Tempted

I lean up and place a soft kiss on his lips. “Not everyone wants to be saved, Drew.”

His mouth opens against mine, his tongue seeking entry. When he pulls back, he smirks.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re good for me, Bae. You calm me. You make me less angry. You make me happy.”

“I-You make—”

He stops me mid-sentence, silencing me with an earth-shattering kiss. When he finally pulls back, I stand there in utter euphoria. I don’t want to ever come down from this high. This feeling, whatever it is, is more potent than any drug.

He grabs my hand and tilts his chin up, motioning in the direction of the dance floor. “Let’s not let Reese ruin our night. I believe my girl wanted to see my moves.”

We head back out and continue to dance the night away. We must have been twirling around the floor for some time before we realized we needed a break.

“I’ll go grab us some waters if you want to go have a seat.”

I send a grateful smile his way. I am parched. I watch him as he gracefully weaves through the throngs of people, artfully dodging the many people eagerly vying for his attention. Heading back to our table, I take a seat, sighing at the relief my feet feel from giving them a rest.

I turn in my seat to see Cynthia beaming down at me. “Drew hasn’t brought a girl around me, you know. Not since Alexa. But the way he looks at you? He never looked at her that way, even with all the similarities. I feel awful saying that here, but it’s true.”

Similarities. “Here?”

“The gala,” she clarifies.

“I don’t understand.”

“He didn’t tell you . . .” Her brow furrows.

“Tell me what?” Dread pools in my stomach, and I’m not even sure why.

“The reason for the gala of course.” She turns, her head moving back and forth as though she’s looking for something. Two men wheel a large golden frame into the room, taking extra care to remove it from the cart and set it on a large easel. “Finally,” she says, and I look back at her. “I’ve been wondering when they were going to put that out.” She rolls her eyes. “The gala is for her.” She points back toward the easel, and when my eyes land on it, I freeze. “I had this commissioned especially for tonight.”

There, looking back at me is a young woman, eerily resembling me. The likeness is so great it’s like looking in a mirror. My heart lurches in my chest, and my stomach drops.

“W-Who is that?” I stammer, completely entranced by the doppelgänger.

“Alexa Silver, of course,” she says softly. “Drew’s ex.”

Silver. Like the club. The club named after a woman that could be my twin.

I gasp. “Darling, are you all right? I thought you knew about her,” Cynthia asks, but I can’t speak. I need to get out of here. I jump from my seat and run, paying no attention to the scene I’m causing.

64

Bailey

“Chwaer.” I hear a familiar voice say and turn to find Reese, but I ignore him, making my way to the exit. “We need to talk,” Reese says, grabbing my arm and spinning me to look at him.

“There is nothing for us to talk about.” I yank my arm out of his grasp.

“You’ll want to hear what I have to say. Drew certainly won’t tell you the truth. It’s written all over your face. You saw Alexa’s picture.”

I’m too confused about what I saw to even answer him. What more could Reese possibly know? Better yet, what the fuck is Drew still hiding?

She looks like you.

No . . . you look like her.

I stumble forward, and Reese catches me.

“I got you.” He continues, “Let me take you away from here. We can talk, and I can fill in the gaps that Drew obviously won’t.”

Too numb to react or make decisions for myself, I allow him to lead me down the street until we are standing in front of what must be his car.

“Your car?”

“How else do you expect me to get to the Hamptons?” He chuckles. “I guess I could take the helicopter.”

My eyes roll.

“What was that for?” he asks, grinning from ear to ear.

“I forget you rich boys have all the toys.”

“It’s a rough life,” he says, trying to sound funny, but even in my current state, I can hear the bite to his words. “Get in.”

“Can you even drive?”

“I’m not drunk, but if you stay here, I give Drew about two more seconds before he finds you. Something tells me he’s the last person you want to see, chwaer.”

“Why do you always call me that?”

He stands up taller. “Just get in,” he commands, not at all friendly. The sting in his tone should have me thinking twice, but right now, he’s the lesser of two evils.