Despite several arguments and a round of protests from both me and Gerry, Kat insisted we attend the five families party. She called it “the inauguration.” Sometimes, it sounded like a joke. Others, I couldn’t be sure.

The invite directed us to the Aristo compound for the party. Any place labeled a compound also didn’t get my vote for a visit. I straightened my cufflinks for the fifteenth time while I waited for Katherine to come out of the bathroom. The finger of whiskey I poured had long since disappeared, and the wait bordered on ridiculous at this point.

“Kat, we are going to be late if you don’t hurry it up,” I called through the door. The smile spread across my face unbidden. Two months into marriage, and we were already waging meaningless domestic battles.

The sound of water shut off, and I held my breath she’d exit this time. The door jerked open and stepped back to let her out. It took time for my brain to catch up with my eyes. Her dark hair curled and hung loose to her shoulder blades, covering only a portion of the bare skin on display. The emerald green dress cut almost to her ass in the back, and a deep v bisected the front half way down her belly.

I popped my mouth open and closed like a fish for a few second before my brain fired back up. “You look incredible.”

She smiled and crushed a curl behind her ear. “You look amazing too. All the ladies are going to be offering to cook for you tonight.”

“Is that an Italian thing?”

She shook her head. “It’s a woman thing, I suppose. A way to get in your door to get in…” She dropped her eyes to my crotch.

I pressed my lips to her forehead, careful not to muss anything. “No one is getting in any doors of mine, except you.”

She bit her lip and mocked surprise. “Doors?”

“Get out there.” I pointed to the living room. “Watch your mouth, young lady.”

She spun around and walked backward through the hallway. “But just to be clear, though, how do you feel about…” She wiggled her fingers at me.

I captured her wrist and dragged her close to whisper in her ear. “I’m willing to try anything once. How about you?”

When I let her go, she winked and grabbed her clutch from Patton who stood waiting by the door. My choice of guards were limited with them split between us and Bianca, who refused to get rid of the five-families-appointed Rodrigo. I assigned a team to her until the situation could be sorted. After Kat told me about finding them together, I almost stormed into her apartment myself to tear the kid a new…door.

“Ready?” Kat called, stepping into the entry.

I followed her out, once again pulling on my cufflinks. I hated wearing suits. Once my father dictated I needed to stop dressing like a “rale Bulgarian” whatever the hell that was, I started wearing my usual uniform. But never a tie, not unless the Pope dropped by or I happened to get married and then was required to dress for an apparently important event.

When I broached the subject of not wearing the tux, the look she gave me could have melted the skin of someone who wasn’t fortified with a decade’s worth of experience.

The ride across town took a half hour, and every time I tracked my hand down her bare leg to run it under her dress, she slapped it hard.

“Be a good boy, and maybe I’ll give you a treat after the party,” she said.

I dropped a bite to her tiny shoulder leaving a red ring and fresh teeth indentions. “Be nice, Baby Girl.”

When we arrived, holt helped her out first, and I followed, Patton on my heels. A red carpet lay rolled out. A crowd milled to one side with cameras and flash bulbs. I gripped her waist and whispered quickly, “what the hell is this?”

She pasted on a wide, toothy smile. The kind for magazine covers and post-scandal photo ops.

“I explained what I do for the families. This is it. I’m the public face for our organization now. So stand up tall and smile.” She gritted out low, a weird grin still in place the entire time she spoke

I jerked her tight to me, so we walked side by side up the red carpet. She waved at a few of the photographers. We stopped and allowed them to snap pictures, and then I dragged her through the gleaming double doors.

My pulse pounded in my ears as we made our way into a large ballroom. Gold and black décor dominated the tables and lighting. On the far end of the room, an empty dance floor sat waiting.

We were on time, but the party only seemed about half full. My heartbeat started to return to normal as we squeezed through ordinary people. I caught sight of Bianca at the bar and pointed her out to Kat. We aimed straight toward her, two birds, one stone.

Bianca’s blonde hair sat high on her head in curls, her violet dress hugged her curvy figure, but paint stains down one arm did not complete the look.

Kat frowned, but hugged her sister close anyway. Bianca greeted me with a sharp nod, still not over my refusal to help her get back in school.

The bartender passed some drinks over the edge of the bar, and Kat used the opportunity to lean in and whisper to her sister. “Have you seen them yet?”

She shook her head and glanced back at Gerry and some kid who seemed vaguely familiar. I assumed he was the guard Kat had told me about, but something about his face pinged in my brain. It would bother me all night.

We didn’t wander, and I felt fine with that. A seat by the bar until we could leave suited me perfectly.

