Page 8 of Tempting Little Thief

It’s a tether of slyness, Every aspect a representation that only me and the girls can piece together. As was intended.

The door clicks as I step before it and Damiano stands silently at my side, his jaw flexing when I continue past him without a word. I know he’ll follow before I hear him lock us inside together.

I go straight for the bar in the far-left corner, tossing my bag on top of it before moving to the large window to its right. The Enterprise is buzzing tonight, a full house expected. Half are people from our world—some eager for the show, some waiting for the business conversations that will follow it. The other half of tonight’s guest list consists of those we don’t want here but to whom we are forced to extend invites to “keep the peace.” They show up from sheer intrigue, shocked they were “lucky enough” to snag tickets to such a “prestigious” event.Gag me.

The cocktail area in the gardens below is lively, men and women twice my age drinking the night away as they wait for my girl Delta DeLeon to take her throne—the white leather and suede bench seat of a custom Steinway & Sons piano.

“Is Delta not here yet?” Damiano asks.

“I was told she and the boys arrived a half hour ago but would be …releasing some tensionin the DeLeon suite.”

“Good.” His shadow grows closer, falling over me from behind, and his palms lift, closing over my forearms. “Everything all right?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

I spin to face him, only then realizing he’s changed from his scholar’s uniform, now draped in the finest of black suits, the cuff links at his wrists rivaling the cost of a so-called Ivy League tuition, his golden, secret Greyson Society pin shining proudly along the left trim of his jacket. His blond hair shines under the light of the chandelier and, as always, is swept back from his face in a modern pompadour, making his brown eyes, the same color of watered-down espresso, stand out.

Damiano, or Dom as we tend to call him, is attractive. Abnormally so. He’s the kind of man you’d picture when making a list of all the predictably preferred physical attributes:tall, taut, and tempting, with broad shoulders and a square jaw.

There’s an allure he possesses, an invisible pull between him and those around him, painting him in the prettiest of lights. People look at Dom and see poise and influence. It’s a strong ambience, a coveted one with a potential price tag for desired use in our world, and as we’ve found, time and time again, a useful one.

He’s also oddly … basic, as pretty boys with power will be.

Does the vote of an overassertive cougar need to be swayed? Send in the picturesque Prince Charming with an air of arrogance to capture her attention.

How about sending a warning to a man who thinks he’s bigger and badder than he’s earned the right to claim, who has a pretty princess of a daughter? Send the ideal suitor in to dirty her up and spit her out.

Damiano scans my face, breaking through my thoughts when he speaks. “Your day was tough.”

He’s right. It was, but his attempt at a therapy session is unnecessary, and the argument with my father he walked in on this morning is not something I want to discuss with him. He knows this.

I tip my head. “Use your big-boy voice, Dom. What is it you would like to say?”

His glare is small, but he nods. “You had an unexpected delay this evening. Your father expected you here at six thirty and started asking at exactly six thirty-one. I’ve spent the last hour trying and failing to distract him. I can’t cover for you if you don’t tell me when I need to and where you are.”

“In the event I need you to cover for me, you’ll be the first to know, and as for where I was, that’s what these are for.” I flick the golden cuff latched along his wrist beneath his suit jacket.

“We agreed, no unnecessary tracking.”

“Exactly. If you had cause for concern, you would have checked. You know me. I needed a minute.”

His eyes soften and I hate it, so when he says my name, I cut him off.

“Let my father know I’ll be down shortly.” I’ll smile and say all the right things and pretend he’s not making a mistake bound to bite him in the ass, but when it does, I’ll happily say I told you so.

I don’t tell Dom this, though.

Damiano doesn’t respond, but after a moment’s pause, he reaches up, his thumb gliding across my cheekbone. He’s always been good about doing what I’ve asked and never pushes too hard.

He knows better than that.

It’s no secret he wants me to accept his offer for more, and while I know he cares about me as a person, I also know it’s nothing more than a power play.

I knowbecause we spoke of it in direct terms. I’m aware of what he wants, and he’s aware of what I do not.

He wants a wife at the tender age of twenty-two, and I want to make my father proud, to claim what’s mine as the strongest Revenaw heir, the head seat my father holds within the Greyson Union, an alliance between four families created to keep us on top, without the whispers of a man in my ear. Dom says he wouldn’t dare, and I know he’s telling the truth.

But today’s truth often becomes tomorrow’s lie, almost always by accident.

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