Villain (Hero 1.50)

His words caused me no small measure of uneasiness. They were in fact a reminder that Henry Lexington was a complicated man with more than one face. He could charm me effortlessly and then rip my heart out the next day. “Well, don’t worry, Mr. Lexington. I for one won’t underestimate you.”

He immediately frowned and stepped into my personal space, crowding me. Henry searched my eyes, his expression unhappy. “You say that like you expect me to hurt you. I won’t. I won’t hurt you, Nadia.”

I gave him a cool smile. “No, you won’t.”

Determination hardened his eyes. “This is happening between us and it’s real.”

I traced my finger down the lapel of his tuxedo and made a snake over his heart. “All that’s going to happen between you and me is this… you’ll take me home, I’ll invite you into my apartment, and then I’ll invite you inside me. We’ll have fun. You’ll leave. And I won’t see you again. Understood?”

Desire darkened his eyes as they fell to my lips. “I see we’re doing this the hard way.”

“I hope so.”

He grinned at my innuendo. “Fuck, I like you.”

“Henry, good to see you.” We were suddenly interrupted by an older couple.

The smoldering in Henry’s eyes disappeared as he turned to them and slipped easily into the charmer these people knew and loved.

* * *

For the most part the people Henry introduced me to were friendly and inquisitive about my job, some of them knowing a lot more about meteorology broadcasting than I expected. But of course, we were surrounded by wealthy business people, smart people, and as much as some of them underestimated me, I’d probably underestimated and prejudged them too.

To my discomfort, I’d also underestimated Henry’s flirtatious nature. Old, young, somewhere in between, if it was female, Henry went out of his way to make her feel like she was special. I don’t think he even knew he did it—it was a natural part of who he was.

And as I watched him, I began to doubt every moment we’d spent together over the last week. Because the truth was, as much as I hated to admit it, Henry had made me feel special, interesting, intriguing, wanted. But he made every woman feel like that. It was a nice quality to have… but not exactly one that gave me much faith in his so-called feelings for me.

We were talking to an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Winston, when a petite beauty with masses of dark curls and huge dark eyes approached. She’d eyed me with distaste and then was overly fake friendly when Henry introduced us. She then insisted he come with her to sort out an argument with some person whose name escaped me. Despite what I thought was her obvious cattiness, Henry went, leaving me for the first time. I think he felt okay to do so because I was explaining my job to Mrs. Winston who seemed genuinely fascinated.

Five minutes later, he still hadn’t returned and Mr. and Mrs. Winston had been distracted by an acquaintance.

I stood on the outskirts of the room, alone, confused, and wishing to God that I was home in my apartment watching a good movie.

“You look like you need this.” Alexa approached on her own and offered me a glass of champagne.

Gratitude swept over me in such magnitude, I almost felt teary. I was miserable. I didn’t know if I was miserable being at the party, or if I was miserable because of Henry, or how Henry made me feel. I didn’t know. I was a mess.

I hid that mess behind a grateful smile. “Thank you. Henry was pulled away by some catty society girl and there really was no polite way for him to get out of it.” I don’t know why I said that. Maybe because I had hoped that’s why he’d left me on my own. I almost flinched at how needy I was being. This so was not me.

“Henry’s a catch around these parts.” Alexa smiled sympathetically. “The women who have grown up in his circle think of him as theirs.”

“I’m getting that.” They can have him! I thought bravely, hoping that if I told myself I felt nothing for him, the feeling might actually take hold.

“Honestly, I think they bore him.” She seemed to want to reassure me.

“Well, I’m from Beacon Falls, Connecticut, which is a slightly different crowd of people. Definitely not boring.” Nope. Boring we were not. Or at least… I wasn’t boring. Not that my kind of boring was a good thing. I didn’t want Henry to know how not boring I could be. The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

“I’m from Chester,” Alexa exclaimed.

Unease pricked at me and I covered it with a chuckle. “No way. We grew up, like, what? An hour from one another?”

“It’s a small world.”

Yes, it was. Hopefully not too small for her to have heard anything about me. I shrugged off that concern, knowing even if she did know the story, it would have a different name attached to it.

