“Anytime, boss.” He hesitated. “Greyson?”
“What is it?” I asked.
“We need to talk. About David.”
My half-brother. Not right now. I didn’t want to talk about him. I didn’t want to think about him. I had too much other shit on my mind. “Later.”
“Fine. You still going to see her?”
“I think I am.” It didn’t matter who she was. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. Just thinking about her made me hot and uncomfortable.
He swallowed and nodded. It was not what he wanted to hear.
Joanna
I opened the door to my apartment and blinked. Everything was perfectly in place, but I knew someone had been in there. My books sat neatly in the bookcase and on a pile in the floor. My picture frames hung on the walls. That didn’t mean anything. Someone had been in my home. I wasn’t sure how I could tell, but I could. I searched around the foyer until I saw it on a side table. A set of freshly arranged roses sat on the table with a card in it and a box next to them. They weren’t there when I left.
“Who in the hell?” I said aloud as I walked over and grabbed it. The nerve of someone coming into my home and leaving this. How did they even get in?
You’ll look beautiful in this. I have a feeling it will suit you. - Greyson
Ah, I shouldn’t have been surprised that they had a way into my apartment. Probably had the landlord open it for them. I sighed. I was never going to get away from their influence.
I opened the box to find a deep royal blue dress, fitted, but not nearly as revealing. It was elegant with a beaded top. Something timeless. Classic.
I was shocked to find another, smaller, box underneath with a sapphire necklace and a pair of diamond earrings inside of it. Another, smaller note said: These will suit you too.
I balked then I ran a finger across the stone. It was absolutely gorgeous. The dress was too. I smiled, a small, soft, little smile, and I tried not to let it go to my head. Greyson was not the kind of man I should be stepping out with, but he was a gorgeous man, and I’d never been to one of these kinds of events. My uncle kept us hidden away, the family he wished he never had.
Unless, as it turns out, it was convenient for him. Spying that was what he wanted, but it wasn’t all he was going to get. Convenience was his goal. It was easy to use me to spy.
Well, know what wasn’t convenient for him? Me f*ck
ing his rival’s heir. I had half a mind to call Greyson up and tell him to get down here, but instead I just looked at the dress.
A nice public introduction would be so much better.
Chapter Five
Joanna
I wasn’t expecting the flashing lights of paparazzi as we left the limo and walked out onto the carpet. I mean, it was just a boring state representative fundraiser. Nothing national, nothing important. Not really, anyways. I blinked into the lights then leaned into my escort.
“Greyson, why are they here?” I asked. I’d never expected paparazzi at a dinner like this. It wasn’t the kind of place stars showed up at.
“They come to all of these things. Budding journalists who were wishing they’d get called up to Washington.” He studied my face for a moment, then added, “don’t worry, to them you and I are just pretty people. They have no idea that we are tied to respective empires.”
He must’ve read the tension on my face. The last thing I wanted was to see my own picture online. To have to explain this to anyone. Especially my uncle. My goal, as far as he was concerned, was to learn as much about the Fitzgerald’s as possible. Not to date one of them.
It felt like my blood stopped pumping, I turned and looked at him, his chiseled jaw taut. He knew exactly what he said, and I could see the distant expression in his eyes.
“I-“
“We’ll talk about it later.” He gave me a stern look and then pulled me closer to him, “tonight, we’ll have a nice time. You look simply elegant tonight, and I want to enjoy it. Just like I imagined you.” His tone changed, his voice husky, wishful. I had a feeling he wanted more than just a dinner.
He was so close I could smell him, the rush of his cologne and his own scent filling my nostrils, the familiar smell reminding me of his body unclothed against mine. It wasn’t the type of thing that ever drove me wild before, no. But now, looking at this totally masculine form, I was jelly in the legs.