CHAPTER NINETEEN
Khalid accepted the bouquet of roses from the rosy-cheeked beauty queen and held them aloft. He’d come full circle by winning the Vanderbilt Cup. Eight months ago, he’d rejoined the circuit on a wing and a prayer and wound up second in the rankings, with more than a quarter of a million dollars in overall earnings.
In turn, Du?s Automotive had received an influx of orders for their custom roadsters; so much so, Khalid planned to sail from New York City back to Paris to help his brothers to meet the demand.
The sooner the better! Just knowing Olivia was in the same city turned his world upside down. He couldn’t eat or sleep; even his thoughts were consumed by her. And his brother and racing crew had suffered the brunt of his foul mood.
Ever since he’d set foot on American soil, he’d behaved like a complete a*shole. He practically bit his brother’s head off when he suggested they eat at the Rainbow Room in Penn Station. He brought tears to Eugene’s eyes over the lack of starch in one of his dress shirts. And he’d pushed his racing team so hard they’d threatened to quit the day before the race. Thankfully, by the end of the week he would be on a ship heading back to France.
“Do you mind if I take your picture without the goggles, Mr. Du?s?”
Khalid obliged. He slid the goggles down his face and let them hang around his neck. Flashbulbs flared from all angles, blinding him. Still, Khalid grinned and bared it. Winning the Vanderbilt Cup would help sell more cars than a full-page ad in the New York Times.
“You have a ton of explaining to do.” Harry Bryant materialized from the mob of admirers and hangers-on. Hat in hand, his friend’s expression was frighteningly sober.
Had he sought him to collect his pound of flesh for what he’d done to his sister? Khalid braced himself, preparing for the hatchet to fall.
Harry grinned as he held out his hand. “You’ve been in town an entire week and you haven’t called on us or picked up the phone once.”
Awash in a cold sweat, Khalid shook his hand. Despite his best efforts to resist temptation, a link to his one true desire had caught up with him. Khalid’s heart thumped so hard, he feared it would jump out of his chest.
“Do I need to set Olivia on you again for your lack of manners?” Harry’s dark eyes twinkled in amusement.
“How…” Khalid swallowed to relieve a sudden case of cotton mouth. “H-how is your sister?”
“She’s doing great, considering everything that’s happened.” Khalid fought the urge to press Harry for more information. Instead, he listened to his friend ramble on. “Speaking of Olivia, I want to invite you over tomorrow night. I’m hosting her engagement party. Might not be your kind of crowd, Mr. International Playboy, but there will be plenty of good food and spirits. Oh, and Meredith baked her famous coconut cake for the happy couple.”
Olivia was getting married? A wave of nausea almost knocked Khalid to his knees.
“I…ah…I,” Khalid fought his addiction and failed, “I’d be delighted.”
“Good!” Harry gushed. “I can’t wait for the opportunity to catch up.”
Oblivious to Khalid’s predicament, Harry put his hat on his head and cocked it jauntily. “Party starts at six. Don’t be late or face Olivia’s wrath.”
“I wouldn’t think of getting on the lady’s bad side,” Khalid muttered, fully realizing he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life. After all these months of remaining sober and not a single relapse, his body already longed for the one fix he couldn’t have?Olivia.
***
“You’re a glutton for punishment.” Iz?l looked past him to the elegant brownstone. “There is no way I would go inside that house after what I’d done and what you’ve been through. You barely got the woman out of your goddamn system and you want to re-enter the lion’s den, and with her fiancé underfoot.”
Khalid smiled ruefully. “Some of us like to live on the edge. The adrenaline rush helps to remind us we’re still alive.”
Without waiting to see if Iz?l followed, he pulled the latch on the limousine door and alighted from the vehicle. Impatient, Khalid ate up the sidewalk, climbed the stairs to the front stoop and rang the doorbell. While he waited, Khalid pulled off his hat and used his reflection in the glass to smooth his hair.
“Mon Dieu, you’re preening like a teenager.” Iz?l said behind him.
Khalid’s gaze drifted past his brother to the hired vehicle still idling at the curb. “Did you forget to pay the driver?”
“I paid him to wait for fifteen minutes,” Iz?l replied. “I suspect we’ll need his services when we’re thrown out on our asses the minute she sets eyes on you.”
***
Olivia arrived late for her own engagement party. If it weren’t for Nathaniel and not wanting to hurt his feelings, she would’ve called the event off entirely. Instead she was filled with anxiety, walking on pins and needles all day, affecting a gay front for all their well-wishers.
In the past twenty-four hours, she’d suffered with myriad emotions: anger, fear, depression, even anticipation.
Olivia sucked in a deep calming breath. She’d almost fainted when Harry recounted his run in with Khalid. Not only had her brother sought him out in the winner’s circle at yesterday’s Vanderbilt Cup, he’d also invited him to her engagement party. Appetite soured, she’d excused herself from the dinner table and retired to her room for the rest of the evening.
Her eyes darted to her brother who stood near the double doors leading to the garden. In deep conversation with several of his associates, he remained oblivious to the calamity his invitation could unleash.
Why had she kept the truth from him? Why continue to protect Harry from Khalid’s true nature? She should’ve used the opportunity to come clean. Especially now when there was more than just her at stake.
“Would you like some more punch?” Nathaniel took the empty glass from her hand.
“Yes, please,” Olivia muttered sheepishly. So preoccupied with her own thoughts she’d forgotten about him entirely.