Despite how I was feeling, Alexa was so easy to talk to that I found myself relaxing into her company. We talked about growing up in Connecticut, about college (not a lot because I didn’t want to give anything away inadvertently), about Boston, and how I’d recently done the tourist thing. She told me about her favorite places around the city and I could see our tastes were similar. I enjoyed the fact that she didn’t ask me about Henry, and because I already knew more about her and her boss than I wanted to, I didn’t ask her about Caine.

We clicked, and in the back of my mind, I was already cursing Henry for introducing me to her, knowing that our friendship wouldn’t last given he and I were ending this thing between us.

But maybe, somehow, I could still stay in contact with Alexa. She was the first person in Boston, other than Joe, who made me feel like myself.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, ladies.” Henry appeared and gently tugged me toward him. I wanted to resist, considering how long he’d left me alone, but that conflicted with the fact that I was glad he had because it meant I got to spend time with Alexa. “My father is finally free from the bigwigs and I want to introduce you to him.”

What the fuck?

His father?

Was here?

And he wanted to introduce me to him? No way. That was not in the plan!

“Your father?” I shot Alexa a pleading look even though I knew there was very little she could do. “Why are you introducing me to your father?” I hissed as he propelled me through the crowded ballroom.

“Because I want him to meet you.”

I ignored his obvious amusement. “You’re trying to torture me.”

“Actually, I merely want you to meet my father. I like him a lot and I like you a lot. It makes sense to introduce you.”

“You’re being pushy and obnoxious.” My stomach twisted with nerves. “Really, Henry, I don’t want to—”

“Father.” Henry stopped in front of two men, and I was forced to shut up.

“Henry…” The taller and older of the two men turned to us, his eyes flicking from his son to me. I’d seen Randall Lexington in the paper and already knew Henry got his good looks from his father. As trim as he must have been in youth, Lexington filled out his tuxedo as well as any man half his age. He had light gray eyes, not blue like Henry’s, but they had the same smooth handsomeness. When he smiled at me, it was Henry’s boyish, charming smile, and for some stupid reason, it made me relax a little.

“Nadia, this is my father Randall, and my colleague Iain Prendergast.”

I stuck out my hand to his father, “Nice to meet you,” and then to Iain.

“Nice to meet you, Nadia.” Iain gave me a polite smile. “Henry, Mr. Lexington.” He nodded at father and son and then left us to it.

“Miss Ray.” Randall reached for my hand again, clasping it between both of his. His expression was warm and curious. “I’ve seen you on television. You light up the screen. I’ve never met a broadcast meteorologist before.”

I was immediately charmed—he got my job title correct!

“Thank you. I love my job.”

Randall let go of my hand and smirked at his son. “It only took you twenty-odd years to bring an

interesting date to one of these things.”

I laughed as Henry chuckled. “You’ve just insulted half the women in this room.”

His dad shrugged. “Whoops.”

Having not been what I expected at all, I found myself relaxing even more. “Henry told me he had to work his way up in your company rather than going straight in at the top. I have to say I admire your decision to do that.”

“Were you complaining again, son?”

“I’ll never forgive you for the hardship.”

I studied father and son as they teased each other, and liked what I saw.

“So, Miss Ray—”

“Please, call me Nadia.”

“Nadia,” his eyes searched my face, “a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.”

“Hey now.” Henry slid his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. “Watch it. For all I know, my date has a thing for older men.”

I tensed at the joke, immediately regretting it when Henry shot me a puzzled look. Forcing myself to relax, I smiled lamely.

“As I was saying,” Randall smoothed over the moment, “Nadia, tell me, are you dying to get out of here as much as I am?”

There was no hiding my surprise at the question. Randall Lexington was Boston society. “What?”

Henry squeezed my waist. “My father hates these things. He only comes for the business opportunities and because my mother loves them.”

“We could be doing better things with our time than standing around sipping champagne and gossiping,” he said. I heard the tired derision in Randall’s voice.

“This is a charity benefit.”

“So let me write a check. Don’t make me put on a damn penguin suit and stand in a ballroom having to converse with people, half of whom don’t have an original thought between them.”