I quickly got sidetracked on my hunt for Kendra, instead finding Giselle flirting with a man whose face I didn’t recognize .

“Excuse me,” I said, butting in. “May I have a moment with my colleague ?”

The tall man with broad shoulders nodded and smiled as he let me lead Giselle away .

“Who is he?” I asked as we moved closer to the wall .

“Handsome, isn’t he?” Giselle rolled her eyes back in his direction .

It was clear she admired the man. Somehow, between her evening date with John and tonight’s main event, he’d managed to sweep her off her feet .

“What’s going on with John?” I asked quietly .

She adopted a sullen look, then rolled her neck back to me .

“I thought you had a date with him earlier tonight .”

“I did.” The color drained from her face .

“I saw the way you were looking at him,” I said, pointing at the man she was flirting with.” I can see it in your eyes .”

“Kelly, I don’t need you to lecture me. Especially now, in the middle of the party .”

“You can’t wander off the reservation if you expect it to work out with John.” I didn’t want her to have any regrets, any feelings of remorse like the ones I had when I was with Nora .

Taking one step forward, Giselle leaned in to say, “I need this Kelly .”

I smoothed my hand over the right side of my tux, ironing out the wrinkles I’d imagined .

“It’s not every day that I get to dazzle Hollywood elite. And, besides,” she turned her head back to the man with tussled dark hair, “he’s hot .”

When he glanced at Giselle, she waved her fingers at him. He was busy talking with another guest wearing a similar styled tux as his own. But he wasn’t about to let Giselle get away, always keeping one eye on her, patiently waiting his turn .

“What happened with John?” I reached for her elbow, gently drawing her attention back to me. “I thought you wanted to make it work .”

“I think he might be having an affair.” She sighed .

“Shit.” My spine straightened as I rubbed my hand down the front of my neck .

“Yeah.” She tossed back her drink, her eyes widening with disappointment .

“I’m sorry,” I muttered .

“Don’t be.” She folded her arms across her belly. “He knew what he was getting himself into when we started dating .”

I couldn’t help but feel guilty that I might have been partially to blame for Giselle’s boyfriend choosing to look elsewhere. The hours we pulled were long, and the demands to succeed dire. But I knew Giselle would pull through. She always did. “I heard from Oscar earlier,” I said .

The excitement in Giselle’s eyes was back. “What did he say ?”

“That he knew about our names being added to Stone’s list.” I nodded, knowing she understood that Oscar had set me up .

“Holy fucking shit.” She tucked her hair behind her ear .

“Yeah.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets, keeping an eye out for Kendra .

I didn’t want her to feel like I’d ditched her or to find her still struggling with the anxieties that could come from attending a party such as this one. But now that I had Giselle’s attention, it was important that I caught her up on the latest news—after all, that was the real reason why we were both here tonight .

“Oscar must be afraid of you actually winning Stone’s case.” Giselle smiled .

“The nerve that man has to think that he could get away with this .”

“You know, Kelly,” she turned back to me, “if that is the case, then these charges being brought by Timothy Parker won’t stick .”

“Regardless,” I smiled and nodded at a friend as he passed, “of what Oscar’s motivation is to rid me from the equation, they won’t stick .”

Giselle’s brow pinched as she saw a thought wrinkle my own. “What is it?” she asked .

“Nothing,” I murmured as I thought about the reason Madam put that call into Oscar right before everything seemed to unravel. “Forget it .”

“Kelly?” Giselle reached up and put her hand on my arm .

“Look,” I said, pointing at her new man of the hour, “he’s coming back for you .”

Giselle held my gaze for a moment before turning around to give her new interest a warm welcome back. He handed her a new drink and introduced himself. “Drake Goodman .”

I took his hand and we shook. “Kelly Black .”

Then he turned and whispered something in Giselle’s ear that made her giggle. “If you’ll excuse us .”

I nodded and smiled at Giselle, proud to see her as happy as she appeared to be .

“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” Wes came to stand next to me .

“Indeed, they do.” I smiled .

“Though, if it wasn’t for her, I’m not sure you would be nearly as successful as you are .”

“Ah,” I twisted my spine to face him, “you mean like you without Adrianna ?”

His brows furrowed, getting me to laugh .

“Is Kami here, or did you come alone ?”

“Quick stop on my way home from the office.” He nodded and smiled to familiar faces across the room. Then he said, “I saw you speaking with Sylvia .”

“Nothing gets past you .”

“Still not sure why you prefer her over Julia .”

“Because you keep Julia on a short leash and make her unaffordable for the rest of us .”

Wes shrugged. “The best reporters deserve the best pay .”

“And there you have it .”

A member of the waitstaff passed with a silver platter filled with scallops and prime rib. Both Wes and I took what we wanted as applause erupted on the opposite side of the room .

“You know she was the one working with Nash when he was first accused of Maria’s death .”

“I didn’t know that.” My brows knitted .

Wes nodded. “Like I said, she’s the best .”

“Care to share what she discovered ?”

Greeting a friendly face passing nearby, Wes then turned back to me and said, “Nothing you don’t already know about .”

Wishing that I could find Kendra, I kept an eye out for her and said, “I have credible testimony from multiple sources that all say Nash has what it takes to kill .”

“Did Sylvia tell you that?” Wes turned to look me in the eye while shuffling his feet. Without answering his question, Wes continued, “He’s not the one .”

“I talked with him today .”

“And did you learn anything new ?”

I shook my head. “He confirmed what you already said. He didn’t deny any of it, nor try to hide the fact that he had a relationship with Maria prior to her being killed .”

We stood there silently, letting our thoughts bounce between our ears. Then, after a couple minutes of no words being exchanged, Wes said, “This is all so fucked—blown way out of proportion. Nash isn’t perfect but he’s not the one who killed Maria. I was there with him when the police were first looking into the possibility it could be him .”

“They have the wrong guy.” My voice was more of a thought than a response. “Mario didn’t do it either .”

“Whatever new evidence they have against him, Nash didn’t do it.” He paused as if to collect his thoughts. “Maria was gorgeous,” Wes turned to look me in the eye, “and not exactly innocent, either .”

My jaw clenched as the room began to spin around me .

“Many men had their eye on her,” Wes turned his gaze back to the crowd standing in front of us, “including many who are in this room tonight .”

“And what about Alex?” I asked with my head spinning to understand what Wes was trying to convey. “Many men also have their eye on her ?”

“You’ve seen her, what do you think ?”

Without coming out and saying it, I knew Alex was a prize in the eyes of many men and that was what made the stakes so high to clear Nash’s name as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to see anything happen to her—because if it did, Kendra would blame me. And then I would blame myself .

“I don’t understand, Kelly, why are you worried about Maria when you should be worried about him?” Wes subtly jutted his chin in the direction of Timothy Parker .

My gaze lowered as I stared at him from under my brow. “Tell me this,” I turned back to Wes, “has Nash taken Alex to Mint ?”

Wes laughed. “You know I can’t speak for my members .”

“Not even for an old friend ?”

“Not even for a good friend.” Wes smiled. “But what I can do is invite you to come by. Bring Kendra. I have a feeling you two might fall in love with the place.” He winked and began to leave. “Who knows, maybe you’ll even see Nash .”