Chapter
TWENTY
Glasses clinked as they were tapped with cutlery from somewhere across the large ballroom, and the noise swelled as more tables joined in. The Japanese couple sitting across from me looked bewildered.
A smile broke on my face. “Will you tell them it’s a custom?” I said to the couple’s hired translator. “The bride and groom are supposed to kiss.”
I couldn’t hear much of my words repeated into Japanese over the sound, but the couple turned to glance at the head table and watched as Dominic leaned down and kissed his new wife on the lips.
Payton looked exquisite. She’d worn an elegant and understated floor length dress for the ceremony, and had changed into a short party dress that was all cutout lace with a slit down the front of the bodice. It was conservative for her, but still sexy and cute.
The wedding had been quick but beautiful. I hadn’t seen Dominic since my fake negotiations a year ago. I thought he’d been attractive then. Today, in a tuxedo and blushing at the altar while waiting for his bride, he was all of that and then some. Their chemistry was palpable.
The chemistry of our table at the reception was a different story. Across from me were the Japanese couple, friends of Payton and Dominic’s who’d made their first trip to America to celebrate. Yuriko, the young woman, was shy. I got the feeling that even if she could speak English, she probably wouldn’t. Was it the man beside her who caused this? Akira was an overwhelming presence. His dark, evaluating eyes seemed to miss nothing, and although he wasn’t touching her, I could sense his possession of the stunning woman beside him.
Welcomed possession, judging
by the diamond necklace she wore high and tight on her neck. Her collar. On the other side of Akira was a male translator who seemed thrilled to be seated beside Tara. She was hard to miss, not just because of her beauty, but the bright orange dress that clung to her curves and showed off her figure.
I had been worried it would be awkward when Tara grabbed the seat beside me, but she flashed a carefree, friendly smile and her gaze went to Silas as she waited for me to introduce him.
“This is Silas,” I said.
He leaned over me and shook Tara’s hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said quickly. I felt comfortable with this, but Silas seemed to struggle.
She laughed. “I think we’ve already met, but maybe you don’t recognize me with my clothes on.”
The translator coughed as if he’d swallowed his drink wrong, and Silas’s mouth snapped shut.
Tara nudged me with an elbow. “I don’t know what your last boyfriend looked like, but shit, you had to have traded up.”
I couldn’t stop my smile, nor did I want to. “You better fucking believe it.”
Tara’s gaze drifted past Silas and she nodded a warm hello to Joseph, then turned to the translator and began to shamelessly flirt.
Noemi was sandwiched between Joseph and her father, and I had to wonder who at this table felt the most awkward. My money was on Mr. Red. Of course I knew his real name was Rosso. He was the wealthiest man in Chicago and a larger-than-life type. The FBI had examined him closely, curious if his enormous media company used blindfold club connections to make shady deals with the FTC, but Rosso had come up clean.
I’d negotiated dozens of deals with Mr. Red at the club for the woman seated to his left. Claudia. By the time I’d started working there, Mr. Red was her regular, and she was already halfway in love with him.
He’d swept her off her feet, and she’d done the same back to him. How else could you explain him coming to this wedding? He was a powerful man, but here he seemed on edge and uncomfortable. Maybe it was that he’d slept with the bride. He’d been Payton’s regular before Claudia. Or perhaps it was Joseph’s arm draped around Noemi. Good God, Joseph was poised to be Mr. Red’s son-in-law.
Silas broke my train of thought when his hand was set on my knee. “I forgot to tell you earlier, and don’t give me any lip about it, but you look nice.”
I put my hand on top of his. “Thanks. So do you.”
He faked as if he was offended. “Such a cliché.”
“You want the truth? You’re so fucking beautiful, I’m amazed the women in here aren’t losing their shit and throwing their babies at you.”
“Throwing their babies?”
“It’s an expression.”
“It is? Who says that?”
I shrugged. “I dunno, people.”
“Yeah, weird people. What the hell am I supposed to do with these babies once I’ve been pelted with them?”