This answered nothing, and in fact, left Reese with more questions. Did he mean that Padua was a store he somehow controlled? Or was he referring to her? If the former, what could an eighteen year old guy want with a dress store? If the latter, what could he possibly want with her, especially since he barely even knew her? She rarely saw him in school and never saw him out of it, save for that one time she followed him. If anything, Reese would have assumed Henry was avoiding her up until the point where he intervened with Gabe just now.
Reese clenched her jaw and turned her attention back on Henry. “If you know everything, tell me how I get Gabe to leave me alone,” she said. “He’s threatening my father’s job.”
“I can take care of Gabe,” Henry said, a dangerous inflection touching his voice. “All you have to do is ask.”
“For a price, right?” She arched a brow.
He said nothing but smirked his response.
Reese was almost tempted to take him up on his offer. If Henry dealt with Gabe, she wouldn’t have to worry about him crying to his father, spreading lies about her and her behavior, or trying anything. But something stopped her. Just because Gabe was bad didn’t mean Henry was good. He might have helped her today, but she wasn’t about to trust him anytime soon. She got off easy with their last exchange, and she wasn’t about to risk it again. She had dealt with guys like Gabe back in Beverly Hills and she’d deal with Gabe too.
“I don’t think so,” she told him. She took a step toward him and had to tilt her chin upwards to maintain eye contact. “While I appreciate the offer, I know you have something up your sleeve that would somehow screw me over.”
His grin widened and his eyes shined. “Better me than him,” he said, his voice decidedly lower.
Reese ignored the throngs of goose bumps that jumped up. “I don’t want to hear you turning around and offering Gabe the same deal, either,” she said in a firm voice. “Because me and him? That’s never going to happen.”
“No,” he said, nodding his head once. “It’s not.”
A shiver slid down her back. She felt herself relax, even under his penetrating gaze. Though she didn’t know him well, she could tell by the tone of his voice that he meant it. Perhaps she trusted him more than she gave herself credit for.
“I would go with the white one,” he said, indicating the dresses hanging up, waiting to be chosen. His eyes never left hers. “It would be as if you were wearing a cloud.”
He bowed his head and left.
Reese’s fingers itched to grab the dress and try it on again, but her eyes forced her to watch him until he disappeared.
19
It wasn’t long before Jack’s Halloween party arrived. Andie’s excitement at the prospect could barely be contained, especially since she was assisting with the planning and knew what to expect. She wanted to keep everything to herself, even though she wanted nothing more than to share it.
“It’ll ruin the surprise,” she told Carey and Reese when they pestered her for answers.
While Keirah was normally reserved with her excitement, Andie knew her sister was looking forward to the party. It would be the first official outing for her since her attack. She had healed successfully—the scar only ached on particularly cold mornings—and though Keirah didn’t like to dance, Andie would insist she partake in at least one to celebrate. Her mother still blamed Andie for Keirah’s attack and only spoke to her to tell her how much she didn’t approve of Keirah going to this party. However, the woman was making a better effort, at least for Keirah, to be an actual mother, and besides being present at dinner every evening since Keirah’s return, actually took Keirah shopping for her dress she would wear to the party.
“I don’t think she’s mad that I’m going,” Keirah attempted to explain when Andie asked her sister why their mother was harping on her for inviting Keirah but had no problem buying a dress for the party. “I think she’s mad that you gave me the opportunity to go.”
If Andie hadn’t been as busy, she might have been more upset, but on top of the school work she managed to keep up with and her weekend job at the Spirit Museum, she was busy planning Jack’s party along with managing his events and keeping his schedule organized. Rarely did she see Jack during work hours, which didn’t bother her as much as she initially believed thanks to Miranda, but he always showed up to walk her to her car every night at exactly five o’clock.
“Noir’s back on the streets,” Jack explained after Andie asked him why he was being nice to her and his first response of “I’m nice to all my employees” didn’t work. “You’re like a walking bull’s eye, especially after what he did to your sister.”
Andie’s lips straightened into a flat line. “I suppose my saying I can handle myself would be naïve,” she murmured more to herself. “Well, better you than the Black Wing. He did nothing to save Keirah. My chances of survival have increased, however minuscule, with you walking me to my car every night.”
Jack’s lips curled up. “I’ll try to take that as a compliment,” he said.
No, he definitely wasn’t as bad as she first thought.
“Hello, Earth to Andie!” Carey said, reaching out to nudge her shoulder. “You okay?”
“What?” She blinked, feeling her face blush as she remembered she was in Biology. “Yeah. I was just thinking.”
