smile before I closed the deal Stella had opened for me. I’d underestimated her. Once I had the opening, it took me less than ten minutes to extract a verbal agreement from Richard. He’d have the contract in his inbox by the end of the night. Kurtz was out of the game before he even got in the ring. When Richard left to greet another guest, I scanned the room again for Stella.
Richard’s wife and the ambassador were still talking by the elephant display. Kurtz was hitting on some unlucky blonde at the bar. No Stella in sight. Even if she’d gone to the bathroom, she should be back by now. It’d been too long. Something’s wrong. My heartbeat slowed until it was a distant drum in my ears. I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the protests and dirty looks as I searched for any glimpse of dark curls and green silk. Nothing.
A fleeting image of her lying on a floor somewhere, hurt and bleeding, flashed through my mind.
Panic swelled, so foreign my body fought its encroachment until the hot, frantic rush finally overpowered my resistance and flooded my veins. Most people’s reactions wouldn’t have veered immediately into she’s in danger territory, but I worked in personal security. That was my fucking job. Plus, I’d accumulated a long list of enemies over the years. Many wouldn’t hesitate to get to me through someone I cared about, and Stella and I had debuted as a couple tonight.
Dammit. I should’ve been more careful, but I’d vetted the guest list. Other than Kurtz, who was as competent as a toddler operating heavy machinery, I hadn’t seen anyone who was cause for concern. Of course, someone could’ve easily slipped in with the servers, ushers, or dozens of other people working the party. My jaw ticked as I entered a dimly lit hall off to the side of the main room. If anyone touched a goddamn hair on her head… A door swung open at the end of the hall and, like I’d conjured her through sheer force of will, Stella stepped out, looking calm and unharmed. Surprise crossed her face when she saw me. “Hey! Did you close the—” Her sentence cut off with a soft gasp when I closed the distance between us and backed her against the wall. “Where were you?” My pulse beat a furious rhythm as I scanned her from head to toe, searching for injuries or signs of distress while she stared at me like I was an alien that’d crash-landed on earth. “I was in the bathroom.” She spoke slowly the way she would to a child. It was only then I noticed the bathroom signs marking the doors. A frown creased her brow. “Is everything okay? You’re acting weird.” No, they’re not. Things haven’t been okay since the day I first saw you. “I thought something happened to you.” The roughness of my voice startled me almost as much as the intensity of my relief. I shouldn’t care this much. Nothing good ever came from allowing other people control over my emotions. But goddammit, I did, no matter how much I hated myself for it. “Next time, let me know before you run off.” The roughness deepened into a command.
I had no desire to experience the terror that had gripped me in the past ten minutes again. It was ugly, foreign, and completely unacceptable. “I didn’t run off. I went to the bathroom.” A hint of fire flickered beneath Stella’s words. “I don’t need to tell you every time I leave your side. That wasn’t in our agreement. Besides, you were busy.” “You were in the bathroom for half an hour?” “Someone spilled champagne on my dress. I was trying to fix it.” My eyes dropped to the small, dark stain on her skirt. “It didn’t work.” Her bottom lip disappeared between her teeth.
“I’m so sorry. I know how expensive it must’ve been. I’ll find a way to pay—” “Fuck the dress.”
It’d cost nearly ten thousand dollars, but I couldn’t summon two shits about what happened to it.
If I had my way, I would tear it off her myself. A hot, heady awareness replaced my panic. No
one else was in the hallway, and Stella’s scent—fresh, subtle, but damn intoxicating—clouded my head. The memory of her in the car, staring at me with those big green eyes and parted lips, her hard nipples all but begging me to take them in my mouth and taste how sweet they were, flashed through my mind. Not unlike the way she was staring at me now, only this time, defiance sharpened the edges of her softness. And fuck, that was a turn-on. Heat rushed to my groin until my cock ached with a painful throb. “What I want…” I pressed a thumb against the pulse at the base of her neck. Its wild flutter told me she wasn’t as indifferent to the pull between us as she pretended to be. “Is for you to be safe. There are bad people in this world, Butterfly, and some of them are in the room right outside. So next time, I don’t care if I’m in the middle of a conversation with the Queen of fucking England. Interrupt me. Understand?” Stella’s eyes narrowed. “Butterfly?” Beautiful. Elusive. Hard to catch. When I didn’t answer, she released an exhale that caressed my chest and tightened my groin to the point of pain. “Is that all you want?”
“Not even close.” A tiny shiver rippled through her. “Because you don’t want to go through the trouble of finding another regular companion for events.” “Because I don’t want to be jailed for murder if anyone touches a hair on your head.” A grim smile touched my lips when her eyes widened. She had no clue who I was or what I was capable of. Meanwhile, I knew more about her than I cared to admit. Frustration and loathing burned beneath my skin. I pushed myself off the wall and stepped back. Adjusted my cufflinks. Tried to ease the relentless, pounding need in my chest. “It’s time to return to the party.” Ice cooled my voice. “Shall we?” We returned to the party in silence. I didn’t take my eyes off her the rest of the night and told myself it was because I didn’t want a repeat of my earlier scare. After all, I’d always been good at lying to myself.
9
STELLA
“Stella! I know you’re in there. Open up!” Oh no. I buried my face in my silk pillowcase, hoping the voice would go away, but knowing its owner, they would camp out in my hall until I inevitably had to leave for fresh air and food. My morning visitor was nothing if not persistent. “Stella Alonso! You can’t hide from me.” A pause, followed by a more conciliatory, “I have matcha.” A groan escaped into my pillow. I shouldn’t have put Jules on my list of approved visitors, but I also hadn’t expected her to beat down my door at…I raised my head and glanced at my digital clock…seven fifty-four in the morning. Since she was already here and the chances of her leaving without answers were slim, I forced myself out of bed and into the living room. I wish I’d had more time to prepare for human interaction. I hadn’t even gotten the chance to wash my face yet, much less meditate or practice my morning yoga. I stifled a yawn as I swung open the door and blinked at the fuzzy purple-clad figure in front of me. “It’s about time.” Jules stood in the hall, one hand planted on her hip and the other carrying a drinks tray from a nearby coffee shop. “Five more minutes and I would’ve broken down your door.” “With your arm strength?