CHAPTER 26
Maddox insisted that Mila have a designer gown for the gala. And she couldn’t argue with that too much after she tried on a few different options.
Maddox had dictated a price minimum to the stylist, which Mila couldn’t even fathom. He also apparently wanted her figure shown to its best advantage because every dress showed off her curves.
“I know I need to go with your image,” Mila told him after he picked her up from her meeting with the stylist, “but isn’t this kind of a lot since we’re just dating?”
Maddox side-eyed her. “This isn’t about my image. It’s about yours.”
“Mine?” Mila’s eyebrows shot up. Her image? Did she have an image?
“I don’t want you to look like a target,” Maddox explained. “You’re going to walk in there looking like a billion dollars with your head held high.”
Mila glanced away. “But it’s your billion dollars, not mine.” Not even close. She was sure she would faint if she knew how much he was spending on her.
He took her hand. “It doesn’t matter. Except for Savannah, do you think Danny’s kids are rich on their own merit? It’s all come from him. You have nothing to feel funny about.”
“I didn’t say I felt funny.” Mila wriggled around.
Maddox half smiled and kissed her hand. “Just do what I ask, and everything will be fine.”
Mila met his eyes and nodded slowly. He knew more about this than she did, so she would trust him.
They flew to New York on Maddox’s private jet that week. She was dressed and styled for the gala at his house in Manhattan. When she entered the living room, his eyes widened.
“This isn’t the first time you’ve seen me dressed like this,” she said, gazing up shyly. After all, they met initially at another similar event.
He closed his mouth. “I know that.” His eyes still scanned her eagerly and he smiled. “Am I not allowed to think that my girlfriend will be the most beautiful woman there?”
Mila wouldn’t argue with that. “I suppose not.”
Maddox held out his arm and Mila looped her arm through his and he led her out to their car.
As Mila and Maddox walked into the venue together, she could sense a lot of heads turning. She followed Maddox’s lead and ignored it. His body language said this was normal and Mila tried to copy him. She wasn’t his assistant now. She was his girlfriend. She had no reason to feel bad.
They mingled, chatting with Xander and Sasha Rappaport and Roman Young. She’d met them briefly before. Eventually, they stumbled onto her mother and Danny.
She’d already told her mother about Maddox, and she was nothing short of ecstatic. “You’re such an attractive couple,” her mother gushed.
As much as she hoped her mother wouldn’t make a spectacle of them, Mila did agree with that assessment.
Maddox smiled. “I think so. But Mila’s the reason for it.”
Her mother beamed. Mila knew she would be thrilled at how much Maddox had decked her out for the occasion too. Besides the designer dress, she also wore borrowed diamonds as well as a diamond bracelet he’d given her. This was everything her mother dreamed of. For once, Mila was meeting her expectations. And it was perfectly unintentional.
After dinner, Mila excused herself to use the restroom. In the ladies’ room, a woman recognized her and grinned. “I don’t know what kind of spell you cast on Maddox Cross, but congratulations.”
Mila tried to decide how to respond when Danny’s daughter-in-law came up behind her. “Congratulations, indeed,” she told Mila stiffly. “You’re obviously on the way up. Though I will warn you that your particular choice has a history of moving on when it’s no longer useful to him.”
Maddox had instructed Mila to act as cool and detached as possible if she talked to any of Danny’s kids. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Also keep in mind that you and your mother can put on diamonds and designer dresses, but it doesn’t change where you came from.”
Mila held her condescending stare. Her mother might drive her crazy, but Mila wasn’t going to put up with insults.
“And where did you come from, I wonder?” Nikki’s voice filled the void before Mila could respond. “Oh, that’s right–a nightclub.”
The daughter-in-law’s face fell as Nikki sauntered over.