Page 77 of Landlord Wars
Now I just needed to believe that.
Jack stopped at the door to my room and leaned his shoulder against the frame. With his hair combed back, he looked extremely dapper in a simple black tuxedo.
He nodded slowly and whistled. “Looking good, Soph.”
I flattened my hand down the front of the dress. “You promise I’ll blend in?”
“No way will you blend,” he said proudly. “You’ll stand out.”
Panic filled my chest, and I swallowed hard. “But I don’t want to stand out.”
“Too late. All the rich yuppies will try to steal you from Max, and Max will turn into a beast and tear them apart.” At my shocked expression, he said, “Not physically. But they’ll suffer because Max fights dirty. He’ll steal their ill-gotten properties. Do not go up against Maxwell Burrows. Unless you’re Sophia Markos, apparently. You’ve turned my beastly friend into a puppy dog.”
And then it occurred to me. “How did you find out we were dating?”
Jack made a disbelieving sound. “That guy doesn’t ruffle over anything, and he’s been acting like a lunatic from the moment you moved in. I knew there was something going on weeks ago.”
Internally, I smiled, and my chest filled with warmth. Max had been giving me a hard time since the day we met, and I’d been dishing it right back. That was the best part about dating him—watching the stoic man turn soft and gooey.
Though only in hindsight did I enjoy this. For a while there, I wanted to drop-kick him.
I reached for a black satin purse that was one of the few items I considered truly invaluable. Passed down from my mother, who’d received it from her mother, it had an understated vintage look with tiny black pearls along the closure. The clutch didn’t completely go with my new gown, but it worked. More important, it gave me courage to have something of my mother’s with me tonight.
We made our way from our apartment to the street, where a white limousine was waiting. I turned to Jack. “Did you arrange this?”
He scoffed. “Of course not. You do remember who you’re dating, don’t you?” Jack opened the back door, not waiting for the driver to make his way around. “Your boyfriend insisted. He’s been harassing me for the last hour to make sure you’re okay and to get you there on time.”
We settled in the limousine, and Jack popped the cork of a champagne bottle. “Another of Max’s orders—Dom Perignon.” He poured a glass and handed it to me, then poured one for himself.
The car was enormous, with supple cream leather upholstery and a bar along one side, where two more champagne bottles were chilling. It was glamorous and exciting, but I wished Max were here too. No matter how thrilling, the experience wasn’t as fun without him.
Traffic to downtown was heavy, and it took at least half an hour to make it to San Francisco City Hall. I’d thought it strange to host a ball there—until we pulled up.
The dome was lit in blue, brightening the darkened sky and taking my breath away.
Jack helped me out of the limousine, and we got in line with other elegantly dressed people making their way up the steps to the entrance off Van Ness. If I thought I was nervous at the apartment before, the sensation now grew tenfold. But as soon as we entered the building, some of my nerves dropped away, becauseholy shit.
We passed the pink and ecru marble vestibule and entered what could only be a fairytale. Marble arches along the entire lower level were draped in two-story velvet lilac curtains with gold frill along the edges, while royal-blue velvet drapes covered the arches of the second level. Roman columns and marble statues were carved into the walls of the top of the Grand Staircase, with seven-foot floral arrangements strategically placed on either side. The lower and upper levels were lit by pedestalled chandeliers and the light coming in from the dome at the center of it all.
When I thought about it, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe had gotten married here, so yeah, even without the grand ball décor, the place was spectacular.
“I hate these things,” Jack grumbled, tugging at the sleeve of his tux.
I swiveled my head to him in surprise. “Then why do you come? Max says you go to all the events.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “I work with a lot of these people, and it’s the one time I get out and mingle. Gotta put in face time.”
He worked with these people?“I thought you designed video games, and your law degree was an added bonus.”
“I do, and it is, but I run a few businesses as well.”
Okay, maybe Max had mentioned something about Jack having his fingers in multiple businesses. I clearly needed to pump him for more information on the topic when we weren’t at a gala.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” he said, peering across the room to a corner where the glitter of barware and staff was set up. “At the very least, these things have great food and drinks.”
The people surrounding us were incredibly glamorous, and my nerves kicked back in. “Yes, please. Make it a stiff one.”
“Martini?”
