The Secret (The Evolution of Sin 2)

“I had an affair in Mexico.”

It was a huge admission for me but Seb, the seasoned movie star, only raised one brow so I barreled on.

“He was amazing.” I couldn’t help it that my voice turned dreamy. “No one has ever made me feel so safe and so inspired to push past my comfort zone. He was handsome and intelligent and just remote enough to make him seem mysterious.” I laughed at myself and shrugged. “So, obviously, I fell in love with him.”

“But?” I raised my eyebrows at him and he sighed dramatically before explaining himself. “As a man, I know there is always a ‘but’ with women and it is almost always justifiable.”

“Well, you’re right. The ‘but’ is that he is taken.”

“Ah, that is a significant ‘but’.” His eyes sparkled as he took another sip from the flask. “Is it just me or have you forgotten what type of butts we are talking about?”

I laughed and hit him lightly in the shoulder. “You are such a goofball.”

“Self-proclaimed and proud of it.” He winked.

My giggle ended on a sigh as I looked out the window and spotted the Four Seasons Hotel looming ahead of us. I startled when Sebastian reached over to take my hand in his but I didn’t look over at him when he started to speak.

“For whatever reasons, tonight is going to be difficult for both of us. I want you to know that I’m here with you, bambina. We are going into this hive of bees together, unified. If you want to leave at any time, say the Italian word.”

The Italian word was a precaution we had established as children when Seamus would return home twitchy and bloated after days of drinking and gambling. When the fights grew too loud between our parents and, mostly, when the Camorra came to collect their payments from Seamus, whether he had the money or not, Elena would call out insieme. We each had our own hiding places; the twins were tucked into the closet behind the water heater while I was placed under the back porch. Elena had taken the worst safe haven, under the sink in the kitchen, a place that was kept empty by Mama specifically for that reason. I had always wondered how much my older sister had witnessed from her cramped hideaway, how much the violence and conflict had affected her. I know the hours spent cold and alone outside had led me to detest the feeling of both.

“Insieme,” I murmured. “Together.”

Sebastian nodded and placed a kiss on my knuckles as we came to a stop in front of the gorgeous hotel, an elegant pale stone façade surrounded by modern glass architecture. I was in awe as Seb ushered me from the car into the tasteful lobby and up the sweeping marble staircase to the main event room.

I blinked rapidly when we entered the formal space, blinded momentarily by the wealth of marble and crystal, silk clad ladies and tuxedoed gentleman. There couldn’t have been more than two hundred people in attendance but they were some of the richest individuals in Manhattan and it wasn’t hard to feel awed by their hard-won or inherited wealth and grace.

Sebastian chuckled at my déclassé expression and tugged me further into the room.

“Beautifully dressed sharks in a pretty tank, cara, nothing more,” he reminded me as we pulled up at the bar to grab retro champagne glasses.

“Yeah, and I’m Nemo,” I muttered, smoothing the front of my dress with a clammy palm.

“Sebastian.”

His laugh cut off abruptly at the breathy sound of his name, his shoulders hunching slightly and his knuckles white against the edge of the bar. He let out a deep exhale before turning around to face the woman who had said his name.

She was absolutely lovely, like a movie star out of the 1960s. Her large blue eyes were wreathed in a tasteful ring of kohl and her tiny mouth was red and full like a rosebud. She was petite in a way I had always desire to be, with fine bones and slim hips emphasized by the fluidity of her gown. Despite her youthful features, the grace of her carriage and the fine lines across her pale forehead denoted her age. She put on a good show in the filmy black dress with the long white opera gloves, but she couldn’t fool the artist in me. I would have been surprised if she was a day under forty.

I knew who she was even before Sebastian cleared his throat and said, “Savannah.”

They stared at each other for a long, heated moment, completely ignorant of everyone else around them. I was surprised by their chemistry even though Elena had made it apparent in her insults that Seb had had an affair with an older woman. The proper Savannah Richardson did not seem at all like my fun-loving brother’s type.

I cleared my throat and stepped forward with a genuine smile. “Hello, I’m Giselle. It’s very nice to meet you, I’ve heard such wonderful things.”

One icy blonde brow rose slowly as she looked between my brother and me but she did deign to take my offered hand.

“The pleasure is mine. I wasn’t aware you were in town.” Her eyes darted briefly to Sebastian who remained standing stiffly at my side. “I very much hope you are enjoying being reunited with your family.”

“I am, thank you.” I continued to smile at her even though the situation was strangely grave. “Sebastian decided to be my white knight and accompany me here tonight.” I leaned in conspiratorially. “I’ve never been to such an opulent event before.”

She laughed lightly and I caught a glimpse of something younger in her, something almost childlike and delicate. Her wide blue eyes slid to Sebastian again, inexorably drawn to him, and I felt a pang of empathy for the older lady. I knew all to well what it was like to love an unattainable man.

“You are in good hands with Sebastian then. I’ve dragged him to enough of these over the years to make him a hardened veteran, isn’t that right?”

Seb grunted noncommittally and shot me a glare when I dug my elbow in his side. I was opening my mouth to appease Savannah, maybe even apologize for my thuggish brother, when an older gentleman stepped up beside her and placed a heavy hand on her birdlike shoulder.

“Savannah, darling, I’ve been looking for you.” He spoke in a loud, gruff voice; a radio announcer from the 50s accompanied by the static rasp of an old stereo. It added to his old-school tails, the cummerbund and slicked silver hair. He was a handsome man, robust and virile despite his age and I immediately liked him.