I tense, ready to grip her arms and pull her from my body, but her giggle has me taking pause.
“What?” I grind out as though I’m annoyed, though I’m smiling too.
“I was just wondering how long I could keep you captive in my arms before you made your great escape.”
“You’re playing me, little girl?”
She looks up at me, a brow arched high. “It’s what we do, Win. We play.”
“What is going on with your sister?” Mother demands, her voice low and only meant for me. “She’s avoiding me.”
I drain the rest of my champagne glass, setting it down on a nearby table, before glancing at my mother. “Elaine?”
Mother’s lips purse together, her irritation bleeding through her veneered mask. “Tinsley. What’s gotten into you, for that matter? I swear, every single one of my children is misbehaving tonight, and they all seem to be doing it as a combined effort to displease me.”
“I assure you, no one is trying to displease you,” I say, smirking at her. “Just let them be. They’re enjoying themselves tonight.”
“Are you?”
“Immensely.”
“I actually believe you, Winston,” she says, suspicion darkening her eyes. “Question is, why? What do you have planned?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” I assure her with a brief smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to run along.” So I can track Ash back down, pry her from Perry’s arms, and dance with her knowing I painted her pretty face with come not but a couple of hours ago. “There’s someone I need to see.”
“Actually,” Mother says, her long fingernails biting into my bicep over my tuxedo jacket. “Stay, darling. We have some catching up to do.”
The predatory glint in my mother’s stare has my hackles rising. I know who it is before I even turn around because I recognize the perfume. I pin my mother with an accusatory glare. Her charming smile is in place, but I don’t miss the calculation behind her pleasant features, and it doesn’t involve me. Well, not directly anyway.
This isn’t a betrayal.
It’s a strategic move.
Swiveling around, I face the firing squad with the coolest expression I can muster.
My ex.
The one who ruined me when I was soft and weak and fucking vulnerable.
I really should thank her. She created the man I am today. Because of her, I forged iron around my heart, buried it beneath granite, and sealed it with a lock bigger than the fucking moon. I’m hard because she made me hard.
And not in the good way either.
But it’s because of her that I am forced to deny myself certain things. Like Ash Elliott. Sure, I have her in every sense of the word, but not the way I’d like. I don’t own all of her, not yet. Because I can’t. I never can. The woman before me is proof of that.
Meredith is stunning perfection as always—silky blonde hair, paid-for tits, tight red evening gown that hugs her hourglass figure. It’s not like I haven’t seen her since our teenage breakup. Our families run in the same circles. It’s just difficult seeing her in our domain. As though she belongs.
She never belonged, and my parents knew it.
“Meredith,” I greet, my tone cold and uncaring. “Lovely seeing you here.”
Duncan Baldridge, her husband whom I very much enjoy fucking over on the regular, juts his hand out and shakes mine. “Happy birthday, man. We were surprised by the invite, but we wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Because who doesn’t want to feast with the lions?
They’re all here. The hyenas like the Mannfords and the snakes like the Baldridges. I’m sure lurking not far from the compound, the Morelli rats are salivating and wishing they were here too, gobbling up whatever crumbs we drop at our feet.
I catch Keaton’s smirk from nearby, his rich girlfriend hanging off his arm, dripping in diamonds. I’ve often wondered why Mother plays this game with him. Positioning him with another successful family. Because it really fucking failed with me and Meredith. I’d thought I’d done the right thing dating someone in our social circle, but also falling for her too. In our world, it’s one or the other in these arrangements. Convenience or love, but never both. Mother gladly exposed what a traitorous bitch Meredith was, saving me from a horrible mistake. She hasn’t tried to set me up with anyone or push me toward any women since. Perry came along, and she let him be as well.
But Keaton . . .
Tearing my stare from my brother, I glance over at my mother, my brow raised in question. Mother steps forward, looping her arm around mine as she smiles at Meredith.
“You’ve had work, dear,” Mother purrs. “Fancy.”
Meredith preens, making sure to bounce slightly so we all see exactly where she had her work done. “Thank you, Mrs. Constantine. It was a birthday gift from my Duncan.”