Phantom: Her Ruthless Villain (Ruthless Triad 5)

Dad and Gerald Easton’s conversation was so obviously about my arrival on the arm of a huge Chinese guy. And they weren’t the only ones who had an immediate reaction. Many of the businessmen, who were still wearing their tall dress boots, canary breeches, and tweed hunt coats, stared at us, then dipped their heads down for fast and furious whispering sessions, including Clement. Apparently, Skylar hadn’t warned him about my date before our arrival.

For once, I didn’t mind so much being delegated to the women’s side of the party. At least they were fake enough to be subtle when they were talking about you.

Muffy peeled away from her trophy wife court and walked up the steps to meet us halfway.

“Sky! Livvy! I’m so glad you could make it!” She said much more loudly than she needed to before giving us air kisses.

Then she dropped her voice to add, “And Livvy, how sweet of you to bring a date. Leighton is just beside herself with guilt over this situation. It will make it so much easier when we give the announcement about Garrett and Leighton getting married later after the fox pardon.”

That was another newish tradition. After about three to four hours of merriment, the hunt participants released a fox back into the woods behind Glendaver Castle—either one they’d caught or one they’d acquired for the symbolic gesture of the whiskey company’s generosity and goodwill.

The only thing sillier than that tradition was the words that had just come out of Muffy’s mouth. However, I’d been raised to never make a scene, especially in front of company. So I didn’t respond.

But apparently, Hak-kan didn’t have any such training in his background.

“You really think she brought me so that you and your traitor daughter could feel more comfortable about her getting knocked up by her stepsister’s ex?” he asked Muffy. “I see that delusional apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

A surprise snort of laughter slipped out before I could stop it. And Skylar clamped her lips, obviously trying to keep from laughing herself.

Muffy gave my date a withering look. “There are a few people I’d like Olivia to meet. Usually, the men converse near the bar.”

Hak-kan glanced toward the men’s side of the party. “Nah, hard pass. I’ll stick with O. I figure there are already enough people at this function not on her side. Why add to that number?”

Muffy sputtered as if she did not know what to do with herself.

And, to my surprise, Skylar threaded her arm through mine. “Phantom is right. We’ll present a united front—just like we promised Dad.”

So that’s what we did.

Instead of letting Muffy introduce me around, we stuck with each other. Eating from the sumptuous buffet and drinking expensive bottles of wine that Skylar grabbed from Dad’s cellar collection at the bottom of the house. We also gave Hak-kan a tour of the castle, showing him our childhood rooms which Dad, either out of sentiment or guilt, had left untouched.

“So you liked N’Sync, and your sister preferred The Backstreet Boys,” he said after seeing the framed posters in our room. “How many arguments did that get you into?”

“So many,” Skylar admitted with a laugh. “Oh my gosh, Livvy, do you remember that karaoke machine Dad brought us back from Japan? How I harangued you into singing all those Backstreet Boys songs with me, even though you didn’t know most of the words.”

“Oh, I remember,” I answered with a rueful tone. “I liked Justin Timberlake, but you were sure you were going to marry Nick Carter and grow old with him here in the castle.”

Skylar laughed at the memory, then noted, “Clement does look a lot like him.”

“Yes, he does,” Hak-kan agreed. “I got your whole marriage as soon as I saw your room.”

That observation sent Skylar and me into gales of laughter. But she sobered as we made our way back down to the party.

“I always thought it would be one of us that inherited this place,” she said, her voice wistful. “Not our evil stepsister.”

I squeezed Skylar’s hand, and my heart panged with guilt. I hadn’t found out about the Easton acquisition until a few weeks ago, but it somehow felt like I was letting her down.

Other than that bittersweet note, I felt way more relaxed when we returned to the great hall and discovered people dancing to an upbeat live band Glendaver had hired for the party.

It must have shown on my face.

“You look happy,” Hak-kan observed. “Wanna dance and show all these fuckers we ain’t thinking about them?”

I laughed and gamely joined him on the dance floor. For such a big guy, Hak-kan was a shockingly elegant dancer. He easily led and even spun me under his arm a few times when “I Like it Like That” started playing.

“We set up a couple of branches in South America a few years back,” he explained. “They don’t let you leave the continent without learning how to dance.”