Page 89 of Perfectly Complicated
“Oh, perfect,” Tate mutters. “It’s going to be impossible to find anything here.”
“Couples will race through my house and grounds to find specific items,” Mr. Marco explains, waving his hands toward the doors leading to the rest of the home. “The first team to return with all items from the list wins a special prize. And you know me—I always make the prize worth it.” He gives us a pleased smile. “But remember—no cheating, and absolutely no bribing my staff. My entire house will be open to you, except for a few locked areas. Otherwise, you’re free to roam the grounds at your leisure.”
He gestures to several uniformed servers who step forward with sealed envelopes.
“Choose your partner and collect your list,” he adds. “May the best team win!”
“Well,” I say, turning to Janie, “this ought to be fun. Ready to see just how ridiculously rich one man can be?”
“Are you kidding?” she says, her eyes wide. “I organize classroom scavenger hunts for a living. We just need to think like a kindergartner. They’re very good at finding things.”
“You mean like the romance novel hidden in your bag?” I say with a grin, reminding her of the first Christmas pageant practice, when she was outed by one of her students.
Leo whirls around. “Don’t get too confident, Bennett. Victoria and I have home field advantage—we’ve been to enough of these parties to know where the weirdstuff is hidden.”
“Weird stuff?” Janie asks, looking around at our group. “Like what?”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Brax says, shaking his head. “Last year I found a giant closet that was only mirrors.”
“Maybe he likes to examine himself from every angle,” Leo says. “I mean, the guy paid for an ice sculpture of himself.”
“That’s nothing,” Tate adds, tucking his book under his elbow. “I once got lost searching for the restroom and discovered a bowling alley…inside the house.”
Janie blinks. “Why would he need a bowling alley?”
“Welcome to Mr. Marco’s world.” I slide an arm around her shoulders and gesture at the massive ballroom. “He has everything you could ever dream of.”
We collect our envelope from the server, and I rip it open while the other couples cluster around us.
Everyone is in pairs except for Brendan, who’s now sulking by the appetizer table, staring down Jaxon and Scarlett as he drains another glass of champagne.
“First item,” Janie reads. “‘Something worth more than my Bentley Continental.’” Her face tilts to mine. “How much is that?”
“Probably 300K?” I guess.
“Should we split up?” Leo suggests to Victoria.
“Absolutely not,” Victoria says immediately. “You’ll get distracted and end up in the wine cellar.”
“That was one time!”
She lifts an eyebrow. “It was three times, Leo.”
“Yeah, but rules state you have to complete the hunt as a pair,” Tate points out. “So it’s every couple for themselves.”
“This way, Rourke.” Janie leads me toward the door, away from the mass of bodies in the ballroom. “I saw something in the foyer that’s outrageously expensive.”
We head toward the entry hall, brushing by Brax and Jaz who are having a heated discussion about whether a crystal vase or an oil painting could pass as more expensive than a car.
“There,” Janie points to a massive chandelier hanging over a side table that’s sparkling in Swarovski crystals. “That thing has to cost more than a car, right?”
I study the crystal-and-gold monstrosity. “If it’s in Marco’s house, then yes.”
“Perfect.” She marks off the first item. “What’s next?”
I glance down at the list. “A book older than hockey itself.Great.Tate has probably memorized the entire contents of the library already.”
“How do you know he has just one?” Janie asks as we head up the stairs.