The pretentious ring of metal against a champagne flute silenced the crowd. An older man in his sixties with steel gray slicked back hair stepped off the stage with a microphone. He looked like he played the villain in a Bond video game, his face all points and angles.

Kat leaned in and whispered, “that’s Argyll Aristo.”

The man even had a villain name. I watched him as he started speaking, and eventually he began talking about Kat and the legacy of the Minola family. Mostly tuning him out, I caught snippets until he said Irish and hooligans in a condescending tone. My focus snapped back to his voice, and I stiffened. Kat gripped my hand hard, my bones creaking from the force of it. I didn’t mind as she was the only reason I hadn’t jumped up and smacked the man with his microphone wire.

He directed his cold eyes to Kat and held out his hand. She didn’t take it, nor the microphone, simply took one step forward and pitched her voice loud. “Thank you all for coming.” It resonated and echoed off the chamber walls. AB Punch to the throat, old man.

She continued, “I sincerely want to thank you for all your support since our father’s passing. It’s been a difficult time, but I think I’m finding my feet. It would have been impossible without my husband, Pierson St. James.”

A knot took root in my throat, sucking out the water and the air. I didn’t enjoy being the center of attention, but I couldn’t look away from her confronting a room full of her peers for my honor.

Everyone clapped softly. The clap of circumstance, a distant cousin to the golf clap. She went on. “As for the future, let’s see what it holds. My sister, Bianca, and my wonderful husband, will be beside me as we usher in this new era.”

She stepped back into the circle of my arms, and I swiped her hair to the side and planted a kiss on her neck. Marking my territory while an entire room stared me down? Probably. But she shuddered against me, and at least they couldn’t doubt the validity of our relationship.

After a couple more speeches, we drifted back to the bar for another round. “Hungry?” she asked.

“I’m always hungry,” I said, dipping my gaze down her body.

Bianca choked on her wine. “You two are gross. Keep all that sexual tension at home.”

Rodrigo skirted our little group, whispered into Bianca’s ear, and led her toward the dance floor. There were now three couples swaying to the great hits of the 80’s, and the pair joined them. “He looks familiar,” I told Kat, still trying to place him.

I wrapped my arms around her back, and she leaned into me. “I’m sure he’s not a threat. He had ample opportunity to kill her. Probably completely naked. What a story that would make.”

“We don’t joke about your safety,” I scolded.

“What are you going to do about it?”

I spun her to face me. “Is this the night you finally let me spank you for the years of torture you put us through?”

Her hands flew to her hips, like they did when she got annoyed. “I put us through, huh? Well, it takes two to…whatever… you were complicit in our entire history.”

I shoved my half-full whiskey at her. “You’re throwing words around like complicit. You must not have had enough to drink.”

She took it, and I slipped my hands around her waist again. “How long do we have to stay? I have plans with you and your dress.”

It took a second for her to throw back the liquor and grasp my hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

We waved at Bianca and headed toward the exit. The car came around, and Patton squeezed in first, then Kat, and I followed.

Once Holt took off, I pulled Kat into my lap and kissed her like I’d wanted since I saw her walk out of our bathroom earlier. Her dress gave her a delicate demeanor, but I knew nothing could break her. Watching her command the attention of a crowd so easily and thoroughly, brought to light a new feeling in my chest. It surged up from the middle and took over once it gained a hold. Pride. I’d been so proud of her, I wanted to puff my chest out and declare to the whole world she belonged to me.

Of course, she’d have slapped me upside the head if I did such a thing in public, but at home, in bed, perhaps a different story.

She pulled away and whispered against my lips.“What about Patton?”

“The man has seen way worse than this. And likely will again before he retires, if I have my way.”

I shimmied my hand up to her knee and around the outside muscular curve of her thigh. She tensed, uncomfortable in such close confines with Patton watching, so I didn’t push her, only spent the half hour ride home holding her tight and tracing tiny circles on to her skin. When we almost got there, I started tracing letters there. Writing out what I wanted to do as soon as I stripped her dress off her shoulders and ripped her panties away.

She understood them all, her body sinking into mine further, relaxing as I aroused her with such a simple touch.

When we finally returned home, I helped her out and directed her straight to the bedroom. To my surprise, she actually listened to me.

She entered the house, gave the boys in the dining room a wave, and continued to the bedroom without stopping.

I shut the door and immediately took apart my cufflinks and bowtie. She stood and watched, swishing back and forth so her dress fluttered around her legs. I tugged out of the jacket and dress shirt, reminded of stripping the very same clothes off only a couple months ago.

“Now, Mrs. St. James, what’s your pleasure? Ladies choice.”