I scrolled on.
“And you would be right. I would be tired. Assassinating presidents and plotting the downfall of the world’s greatest criminals are actually less exhausting than the sham wannabe aristocrats of this city, pretending to actually know or give a shit about art. But what can I do? Work is work. I must be phony with them. But after that, I’m free and all yours. Date night is important, and nothing can change that.”
I shifted in my seat, trying to ignore her, but she was Calliope, and she always had to win the war, even if it was against me. She kissed the side of my face before bringing her lips to my ear. “PS. I volunteered you to speak at the governor’s ball tomorrow night—”
Immediately, I tore my gaze from the tablet, staring at her face, which was now, if possible, less than an inch from mine. She placed her arms on my shoulders. “Don’t worry. I wrote the speech for you, seeing as how you could care less. And before you ask ‘if you were going to write it, why don’t you just give the damn speech yourself,’ remember, it is a speech to honor the first female governor of this state’s history. It means more coming from you, the son of the first female governor, than it does from your trophy wife.”
“You are a very heavy trophy.” I glared at her.
“It’s because I’m made of solid gold, boss.” Her grin widened, and she kissed my lips quickly before pulling back. Rising from my lap to adjust the knee-length skirt of her sweetheart- neck, red cocktail dress. I noticed she looked like a seductive, vintage, pin-up girl from the style of her hair, to her synched waist, to the string of diamonds around her neck.
“Isn’t this supposed to be a charity brunch meeting?” I asked her.
“It is.”
“The dress might be a bit much.”
“Nonsense. The ladies decided to auction ourselves for dates to raise money this year,” she said, bending over just enough that I could see the tops of her breast. “And since my husband refused to come, I have to put in a little more effort, don’t you think? How else will anyone bid on me?”
“Last I checked, you all were supposed to auction art, not yourselves.”
“You should have checked again. Besides, art is so boring to do every year. We needed to mix it up a bit.”
I did my best not to show the annoyance I felt rising in me, especially since I knew Calliope was doing this on purpose. “So, when you say the ladies decided to auction, you mean, you decided.”
Without shame, she nodded, kissing the side of my face. “But don’t worry about it; you really don’t have to come.”
“I won’t,” I stated coldly, lifting the tablet again. “In fact, I’m even more annoyed with you. Instead of explaining yourself, you switched the auction to make me jealous, to distract me from being angry at you. Do I look thoughtless enough to be manipulated so easily? Go on, have fun.”
“Why would I need to distract you?” she had the audacity to ask. “I’ve done nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Do you ever?”
“Nope,” she answered, despite my sa
rcasm. “And don’t worry, I will have a blast. While you sulk here angry about past shit that I cannot change, nor would.”
“Nor would you?” My grip tightened, but I refused to look at her. “Really?”
“Are you coming or not?”
“I already said no.”
“Asshole.”
I ignored her, so she grabbed her purse from the table, and rose to leave. “Just remember, while I’m having fun, I offered you an olive branch, and you rejected it.”
SLAM.
Glaring at the door for a moment, I lifted the tablet to throw it, only for the door to open, and I paused. However, Calliope didn’t walk back inside.
“Is there still trouble in paradise?” Uncle Neal asked, eyebrow raised as he checked back down the hall, and then back at me. “What happened this week? You two have been all lovey-dovey these past few months…as much as you can be, I guess.”
“Did you need something?” I questioned.
He chuckled, stepping into the study. “Can’t an uncle check in on his nephew every once in a while?”
“That depends on what you are checking for,” I muttered, rubbing the side of my head, trying to distract myself from the thought of my crazy wife.