“He’ll be back in just a moment. How are you doing? Is there anything I can get you?” he asks.
“I’m just fine, and looking for a dance partner,” I joke with Silas who somehow manages to look even more straitlaced than usual.
“I’m going to have to pass on that one,” he answers with his hands raised. I let out a small laugh and leave Silas be in search for Zander. Plenty of time has passed and Kam knows he’ll need to be seen soon. Or else everyone will know he was missing.
He stands with his hands clasped beside the hired security and no one would know he’s only here for me.
Well … it’s possible someone could find out, but Kam would squash that from being released in a heartbeat. As far as social media is concerned, I’m back, in love and doing so much better.
Thanks to Charlie’s exclusive and the snapshots taken only hours ago, the hashtags #SecondChanceInLove and #KnightInShiningArmor are trending all over the internet now.
No one is the wiser and they don’t have to be.
The thing is, I don’t know how to not be crazy.
For a moment I was with James because we ignored it all. Kam kept us safe in our little bubble. Well, it’s more like they kept me safe in my little bubble.
Kam’s killed for me. James killed for me. I don’t want Zander to kill for me, but I think he would. No. I know he would. That doesn’t matter, though, not right now. What matters is that I know I’d kill for him.
I think he might want to prove he can protect me here, but we have lived different lives and this world … this world that reigns over me is manipulative and abusive. Its mercilessness is never ending.
And that is one thing Zander is not. He’s too good for me. We both know it.
My only hope is that he takes me away. Somewhere off the grid where no one can reach us.
As I’m rounding the corner towards the bar for another snow … whatever Trish called it, I spot him, like a beacon, standing tall and laughing at something said to him at the bar. A man in a suit stands next to him, laughing as well.
It seems casual. Small talk at the bar while waiting on drinks. He blends in so well. So easily and yet he’s nothing like any of the men here. I’m caught in a trance when he turns, facing me, a drink in each hand and his gaze meets mine as if he knew I was watching all along.
As he smirks, heading toward me, I can’t help but blush. Even if it’s all an act.
There’s a side of me that would stay just like this and deal with the hell that comes with this life, if he would pretend like nothing’s changed.
But I know tonight has changed everything.
With that somber thought, he reaches me and hands me my drink. With one sip, I know it’s the same one as before.
“Are we okay?” I ask him and to my surprise he tells me, “I don’t know how I’ll be able to fool my brother. I think he’ll suspect and I’m just hoping he doesn’t ask.”
It’s all spoken under his breath and then he takes a swig of his drink.
I hesitate to clarify. “I mean us. Are we okay?” I gesture between us, feeling the nightlife fade to nothing as he stares back at me.
“We need to stay for at least another hour and when we get home, I’m going to punish you for doubting us.” He leans forward as the heat rises between us and whispers in the crook of my neck, “From here on out, any question if we’re all right will be met with my palm to your ass.”