“About Jack Phillip?” Reese teased, and Andie felt her blush increase.
“Oh shut up,” she said, forcing herself to roll her eyes. “What do you guys want?”
“Did you see the paper this morning?” Carey asked. “What, with the Halloween party being tomorrow, the Onyx Register decided to scare the shit out of all the attendees.”
“What?” Andie knitted her brow together, her blush vanishing instantly. “How?”
“They claim Noir has been too quiet,” Carey said. “He’s done nothing since he escaped jail besides …” Carey let her voice trail off, but Andie heard the unspoken words: stabbing your sister. “Jack Phillip’s party would be the perfect opportunity for him to try something.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard,” Andie said. “Miranda planned for something like that. She hired tons of extra security, just in case.”
“I know,” Carey said.
“We’re just worried about Keirah,” Reese pointed out. “I know she quit her job at the bank because Noir is known for robbing one after he escapes. Do you think she’ll stay home tomorrow night with the threat that Noir might do something at the party?”
The worry was palpable in Reese’s grey eyes, but Andie adamantly shook her head. “Absolutely not,” she said. “She’s been looking forward to this since the first time I brought it up. Since her internship with Hawkins was terminated and she quit her job, Commissioner Jarrett created a position for her as his assistant so she wouldn’t fail Business. It’s desk work and she’s never alone, but her place at the jail is as much a threat to Keirah because I’m positive Noir knows it like the back of his hand. It’s the one thing me and my mom have agreed on, actually, that Keirah shouldn’t take the position but she refused to listen to us. She said Jarrett didn’t have to do this for her, that an F on her transcript would ruin her GPA, and, most importantly, that she wasn’t going to let some sociopath dictate the way she lived her life. Plus, she’s eighteen. She can do what she wants.”
“If that’s the case, why isn’t she coming over to my place to get ready?” Reese asked. “Isn’t Miranda picking us up in a limo so we could all arrive together?”
Andie nodded. “My mom and Jarrett managed to talk her into allowing him to escort her to the party, but she’s coming home with us,” she explained and then shrugged her shoulders. “It’s Keirah’s life, you know. I just hope her stubbornness doesn’t get her hurt or worse.”
The next day, Andie managed to temporarily forget her worry about her sister as she, Carey, and Reese all got ready at Reese’s place. The two story mini-mansion was located in Onyx Court, a gated community where the upkeep
was maintained by the city, every house was different, and everything looked perfect. It might have been Andie’s imagination but even the sun seemed to shine brighter here.
Reese’s house was bigger than Carey’s but smaller than Jack’s. Her mother kept a variety of rose bushes in front of the house that she liked to take care of herself, while her father liked to build things in his garage like the birdhouse that hung from one of the trees in the backyard. Andie was surprised at the fact that the family didn’t have a pool even though the backyard was big enough to house two. Reese explained that when her mother was a child, her best friend drowned in a backyard pool, and since then, refused to even entertain the possibility of getting one.
“It’s actually perfect though,” Reese said. “I’m trying to talk them into getting us a dog and without a pool, we definitely have the space for it.”
Reese mentioned that besides Carmen, the housekeeper, the girls had the house to themselves since her mother had her bi-weekly spa appointment, her father was at Pelican Field golfing with Jack Phillip and some of their colleagues, and her brother was at his friend’s house doing a science project.
The minute Andie stepped into Reese’s room, her mouth dropped open. It was still pretty bare for a teenage girl’s room, but it was huge. Probably the same size of every bedroom in Andie’s apartment put together if she didn’t count Reese’s walk-in closet and the attached full bathroom. Surprisingly enough, there was no television in her room, and Reese explained that her parents didn’t believe in it. Apparently their bedroom didn’t have one either. No restrictions seemed to be placed on computers since there was a pale pink laptop on Reese’s beige desk.
“You guys can hang the dresses here,” Reese said as she slid one of the closet doors open. “I have my straightener and curling iron warming up in the bathroom, my makeup is out …” She paused and looked up as though she were checking off items on a mental list. “I think the only thing that’s left is,” she grabbed a remote and pointed it at portable iPod speakers, “this.”
Katy Perry filled the room and Andie felt herself grin. Today was going to be so much fun.
Just as Andie, Reese, and Carey finished getting ready, Miranda was at the door. The brunette looked absolutely stunning in her black velvet A-line gown with a princess-cut seam line bodice. Like the three girls, her dress was also Grecian inspired. The cap sleeves were attached to the bodice neckline, which was outlined in silver and black rose trim. A metallic cord crisscrossed around her stomach, narrowing her voluptuous figure. Her brown bangs were pinned to the side and she let her curls remain unruly, with half of them pinned up and half rolling and tumbling down her shoulders. On her feet were a pair of gladiator sandals that wrapped up and around her ankles the same way the cord did around her torso.
