With a sigh, Carl set aside his tray and grabbed the heavy sack of cooking scraps. He went out the back door and tossed it into the dumpster the Steeles had had delivered for the event. As he stood out there, he looked at the sea of expensive cars parked across the lawn. He couldn’t afford the tires on one of those vehicles. He was done. Done with these rich, entitled people getting everything and him getting nothing.
It would be easy to just walk away now and listen to the explosions and the screams as he disappeared into the night. But he wanted to see it. For once in his life, he wanted to watch one of his plans be executed without a hitch. So he went back inside.
“Carl, take this tray of canapés out, please.” The head caterer slid a platter of tiny, fancy little foods toward him. He picked up the tray out of habit and carried it with him into the ballroom.
Instead of going into the crowd, however, he eased back into a safe corner, far from the bombs. He set the tray of food on a table and reached into his pocket for the detonator. He wanted to wait for the perfect moment. He took one last look around the room... A crowd had gathered onto the dance floor. That would be perfect. He thought of his sister...of his mother...and then he placed his thumb over the button and took a deep breath.
* * *
It was done. The keys were in the hands of three deserving families and instead of feeling happy or even relieved, River almost felt sick to his stomach.
He knew it wasn’t the champagne. As he stood at the edge of the ballroom and watched the others, he could see that everyone else was drinking the same bubbly beverages without ill effects. Of course, they weren’t on the verge of losing the most important person in their life, either.
River tried to focus on something else. It was supposed to be a joyous event after all. The Steele mansion was once again draped in expensive fabrics and flower arrangements. They had gone all out, as usual. The ballroom was filled with people in formal attire, there to celebrate how wonderful they were for contributing to a good cause. Tonight, they’d gotten their big payoff—celebrating and applauding as they gave out the house keys to the needy families, and consuming a down payment’s worth of champagne and canapés.
Like the fund-raiser, the event was a little over-the-top for River. He’d be just as happy to skip the party and put that money toward the houses or another good cause. Of course, the Steeles thought it was important to have this special and exciting night for everyone, but as someone who had received charity in the past, it made him uncomfortable. Not everyone wanted a light shone on the fact that they needed help to get by.
Thankfully, the families seemed comfortable enough. They were easy to spot in the crowd, wearing their Sunday finest for the black-tie event. It wasn’t too much to suffer through to get a brand-new house in the end.
This was at least a smaller event than before. Now he could easily find Morgan in the crowd. She was speaking with an older couple who had to be her biological parents. He hadn’t been introduced to the Nolans, but it was obvious she was a younger version of Carolyn Nolan, with the same creamy complexion, curvy figure and luxurious shiny dark hair.
It was hard to focus on anything other than Morgan, however. Her scarlet-red gown fit her like a glove. It was one shouldered, leaving a single collarbone and arm gloriously bare. It bunched around the waist, clinging to her rounded hips, and fishtailed to the floor in a
crimson train that trailed behind her. She looked stunning—every bit the Steele heiress, despite her newfound pedestrian roots. The color alone was enough for her to stand out among the darker hues of the other partygoers, even though he could’ve found her without it. She was like a shining beacon that directed him home.
It seemed like a lifetime since he’d walked into the ballroom and laid eyes on Morgan for the first time after all those years apart. Since then, they’d spent weeks in each other’s arms. They’d worked through a lot of their old baggage. Truths had come to the surface, healing old wounds they’d both carried through their years apart.
River knew they’d discussed their little dalliance only lasting through to tonight, and they hadn’t mentioned otherwise, but he couldn’t walk away from Morgan when it was over. She turned and looked at him then, a soft smile curling her cherry-red lips. He smiled back and felt his chest tighten as though she’d reached into his rib cage and clutched his heart in her fist. No. He wasn’t giving up on her again. It didn’t matter what her father or anyone else had to say about it. He would tell her so when he got the chance, but so far tonight she’d been a crimson bumblebee, flitting around the room in her official capacity for the event.
Finally, she broke away from the conversation with the Nolans and headed in his direction. “Good evening, Mr. Atkinson,” she said with a smile.
“Miss Steele. You throw a lovely party,” he said, mimicking her polite and formal greeting. Even now, weeks later, she wanted the two of them to remain a secret. So it wouldn’t be ruined. Or something like that. Now he wasn’t so sure it didn’t have more to do with her father’s disapproval. Trevor Steele could certainly ruin things if he wanted to. He’d caught the man’s icy stare across the ballroom a few times, but they hadn’t spoken since that afternoon in the lobby of Steele Tools’ corporate offices.
“Thank you.” She glanced around at the mingling crowds. “I wish more people were dancing, but it seems to be going well, otherwise.”
“I always believe in leading by example.” River reached out a hand to escort her onto the mostly empty dance floor. He knew it was a dangerous offer and judging by the wary look in her eye, so did she. They’d spent the last few weeks keeping their relationship in the shadows. To take a step out onto the dance floor together would be to shine a bright light on the two of them. Sure, it might just seem like a polite dance to anyone watching, but they would know better. And so would her father.
He was pleased and a little surprised when she placed her soft hand into his. He gave her a smile of encouragement as they stepped out onto the dance floor. He put one hand gently on her waist and kept a polite distance as they started to sway slowly to the music being played by the string quartet nearby. It seemed to do the trick. Within a few minutes, there were half a dozen other couples out there with them, including the Nolans.
“See?” he said. “Now people are dancing.”
“Thank you,” she said, although she seemed a little nervous. She kept glancing around as they danced, only making eye contact for a split second before anxiously glancing around again.
“You look beautiful tonight,” he said. “That color on you is stunning. Reminds me of that lacy little thing you wore at the beach house.”
That seemed to finally bring a genuine smile to her face and a little color to her cheeks. “Thank you, River. I can get used to you in that tuxedo as well. You’ve come a long way from the jeans and T-shirt you were wearing when I hit on you in Five Points.”
River chuckled at the mention of the downtown bar district near USC where he’d first met Morgan. Even that first time, he was able to pick out her light in the crowd like a neon sign. “I’m pretty sure I hit on you.”
“You’re probably right. I remember thinking it was pretty cocky of you to approach a group of girls and ask to buy me a drink. We were an intimidating crew.”
“It didn’t matter. You could’ve been surrounded by a pack of angry dogs and I would’ve gone straight to you. I couldn’t help myself.”
His gaze fell on the long elegant line of her neck exposed by her hairstyle and the cut of her gown. The thick dark waves were twisted on top of her head with a few soft tendrils kissing her skin the way he longed to. He spoke up to keep his lips occupied with another task. “Morgan, I need to tell you something.”
She looked up at him with wide green-gold eyes. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
“Well, yes and no. I just needed to say...to tell you...that I lied.”