JADE
We’d been at the party for over an hour, and everyone was still staring in our direction. Eli hadn’t left my side, and we’d attacked the buffet full of food together.
I’d had more than one drink to try to relax. But it hadn’t helped all that much.
“I feel like I’m in a fishbowl,” I said to Eli as we mingled. “Everyone is watching you.”
Just like he’d promised, he’d introduced me to so many people that I’d already forgotten most of their names.
He leaned in closer. “They aren’t looking at me,” he answered. “They’re all looking at you.”
“Thanks,” I answered. “That makes me feel so much better.”
“You’ll get used to it. The interest in a new billionaire among their ranks wears off, and they move on to the next unfamiliar person who shows up. It hasn’t been all that bad, right?”
Had it been all that bad? I guess it hadn’t been as big of a nightmare as I’d assumed. “Not bad,” I agreed. “So many of these people have the same concerns as everyone else I know. And I’m amazed at how many of them already donate to conservation causes.”
He grinned. “I won’t say that I told you so.”
“But you want to,” I said with an answering smile. “And I have no problem telling you that you were right.”
Curious stares aside, the majority of the people I’d met talked about their spouses, their kids, and their causes first. It wasn’t that they weren’t discussing billion-dollar deals, but it was all part of the general conversation, just like any person would discuss their jobs. It just so happened that these folks dealt in much bigger dollars than most when it came to their businesses.
“If I steered you away from somebody, it was for a good reason. Just like any other group of people, not everybody is nice,” he warned.
“That’s true at almost any get-together,” I observed.
He nodded. “But there’s definitely more than a few guests here tonight that have pretty sharp claws.”
“If you’re trying to warn me about your previous girlfriends, I’ve already seen them,” I said with a frown.
There were megarich businessmen everywhere, but I’d recognized some faces of celebrities as we’d worked our way around the large venue. Of course, I couldn’t help but notice that more than a few of the gorgeous women here had once been on Eli’s arm—in just the same position I was at the moment.
“None of them were girlfriends,” he denied.
“Then what were they?”
“Arrangements,” he answered in a clipped voice. “They wanted the same thing I did.”
I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think they did. Most of them are among the people staring. And those women are looking at both of us. Did you break it off when you got bored?”
For so many reasons, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear his response.
“Yes.”
That one simple word made my heart stutter. Maybe Eli and I had become friends of a sort, but I wasn’t any safer than any of the other women he’d gotten bored with in the past.
This was never meant to be long term. I accepted that. So I’m going to have to play by the rules.
I was silent for a moment as I stared out into the crowd.
Finally, I leaned into him so my mouth was close to his ear. “Promise me that you’ll tell me when this is over,” I requested softly. “I’d rather we stay friends.”
I didn’t want to be the woman he’d once dumped if we met up somewhere after our time together was over. I didn’t want there to be a time when we couldn’t meet up with no regrets on either side.
He leaned closer. “I can’t be your friend, Jade. I can never be your friend.”
My heart sank. The conviction in his voice was real. Nothing was ever going to come of this dysfunctional relationship I had with Eli. Like he intended, it was going to be a mutually pleasurable arrangement until one or both of us decided we didn’t want it anymore.
“Okay,” I said in a quiet voice as I glanced up at him.
Maybe I was imagining things, but I swore I saw a brief expression of vulnerable indecision in his eyes before it promptly disappeared. “Jade, I—”
“Don’t,” I interrupted him. “We both knew what we were getting into from the beginning. You made yourself perfectly clear. No commitments. And I was the one who decided to accept it.”
I didn’t want his sympathy because I’d gone and fallen for him just like the other women in the room who were gawking at him with longing expressions.
I didn’t want to join that club.
I’d deal with my disappointment alone.
I had known the deal when I’d signed up for intimacy with Eli. But maybe in my heart I had hoped that it would change.
“Hey, Eli,” a male voice called out.
I looked to see who was trying to get Eli’s attention, and saw a guy around Eli’s age approaching us.
The blond man didn’t look nearly as elegant and aloof as Eli. In fact, he kind of reminded me of a carefree beach bum who just happened upon the party and dropped in for a drink.
My eyes went from the male who had just stopped in front of us, to the grim expression on Eli’s face. It was obvious to me that Eli wasn’t happy to see this particular guest.
“Joel,” Eli acknowledged curtly.
I could feel the tension between the two males facing each other, but I couldn’t figure out the cause.
“I just stopped by to give these to you,” Joel told Eli as he held out a large manila envelope.
I waited for several heartbeats, stressful moments that kept ticking like a clock.
Eli made no move to accept the man’s offering.
But the giver of the envelope also didn’t seem like he was going to slink away.
Without thinking, I reached out and snatched the package from Joel’s hand because I could see the tortured expression on Eli’s face, and I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Thanks,” I said abruptly, willing to do almost anything to vanquish the tormented look in Eli’s eyes.
Joel turned, smiled sadly at me, and then quickly retreated into the crowd.
“What’s in this?” I asked Eli. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t really know what it is, and I don’t care,” Eli said in an agitated tone. “Leave it. Throw it away. I don’t give a fuck.”
I fingered the envelope, and I couldn’t help but notice that it was lightweight, but the contents felt like very substantial cardboard or a similar material. “Can I open it?”
I sensed that it wouldn’t be wise to just trash the contents.
I took the complete silence from Eli as permission, and I slowly opened the envelope.
Surprised, I glanced at the photos that appeared to be of Eli.
Eli mountain climbing.
Eli fishing.
Eli skydiving.
By the time I flipped to the last picture, I was wondering why I never saw him smile the way he was doing in all of the photos.
I frowned as I viewed the last one.
Two men were standing side by side, and they were mirror images of each other.
One was Eli without his tribal tattoo.
And the other was Eli with the markings he had now.
“I don’t understand,” I said to myself as I traced the marks with my finger. “Are these both you?”
I recognized Eli’s grin, but it wasn’t on the face of the man with the tat.
Was the image some kind of double-image photography?
“Are they both you?” I mumbled again.
My escort finally broke his silence as he turned his hardened expression to the photo I was holding.
“No, they aren’t both me,” he said harshly. “This is me.” He tapped the picture of the man without the tats.
“Then who is this?” I asked as I pointed to the other guy.
I was seriously confused. The two guys were identical, but I’d been able to recognize Eli’s smile.
“The other man is my brother, Austin,” he said in a low, dangerous tone. “He was my identical twin.”
“Where is he now?” I asked in a tremulous voice.
“Dead. He died almost four years ago,” Eli said in a raspy voice.
I nearly dropped the envelope as I hurriedly returned the pictures to the envelope, my heart squeezing like it was in a vise as I took Eli’s hand and led him toward the exit.