Page 61 of The Revenge

Gemini shakes his head. “His fiancée is, and she says he’ll be here for the auction.”

“When’s that?” I glance at the watch on my wrist. I’m not hungry. Food had been brought to Syn’s room throughout the day, so I’d assumed whatever this event was, there wasn’t going to be food served here.

“You’ve never been to one of these things, have you?” Gemini asks.

“They want people to have a good time,” Royal explains when I roll my eyes, because of course, I haven’t been to one of these types of events before. “Drinks, dancing, drinks, talking—more drinks. The more people drink, the more competitive they become.”

“What’s the prize?” I ask, curious.

Gemini laughs. “Something they could buy themselves for a much cheaper price. It’s not about getting the main items. It’s about being the person todonatethe most amount of money in front of everyone.”

“Drinks and dancing?” That sounds like a lot of time to wait before he even arrives.

“What a brilliant suggestion.” Gemini offers his hand to me with a flourished bow. “Shall we?”

I shake my head. “We should wait here so we don’t miss him.”

“That’s the opposite of what we should do,” Syn tells me. “Being out here draws unnecessary attention to us. And there’s also a chance that du Pont will see you, guess something’s up, and then leave before we even get a chance to talk to him.”

“Then why have me here at all?” I ask.

Syn gives me a pointed look. “What, pray tell, would have made you stay away from here tonight?” he asks, dryly.

He’s right. After everything, the last thing anyone could convince me to do was not come tonight. Whatever Preston has to say, I want to hear it directly from his own mouth.

“Then what is the plan? And what’s going to stop him from not doing the same if he walks in and sees me on the dancefloor?”

“Don’t worry.” Gemini slides up to me and wraps his arm around my waist. “There are enough people inside that we’ll be able to hide you in plain sight.” He glances up at my hair. “I was expecting you to come without the blue hair, but I’m glad it stayed.”

‘Normal’ colored hairwasmy original plan until I decided keeping it would annoy Syn and his parents more, but hearing Gemini’s plan, not only does it seem like I made the wrong call, but I’m also surprised that Syn didn’t make a fuss about it earlier.

I give Syn a sideways glance, but even though his attention is locked on me, he doesn’t react.

“We’ve paid a member of staff to notify us when Preston arrives. After that, we’ll head upstairs. We’ve arranged for oneof the rooms to be left unlocked so that we can be alone. Meanwhile, Syn will speak to Preston and ask him to continue their conversation in private, and then lead him to us. It’s quite simple, really.” The way Royal puffs out his chest makes me think he had a large part in coming up with that plan.

“Simple,” I mutter in agreement.

What could go wrong?

XXIV

Tori

“Can we go dance now?” Gemini asks me. When I don’t move, he shrugs. “Or we can just stand around, bored, waiting for that flaccid dick to arrive.”

Dancing is the last thing I want to do. What I want is to stay exactly where we are and keep watch for Preston, but even I can admit that hiding in plain sight is the best thing to do. Given that the other option is to act like Syn’s fiancée and go play nice with the other guests, I finally take the hand Gemini’s offering.

Gemini’s grip tightens around my hand, and he pulls it to his face, squinting so much, his eyes almost disappear. Then, wrinkling his nose, he straightens and looks at Syn. “Where’s the rest of it?”

“You realize that’s a six-carat diamond, right?” Syn asks, dryly.

My eyes go wide. “What?”

“Exactly.” Gemini nods. “What happened to the rest of the carats?”

“I see how it pales in comparison to the diamondyougave her.” Syn bats Gemini’s hand off mine. “However, thank you for pointing out the engagement ring on my fiancée’s finger, because if she’s walking into that room tonight, it’s with me.”

Gemini steps back and rests his elbow on Royal’s shoulder as he leans against him. Then he holds his hand out in front of him, palm up. “Ten grand, my friend. Pay up.”

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