Chapter 9

Ella

I had seen the twins scurry away from the front doors as Aiden Prince had greeted me, and so as soon as I could break away I headed back to find them. As soon as I rounded the corner they grabbed me, each pulling me by one of my arms until I thought I might lose my footing or come apart at the seams.

“Easy, you’ll rip my arms off,” I snapped as we entered the ladies room. “You left me on purpose!” I wasn’t going to let them get off without at least mentioning what they did, but they made no apologies.

“You’re here, aren't’ you? You’re damned lucky that Aiden took pity on you. He said you looked like a fool and he didn’t want the other guests to be embarrassed as they came in.” Sadie’s voice was tinny and tinged with the perfect amount of acid.

“Well, I wouldn’t have been standing there like a fool if you hadn’t left the house without me. You knew I’d need the invite to get in.” I knew that was the point. Neither had wanted me to get in, to ruin their night.

“Well, you sure wasted your time making doe eyes at Aiden Prince, and if you’re a smart girl, you’ll stay away from him. He’s ours and much too far out of your league.” Halle rolled her eyes as she spoke and wrapped her arm wrapped around her sister’s.

“I’m not interested in Aiden.” I clasped the pendant at my collar bones. “I’m only here to entertain your parent’s idea of the two of you needing a babysitter, but don’t worry, I have plans of my own.”

“And what would that be?” Sadie sneered and crossed her arms in front of her.

“I’m here to socialize to hopefully gain interest in my jewelry line.” I held my head high, I was Layla Ford’s daughter, and the idea wasn’t that far of a stretch, even though the two broke out in laughter and exchanged a creepy smile.

“Good luck with that,” Sadie said with an eye roll.

Halle nodded and stepped closer. “Yeah, good luck, because no one here is going to want your crappy jewelry. They’ll see you as a Layla Ford knock off and nothing more.”

Sadie let out a long breath. “Just make sure that you’re not in our way, and I don’t care who you peddle your shit to. But don’t tell a soul you’re with us and stay away. We don’t want you making us look bad like you did the other night in the club.”

“Yeah, pretend we don’t exist and consider this a night off.” Halle narrowed her gaze into a warning glare as if her dead eyes were staring straight through to my soul.

“Yeah, you won’t have to worry about me.” I tossed their masks onto the counter and turned and stormed out.

Who the hell did they think they were? I’d not even wanted to go to the gala to begin with, and it was only by her parent’s encouragement that I decided to attend. As for Aiden Prince, who’d actually said he wanted to talk to me later in the night, I was sure he’d already forgotten all about me.

I stormed away and left the girls in the bathroom. I could only imagine what kind of trouble they would get into through the night and I’d probably take all the blame. Those two could rob a bank, and their mother would hold me responsible.

I walked out of the hallway and into the huge front room where the party was crowded masked people. It was kind of eerie in a way, not knowing who was who, not that I knew everyone anyway. Other than the twins, not a soul.

“There you are.” The familiar male voice sounded behind me, and I turned to look over my shoulder at the gorgeous man standing there as handsome as humanly possible in his fitted tux.

“Hi.” I looked around to see if the twins were over my shoulder sharpening their knives for me talking to Aiden.

“Did you find your friends?” His eyes and warm smile were full of genuine concern, and I wanted to reach up and pull off the rest of his mask to see what else I was missing.

“I did, but they’re busy.” I lifted a shoulder casually and glanced back over my shoulder, anxious that at any minute they’d see me there with him, and worse, they’d see the smile he was giving me, one I’d be certain they’d not appreciate.

“Would you like to get busy?” His face fell the moment the words left his mouth. He held up a hand to apologize and shook his head. “God, that came out all wrong. I just mean we could do something too. Would you like to dance?”

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea.” I glanced over my shoulder and then around the other direction, but still no sign of them. Aiden took my hand and led me to the other room with him, and I let him feel more confident that we wouldn’t be caught there together by the twins the moment they stepped out of the bathroom.

“It’s a wonderful idea,” he said, stepping us through the crown and toward the dancefloor. “Besides, you can’t turn down the host for a dance. It’s considered bad manners.”

I felt the blush rise to my cheeks as he put his arm at my waist and held my hand. “You look stunning, by the way. I meant to tell you that earlier. I bet you hear that all the time.”

“No, not really. My mother always said it, but you know, she’s biased.” I was quite aware I made it seem like she was still alive, and for the moment, I liked pretending she was. That I could go home to her at the end of the night and tell her how amazing it was to catch Aiden’s eye and dance with the richest man in the city.

“I bet you look like her,” he said.

“A bit. I have her smile, but my eyes, they’re probably like my father’s.” I stiffened knowing he’d caught that.

“Don’t you know?” He spun us around, and I caught a glimpse of the twins looking through the crowd but never saw me as they continued to the next room where the refreshments were.

“No, I never knew him or who he was.” I lowered my chin, and he seemed a bit embarrassed for changing the mood of our conversation.

“My father died,” said Aiden.

“I’d heard about that. I’m sorry for your loss.” I let out a long breath and sighed. I’d always hated hearing that from other’s when my mother passed. It was such a generic thing to say, and hardly ever enough.

“Thanks.” He narrowed his eyes as if sensing my distaste for the term.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound insincere, it’s just after my mother’s death, I’d vowed I’d never say those words to another. They just don’t seem to cut it.”

“They’ll do. It’s enough just knowing someone understands you’re hurting. That’s all those words ever meant to me. And I appreciate it.” He took a deep breath and stared down into my eyes. “So, did you lose her recently?”

“Yes.” I didn’t want to talk about death or my mother or anything else that would bring me down. Despite the twins and their drama, I wanted to have a fun time. At least make the most of dancing with him, which would surely end the moment the twins found us.

“That’s a beautiful necklace.”

“Nice subject change.” I figured he’d only remarked on my necklace realizing I didn’t want to talk about death.

“I’m serious. It’s beautiful. But, yeah, I wanted a way to steer away from that darkness. I know all too well, believe me. It sounds like we’re going through something similar.”

“Thanks. I made the necklace myself, though, in case you’re interested. I like making jewelry, and it’s always been a passion of mine.” His eyes seemed to light up with surprise, and I wondered if it was the fact that I could make such intricate pieces, or if he was surprised someone like me had passion.

“That’s amazing. You’re very talented. May I?” He gestured to the pendant, and when I nodded, he took the cool, silver pendant into his fingertips. “You’ve got passion and skills. I like that in a person.” He tilted his head and dropped his hands back down to mine. “I’m glad you came.”

“Thank you. It’s a lovely party.” I looked around at the decorations and could see the gorgeous mansion beneath it all. This was all his, and taking it all in. I realized I was dancing with a billionaire. The entire place was decked out in gold and white for the gala, with big vases of the biggest red roses I’d ever seen.

“Oh, it’s okay. It’s not really my style. That’s why I insisted on inviting the locals. She wanted the entire party to be nothing but rich snobs, but I thought that inviting all of my friends would be a bit of a shake-up.” His playful grin sent chills down my spine.

He’d invited all of these people solely to get a rise out of his mother. It wasn’t that they were his friends or he’d wanted to enjoy their company or even meet someone new, nope, he thought inviting the locals would be a nice dig at his mother. My stomach turned thinking he was probably the conceited asshole that rumor had labeled him, and I didn't want anything more to do with him.

“You’ll please excuse me. It was lovely talking to you, but I think I had better go freshen up.” I stepped away from him before he could say much in protest.

In my heart, I was upset that he’d turned out to be just another jerk, but I knew I’d dodged a big bullet.