Ashamed, she reached out and touched his arm. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
Dressed in a dark brown suit, he looked especially handsome tonight. “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m about to marry the woman of my dreams.”
Nathaniel leaned down and planted a kiss on her cheek, eliciting a few “awws” from bystanders. Too bad his display of affection didn’t solicit the appropriate emotions in her.
Olivia nibbled her bottom lip as she watched him pick his way through the crowd, making his way to the dining room. He deserved a woman who loved him in return. Instead, he’d settled for someone who hoped she could one day reciprocate his affections. Considering how her attention kept drifting to the entrance and how she jumped every time the doorbell rang, Olivia doubted that day would ever come.
Feeling guilty and unable to stand still, she decided to make the rounds alone. She stopped to thank Robert and Arnett Hedrick, an older couple who’d been friends with her parents.
“We’re so happy for you.” Arnett drew Olivia into her arms. “Your parents would’ve been so thrilled, especially your mother. If I remember correctly, she’d kept a hope chest for you.”
“Yes, she did,” Olivia confirmed, stepping back slightly but not breaking their connection. The pair was one of her only links to her mother and father. “I’m going to wear her wedding dress for the ceremony.”
“And I’m sure you’ll be the most beautiful bride in the world.”
Khalid noticed Olivia the moment he entered the room. He was immediately drawn to her like a beacon in the night. How could he not be when her beauty was as luminous as ever? Even more so, now, due to a certain lushness and maturity that hadn’t been there before.
“Don’t you do it,” Iz?l warned. He stepped in front of him, partially blocking his view. “We’re attending a party for her engagement to another man.”
Khalid blinked as if in a daze. His brother was right. He’d almost gone all caveman in front of not only his best friend, but no less than a hundred strangers.
“Maybe I should catch up with Harry,” Khalid offered, even though his eyes followed Olivia. She was absolutely bewitching. She wore a gunmetal gray evening dress which hugged her luscious curves. Off the shoulders and sleeveless, the garment showcased her brown skin and mouth-watering décolletage to perfection.
Iz?l placed a guiding hand under his elbow, pulling him back from the edge. “I think that would be a great idea.”
Harry’s face lit up as they approached. “In all honesty, I thought you were going to blow me off.” He wrapped his arm around Khalid’s shoulder, then turned to the two men standing beside him, missing Khalid’s look of pure guilt. “Malcolm and Peter, I would like to introduce you to one of my dearest friends, Khalid Du?s. He and I were roommates at Yale.”
Both men held out their hands in greeting. In turn, Khalid introduced Harry to Iz?l.
“I’ve heard a ton about you,” Harry gushed as he shook his little brother’s hand.
“All bad, I’m sure.” Iz?l chuckled. “Believe it all. I was a heathen as a child. Still am.”
“So how long are you going to be in New York City?”
“Our ship departs in two days.” Twenty-four hours ago, Khalid couldn’t wait to get out of the country. Now, not so much. The longer he remained in the same room with Olivia, the more his desire to change his plans increased.
“Have you spoken with Olivia?” Harry searched the press of people circulating around them, completely missing the look between the two brothers. “I told her I ran into you yesterday. I’m not going to say she would be delighted to see you but, I don’t think she’ll kick you out on the curb either.”
“Well, we’ll be sure to steer clear of her.” Iz?l rubbed his hands together. A smile played on his lips. “Where can a guy get a stiff drink?”
“We have a full bar set up in the dining room.” Harry held up his empty cocktail glass. “I could use a refill as well. That’s one of the good things about hosting your own party. No worries about how you’re going to get home.”
Harry excused himself, and then guided them through the crowd to the dining room. “Ahh…here’s the woman of the hour.” He reached out and pulled Olivia close.
Iz?l cursed under his breath, while Khalid lost the ability to move.
“Look who’s here!” Harry exclaimed, blissfully unaware he was the only person still in good spirits.
No longer able to fight temptation, Khalid stepped forward and took her hand in his. A euphoric sensation shot through his body. Lightheaded, he could barely squeeze out, “Congratulations on your impending nuptials.”
Gaze downcast, she mumbled a quick thank you and immediately slipped her hand from his. The absence of her touch sent Khalid into a tailspin.
Had she missed him? Did she hate him now? Or did she still desire him as much as he did her?
With a dozen questions pounding in his head and his heart hammering so loudly he thought it was going to explode, Khalid found it impossible to move on when Iz?l and Harry continued into the dining room. Olivia had moved on as well, but not far. He’d caught up with her by the foot of the stairs.
“I need to speak with you alone.” She glanced up at him, her dark brown eyes searching his face. If she was surprised he sought her out, she hid it well.
“Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself.”
Khalid hesitated. He hadn’t planned on her putting a wrench in his plans. Still, he would acquiesce to her demands if it got him what he wanted. “I promise.”
When she deliberated, nibbling on the pad of her thumb, Khalid searched for the nearest exit. If Olivia didn’t make up her mind, and soon, she would have the choice taken from her. Fortunately for her, she spun around and walked down the main hall toward the back of the house.
Khalid stuck a finger inside his collar and pulled. He was suddenly finding it difficult to breathe.
Turn around, you degenerate. Your morbid curiosity is only going to lead to another relapse.
Khalid didn’t turn back. He hadn’t the strength to fight this compulsion to finally be alone with her again.