Page 55 of Prelude To You

This didn’t sit well with Van Buren. “If your father could hear you now.”

“I don’t do business like my father,” Roman insisted, not giving an inch. “It’s a new generation, with new rules.”

Porter Van Buren scoffed. “Like hell it is. The wrong governor could fuck you and your family’s business in ways not yet invented.”

“Oh I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, Porter,” Roman said cavalierly. “No governor is idiotic enough to fuck with our business.”

To say I was surprised to be part of a discussion where someone was trying to swing an election because it might be good for business would be putting it mildly. Wasn’t that kindof conversation supposed to be whispered behind closed doors, rather than discussed in the foyer of the Belmont Hotel for all to hear?

Celeste’s gaze was moored to Roman, shadows of pure unadulterated lust embedded in her eyes. The only thing missing was drool dripping from her crimson-red lips.

Roman didn’t respond to Van Buren, and I had a sneaking suspicion that he wasn’t going to bend the knee to the older man. Which led Van Buren to look dismissively from me to Celeste and then back to Roman. “Well, let’s not bore the girls. You have two minutes, Roman?” It wasn’t so much a request as a command.

Roman reluctantly slid his hand from my back. “Porter, for you I have three.” He leaned into me and swept my temple with his lips. “Excuse me for a minute, Isabel, I’ll be right back.”

When the two men stepped a few yards away, I was left with Glitzy Barbie in her amazing dress, drowning in diamonds. And maybe it was me, but even looking like a million dollars, she appeared a tad miserable. Almost as if she was playing a role, trying too hard to be who she wasn’t.

I would have felt sorry for her if she hadn’t been inspecting me like I’d just crawled out of a swamp.

Her gaze lingered on Roman before she reluctantly looked back at me. “And if you’re curious,” she said snootily, “that’s how the uber-wealthy people in the world fix elections.”

Not a chat I wanted to pursue, so I put on a placid smile. Celeste confused my docile expression for ignorance. “You didn’t know that about politics?” she continued. “As the saying goes, behind every successful politician is a billionaire…or five.”

I almost laughed. “That’s been going on since Ancient Rome,” I said. “It’s good old-fashioned bribery that brought Julius Caesar to power. It was Crassus who paid Caesar’s bribes, which got him successfully elected to the consulship. Crookedas all hell, but a custom as old as time. History repeating itself again and again, I guess.”

She sneered, annoyed. “You’re kind of charming in a provincial way. Where on earthdidRoman find you?”

Find me?The hair on my back stood up. God help me with this tramp. But good manners prevailed and I smiled calmly.“What do you meanfind me?”

“You just don’t seem like Roman’s type.”

I glanced toward Roman where he spoke with Van Buren. He towered over the older man, radiating strength and power. The memory of his long fingers skillfully driving me to insanity, was still raw.

He sensed my gaze and met it, a look that lingered. And then he winked at me. I might have winked back. “Oh, he has a type?” I asked.

Celeste bristled, clearly having witnessed the exchange between Roman and me. “Oh, he does. Does he ever. You’re quite the anomaly.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever been called that before. But if you say so, who am I to argue.”

Her eyes were slits, her impulse to lash out carefully controlled by deep breaths. “Oh, you’re so adorable. And just so you know, getting attached to him is futile.”

She was dying to divulge more and since I was curious about the man who had me shamelessly begging for pleasure in the dim hallway, I looked at her questioningly. “So, I take it you know Roman?”

“No one knows Roman,” she said coolly. “He’s not someone who allows anyone to “know” him. But I will tell you this: never get your hopes up, because that’s not a man who reciprocates feelings. It’s just not his thing. Then again, some women are fine with that, even find it appealing. That’s his type. He likes his women as emotionally unavailable as he is. Take my word for it.”

If she expected a reaction, she didn’t get one. There was no way I’d admit that her telling me this sent a tremor of dread down my spine. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t told me in so many words that he didn’t get emotionally involved with anyone. Now I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d gotten myself into.

I was however curious as to why Celeste Van Buren felt okay to lecture me on what, or what not, to expect from Roman. I mustered a fake smile. “Well, thanks for the warning.”

She pursed her lips and sighed, happy to be the harbinger of bad news. “You’re most welcome. We women must band together, you know.”

Frost crept into my veins. I could see myself punching a pastry into her face. But since that wasn’t possible under the circumstances, I had to settle for the next best thing. And that was putting her in her place.

“While we’re on the subject,” I said. “Is your husband that oblivious to the fact that you carry a torch for another man, or does he simply choose to ignore your excessive drooling over Roman?”

Celeste peered at me with a vindictive grin. “Wow. Okay, she has teeth. Well played.”

“Celeste!” Porter Van Buren’s voice boomed from a few yards away. “Come.” He sounded irritated and I had no doubt his foul mood had something to do with Roman not wanting to play in his gilded sandbox.

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