As she gained her bearings, Jag scanned the crowd, his eyes coming to rest on a group of white-clad men in a far corner.
Though they were far away, Rita could just make out the features of the man who was her father-in-law.
She swallowed, and once again Jag squeezed her hand.
“I will keep you safe,” he promised, reading her accurately.
And because he had already done the most important thing of making it safe to be the woman she was—with the interests she had and the goals she wanted to achieve—she believed he would.
But he was mistaken if he thought it was his father that she feared most tonight.
Resolute or not, she was most afraid of coming out to the world.
But there was no more time to worry.
With a signal to a server, Jag indicated it was time.
The man lifted a glass and clinked a fork against its side with enough force to cast its tinkling sound out and over the crowd.
That such a small sound, in a sea of noise and chatter, had the power to catch the attention of so many people was just one of the many mysteries of life.
As Rita watched, a wave of calm focus descended upon the attendees, each of them turning their faces toward the sound of the glass only to land upon the Prince of Hayat and Rita at his side.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Jag began. “After two weeks of astonishing sights and sounds, and the out-of-this-world race of tonight, it hardly seems fathomable that more excitement could emerge from this exhibition.”
A light cheer rose in response to his words, with more than a few lifting glasses, before he continued, “But I would not be the Prince of Hayat—” he paused, allowing time for another small round of applause, before continuing “—if I let such a grand event close without an even grander finale.”
More applause met his words, and Rita’s stomach did a flip.
With each word, they drew closer to the point of no return.
“And I assure you, what I share with you now has been worth the wait.”
The silence of rapt attention greeted him.
“You have all been dying to know, how did that rascally Prince get his hands on so many of NECTAR’s custom specials? Well, here is your answer.” Raising Rita’s left arm, ensuring that the massive ring she wore caught and refracted the light, Jag said, “I present to you, revealed for the first time to the world, the ingenious and incomparable NECTAR. She is the woman who has blessed me by becoming my wife, Princess Rita of Hayat.”
Deafening cheers and a blitz of flashing lights greeted his announcement, and it was all Rita could do to maintain her grip on his hand and smile for the cameras.
Hours that felt like lifetimes later, Jag was hot and ready to have Rita back as his private treasure.
In the past weeks he had gotten used to enjoying her company alone.
And while both the debut and exhibition had gone exactly as he had intended them to—better even—he realized he was ready for things to get back to the normal they were establishing.
Introducing her as his wife as the finale of the exhibition after revealing her to be the infamous NECTAR, drawing in the flare of romance and intrigue while his attendees were already rolling high on the exciting cocktail of enthusiasm for electric energy and innovation and fast cars, made for exactly the instant sensation he had desired.
He would have final data back only following tonight’s grand finale, but the preliminary information his team was sending him even now showed that the exhibition and announcement of his marriage had had exactly the impact he wanted.
Rita had handled it all like she had been born for it, including the media.
“How did the two of you meet?” one reporter had asked, while others shouted out their own queries. “Tell us about yourself, Princess Rita. Who are you? Where are you from?”
“How long have you known each other?” still another asked, and so it went for the rest of the evening.
Rita navigated it with grace equal to that of her stunning beauty.
Jag was used to being the center of attention in a room, to being constantly in demand and fielding personal questions, to graciously smiling when asked for selfie after selfie.