Page 85 of Together We Burn
I never expected to fall in love with her.
“…and that’s when you’ll escort me in, okay?” she finished with a clap of her hands. I had no clue what she’d been saying as the weight of that word settled deep in my stomach.
Love.
Sure, I’d been close to telling her before she cut me off, but at that point, it was just a thought. A mere seedling that had only started to take root, but now it was there, big and heavy and definite.
Emilia cocked her head in question. I smiled, giving her that nod you do when you realise you’ve zoned out, but you’re expected to answer a question you never paid attention to. She returned my smile.
“Sounds good,” I said, unintentionally sounding disinterested, but the excitement surrounding Emilia drew her attention before she registered it. Glancing at my watch, I left her talking to the event coordinator and made my way to the bar.
“Get me something strong,” I asked the waiter, resting my elbow on the bar top. One more hour and this shitshow would start.
Chapter thirty-three
Jake
“Wherearethey?”Emiliahissed once whichever member of the council she’d been schmoozing had walked away. Will and Stefany were meant to arrive thirty minutes ago, just in time for Emilia’sgrand entrance,yet they hadn’t shown up.
I flicked my eyes around the room of Emilia’s guests, a mixture of Carlin Valley’s wealthy and powerful, all dressed as instructed on the invites.
Men in black suits paired with white shirts, others in complete black. Ladies in various designs of dresses; long jewelled ball gowns, long form-fitting silk, and others wearing black two pieces.
For all we knew, they could have been here, blending in with the crowd, watching and waiting for their time to make themselves seen.
No sooner had she asked, the ballroom doors opened, and Will stood in the middle, impeccably dressed in a suit similar to mine. His extremely well-polished shoes glistened off the downlights in the doorway, along with a silver tie pin he donned.
Will extended his hand, and the slender arm belonging to my girl curled around his forearm, stepping into view. Stefany had opted to keep what she was wearing to herself, stating she would consider the dress code and choose something appropriate for tonight’s theme.
In true Stefany style, she had not, and by the barely contained scowl on Will’s face, he was not happy about it.
Fire.
Burning.
A phoenix rising from the ashes.
Red glitter and sequins sparkled on every inch of the thin material covering Stefany’s body like each individual diamanté and bead had been glued to her skin, creating the illusion of nudity. The sheer skirt hugged her waist before flowing down her toned legs to the floor and pooling around her feet like she was standing in the blood of her enemies. The neckline of the dress was nearly as non-existent as the bottom half. Starting low at her belly button and creating a wide V, her breasts were covered in a design that looked like flames, lapping her stomach to her tits and dancing a little across her collarbone.
Will escorted her into the room and accepted two glasses of champagne from a server before handing her one. Whispers and muted conversations rippled around the room as every eye was on my beauty, bringing her glass to her lips and taking a sip of the drink. Instantly, she was recognised as Emilia’s daughter. A daughter no one had seen her with in over twenty years.
Eyeing Emilia, Will steered them toward us, and I couldn’t keep my eyes from my girl. I itched to trace my fingers down the length of her, feeling every part of that dress that taunted not only me, but her mother as well. This was her unsubtle way of saying “fuck you”.
“Mother,” Stefany said, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Well, don’t you look…” She ran her gaze over her daughter’s dress with a sneer. “Slutty.”
“Thanks,” Stefany rebuffed, a slight tilt appearing at the corner of her lips. Without looking at her mother’s gown, not that you could miss it, she said, “I know it’s Halloween, but don’t you think you’ve gone a bit too far with the whole Corpse Bride thing?” She paused and grimaced mockingly before gasping. “Oh, shit. Are you even wearing any makeup, or is that just how you look?”
“Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, dear,” she replied. Then, without dropping her gaze from Stefany’s face, Emilia slid her arm into mine and coiled her hand around my bicep possessively. “At least I have some class. I can almost see your nipples. It’s not very becoming of a young lady. Wouldn’t you agree, Jacob darling?”
Stefany shifted her gaze from her mother to me, her poker face firmly in place as she said, “Good thing I don’t care what either you or yourpetthink.”
Gritting her teeth, Emilia’s composure slipped quickly. Straightening her spine, she released her hold on me and circled Stefany like she was sizing up her prey, racking every inch of her body, freezing when she got to her back.
“What are you playing at, Stefany?” she snarled. “Showing off thatmesslike it’s not disgusting.”
I fisted my hand, prepared to say something, when Stefany’s eyes flashed quickly to me in warning. She smiled, angling her face, so she could whisper in her mother’s ear.
