t you look handsome.”
“We had a military banquet earlier,” Jefferson explained, and Daphne was so grateful for the way he saidwe,casting her in his royal glow.
Gabriella looked over and halfheartedly added, “Daphne. I’m glad you came.”
Jefferson stared around at the bar. “What does GSM stand for, anyway? It sounds like a sex thing,” he added, and Daphne nearly choked in amusement.
Gabriella laughed indulgently. “GSM aregrapes,of course! Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre: the varietals they use to makewine in the Rhône. This place serves onlyFrenchwine. Obviously.”
“That’s not very patriotic. America makes wine, too,” Jefferson pointed out.
Gabriella laughed again, as if the idea of drinking American wine was just too funny for words. “Michel! Can you get a glass of the eighty-two Latour for His Highness?” It was clear from the way she spoke that she absolutely relished the chance to sayHis Highness.
Jefferson shook his head. “Actually, do you have any beers on tap?”
But the bartender had already poured a glass of red wine, so dark it seemed almost purple. “This one’s on the house,” he said gruffly, which might have been the stupidest thing Daphne ever heard. If anyone deserved a free drink, it was not people who were already extremely rich.
Daphne forced herself to smile despite Gabriella’s blatant attempts to ignore her. “Gabriella, how was the photo shoot at the League of Kings?” She tried to inject a simpering envy into her voice as she added, “I’m so jealous that you were there. How fantastic that you get to be a lady-in-waiting!”
For a moment she worried that she’d laid it on too thick, but Gabriella seemed pleased by Daphne’s question.
“It was fine.” Gabriella sighed, as if attending the photo shoot had been an imposition on her incredibly valuable time, and turned to Jefferson. “Honestly, your family needs to hire a new photographer. Colin is just so old-fashioned! He asked everyone to smile with theirmouths open.”
Gabriella’s friends, who were all listening intently, gasped at the horror of it.
Jefferson frowned, puzzled. “What’s wrong with smiling? You have perfect teeth.”
“Oh, Jeff!” Gabriella laughed, and her audience laughed with her, like a pack of couture-clad hyenas.
Here was another chance for Daphne to worm her way in. “No one smiles in their photos anymore, Jefferson,” she said, a bit too sharply. “Haven’t you been on social media lately?”
People like Gabriella didn’t smile because they didn’t want to seem like they actually cared about anything. Their photos were all lazy smirks and posed candids.
Gabriella’s eyes drifted to Daphne’s wrist, then widened. “Is that the Kimberley diamond cuff?”
“Her Majesty lent it to me for the night.” Daphne had used Queen Adelaide’s title for emphasis—to remind Gabriella that she was in with the royal family—but it came out a little pretentious. She saw Jefferson’s lips press together. Still, she forged ahead.
“Do you want to try it on?”
“Yes,”Gabriella breathed.
Daphne tried not to look at the prince as she slid his mother’s bracelet off her wrist and passed it to Gabriella, who clasped it on with a voracious, greedy excitement.
The other girls immediately formed a cooing semicircle around Gabriella. Daphne turned aside, feeling weary and sick.
“Daph—I’m going to head home,” Jefferson told her. “I’m actually kind of tired.”
Daphne heard the silent question folded into his words: Did she want to come back to the palace and put this all behind them?
She should go back. Shewantedto go back. There was nothing she liked about this place or these people, except the opportunity that she could get out of it, if she played her cards right. If she could reel Gabriella in, slowly, an inch at a time.
Behind her, Gabriella was quiet, clearly watching their exchange. Daphne swallowed.
She needed to choose Gabriella over Jefferson, to prove her loyalty.
“I think I’ll stay out. This place is fun!” She laughed hollowly.
Jefferson’s eyes flashed with hurt, but he nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you later.”
