I shook Jackson off in the lobby and made my way through the casino alone. The fact that he had allowed, actually pushed me into, a compromising photograph with Mario Peretti made me feel ill. It was clear that everything Jackson did was to suit himself. That was not how a true gentleman acted.
I rushed to the elevators and up to the suite. I still was not clear on what had happened at the golf luncheon, but now I had reason to doubt both sides. The truth had to be somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately, Fenton was already gone.
"Is he going to come back and change for the party?" I asked Sandi.
She stopped setting out her makeup kit and looked up. "No, he's already changed."
"Are you okay? What's the matter?" I dropped my purse on the couch, realizing she was there to help me get ready for the party myself.
"I saw Fenton and Kev a little while ago. Kev was really upset. He said that they got kicked out of some snobby golf lunch. They accused Fenton of trying to pull off some tacky publicity stunt."
"I think there's a little more to it than that," I said. "It sounded to me like they crashed the party and tried to start a fight with Jackson McRay."
"He doesn't sound like a nice man." Sandi turned back to her brushes and color palettes. "They said he had that reality television star cornered."
"If you ask me, I think Fenton acted like a jealous suitor. Maybe he'd rather go to the promotion party with Sienna."
"Really, Kya, how can you say that?"
I crossed my arms over my chest. "I just can't help but get the feeling I'm being played. Neither story adds up and neither Fenton or Jackson or even Kev will tell me the whole truth."
"I don't want to get into it, but Fenton didn't say a thing the entire time they were here. Kev said he shuts down like that when someone doesn't believe him. Probably happened to him a lot as a child. You didn't believe him and he can't defend himself, so he has nothing to say," Sandi said.
"So instead of telling me the truth and trying to convince me, Fenton's just going to give me the silent treatment?" I asked. "Sounds like he's still acting like a child."
"Don't you want to believe him?" Sandi asked.
I flopped down in the chair she had set out for me. "Yes. But that would mean Jackson McRay was some kind of monster and Sienna was an innocent victim. Do you see why that's hard to believe?"
Sandi gave a weak smile. "Yes, but believing that means that Fenton stepped in to help her even if it meant confronting Jackson and causing a huge scene. He's not the type to stand aside for the sake of his reputation, and I think that makes him heroic."
I held my hands up. "Alright, I hear what you're saying. Let's just agree that all I know for sure is that I need to get ready and head to the fight promotion party."
Sandi patted my shoulder and then got to work. Within the hour, I had my copper hair swept up, my green eyes accented with perfect makeup, and the iridescent dress shimmering every time I moved. She ushered me into the elevator.
"Let me guess, it all changes back to normal at midnight," I said as I stepped inside.
"Let's hope so," Sandi said.
I headed into the flashy party feeling like Cinderella for more reasons than just the dress. I was still an outsider in Fenton's world and I half expected the doorman to send me away.
"Hey, beautiful. No hard feelings about earlier, right?" Mario Peretti appeared trailing a large entourage.
"You mean when you attacked me?" I asked.
"Just a kiss between colleagues. Surely, that's happened to you before," Mario said. "Besides your boyfriend did not seem to mind."
"Jackson McRay is not my boyfriend," I said.
"Well, obviously, I'm not the only one confused by that," Mario said. He nodded in the direction of the bar.
Fenton leaned over a limber, black-haired woman and drank a shot off her flat stomach. She sat up and offered him a lime from between her overly plump lips.
"They've been pretty friendly ever since I arrived. Maybe I picked the wrong photo op to make our man jealous," Mario said.
I pushed past him, much to the amusement of his entourage, and marched into Fenton's eye line. He caught sight of me, and his blue eyes blazed. It was not the smoldering appreciation I’d imagined when I chose the dress. I forced myself to walk straight over to him.
"We need to talk," I said.