“Thank you.”
“My sister’s still in the suite, isn’t she?” He looked past me.
“She is.” I laughed. “Besides, aren’t you the one who doesn’t like to be late?”
He scowled. “You do have the honeymoon suite for a reason, right?”
I nodded. “I do. It’s so when this party is over we can stay our first night at the Crescent Towers.”
His arms moved to my hips. His fingers dug through the silk. “Fuck me. No underwear, Kennedy?”
“What? It’s designer silk. I didn’t want the lines to show,” I explained. I left out the part about how I had intentional left them off just for him.
He groaned. “I would have gotten here sooner if I knew I was going to be hard through this entire party.”
I ran my hand to his waist, pressing along his thigh. “Oh, God.” I moaned. This was going to be a night of torture for both of us.
“I don’t joke about how hard you make me.”
“Noted.” I smiled.
The door rattled behind us and Seraphina and the baby joined us. “I thought you two would be in the lobby by now.”
“Just trying to time it perfectly,” I lied.
“Mmmhmm.” She didn’t believe me.
I straightened my spine and tried to shake out the wrinkles in the silk Knight had made with his fingers. He offered me his arm.
“Shall we? We have a casino to open, baby.”
I grinned at him. “Carpe noctem.”
“Always.”
* * *
After a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony, a toast at the bar, and rolling of the dice at the craps table the Crescent Tower was open. Knight and I moved from patron to guest, toasting with champagne. We thanked everyone for coming. We sat for a few rounds of poker. Laughed with the casino commissioner. Raffled a car for charity. I felt as if I was floating the entire night.
Renee spotted me in between blackjack hands.
“This is an amazing night.” She hugged me. She was wearing a glittery black dress. I’d never seen her with an ounce of sparkle on in her life.
“You look beautiful, Renee.”
She laughed. “I’m just happy to be out without the children. Although, they said to tell you hi and Charlotte wants pictures of everything.”
I laughed. “Of course she does.” We surveyed the guests mingling, the drinks being poured at the bar, and the people swaying on the dancefloor. “It’s pretty incredible, right?”
“It is. And then some. Thank God, we got that legislation passed.” She winked.
“Our friend in the governor’s office seems to be agreeable to anything we want to accomplish at Noctem Global.” Anthony Gardner wasn’t as easy to run out of Louisiana as Felicia Corban was. Our options were to either plant a scandal and run him out or use the threat to leverage the legislation we needed him to pass. As a result, Knight and I had complete control of the treasure tech and the Crescent Towers was open.
“How are you Renee? Looking lovely.” Knight joined us, kissing Renee on each cheek. She grinned at him. He had to know the affect he had on women.
“I’m having a marvelous time. I’m going to the roulette table.”
“Good.” He faced me. I knew that look.