“You guys look amazing!” she squealed before leading them to the limo. “And we’re fashionably late, which is a good thing.”
Andie crawled inside with an excited grin. After she sat down, she turned to get a better look at her friends. Carey looked exquisitely feminine in her A-line gown. It was a soft pink, with thick straps holding up the square-shaped bodice. Underneath her breasts was a thin brown belt composed of circles interloping with other circles. Unlike Miranda, who donned the smoky eyed look, Carey sported soft pastel makeup. She didn’t do much with her short hair except add a headband that matched her belt.
Reese looked nothing short of stunning. She really was a goddess. Her A-line gown was pure white and strapless with glistening silver jewels trimming the heart-shaped bodice and wrapped around her waist. She let her blonde hair fall around her, like some kind of halo. She opted for little makeup and chose to let her tresses remain naturally wavy rather than straighten or curl them.
Andie herself was proud of the gown she had chosen. It was emerald, bringing out her eyes even more than the black eyeliner did. The asymmetric strap rested on her left shoulder, leaving her right arm completely bare. The skirt was gently pleated, adding a sweep as the fabric gathered at the floor. Her short strawberry hair was swept into a soft bun, and her eyes were highlighted in gold while her lips were lathered in red. She had never felt so beautiful before.
Once they arrived, the four young women were nothing but ecstatic. Andie was surprised at how much paparazzi were parked in front of the Spirit Museum. Barely anyone came in on Saturdays when she worked and now it was packed. Even more shocking was that they started taking pictures of the four. Andie felt herself blush, and she had to grab onto Carey to steady herself after the brightness of the flashes nearly blinded her.
Her nervousness faded once they were inside. The four girls immediately hit the dance floor, where Andie was surprised to find that Reese couldn’t dance to save her life, that Miranda knew how to move her body like she was a finalist on So You Think You Can Dance, and that Jack was nowhere to be found. Neither was Keirah, for that matter. Andie gnawed her bottom lip. Maybe Keirah wasn’t coming. Maybe her mother talked her out of it.
After a good twenty minutes on the floor, Andie offered to go grab water for everyone. She was breathless when she made her request to the bartender, her face flushed from the crowd that accumulated on the floor.
“Put them on my bill,” a voice said from behind her.
Andie glanced at the guy from the corner of her eye. Nothing special; shorter than Jack but taller than her, black hair, dark blue eyes. She rolled her eyes. “No thanks, big spender,” she said as the bartender grabbed their drinks.
He leaned toward her from his barstool so he was close enough to touch if she turned an inch to her left. “How about a dance?” he asked.
Andie rolled her eyes and took a step to her right, trying to put distance between herself and this creep. Guys like him were the reason why she refused to go clubbing. “I don’t think so,” she said. Without warning, the guy stood and latched his fingers around her wrist. Andie’s eyes widened and her heart accelerated. She was losing control of the situation and she needed to get it back, but she couldn’t do anything except try to yank her wrist out of his grasp and say, “Let me go.”
“Not until you dance with me,” he said, narrowing his eyes at her.
“Is there a problem here, darling?” a soft-spoken voice asked from beside Andie. He was obviously speaking to her but his jade green eyes were staring pointedly at the man gripping Andie’s wrist. She glanced up at her savior as he slid his arm around her waist and she instantly felt herself relax.
“Jack Phillip,” he said with recognition. He looked back at Andie. “You’ll be back, sweetheart. Phillip never keeps his girls around after too long.”
Andie clenched her jaw and pulled her wrist free out of his grasp. If it wasn’t for Jack holding onto her, she would have lost her balance. “That’s none of your business,” she snapped, refraining from rubbing her wrist in order to soothe it.
Andie took a shaky breath as she watched the man walk away. Jack still held onto her, and for that, she was grateful. Just as she was ready to head back to her friends, the waters forgotten, Jack dropped his head so she could feel his breath on her throat and asked softly, “Do you want to go for a walk?”
She wasn’t sure why, but she nodded, and before she knew it, the two exited the museum from the back and out onto the bustling streets of Onyx. The rain was now falling and Andie laughed in surprise, stopping and looking up at the cloudy sky. She was well-aware her makeup was running and her new dress was ruined. Instead of running, she grabbed Jack’s hand and led him across the street and down the block until they reached Onyx Park. By the time they arrived, both were incredibly soaked but laughing.
“I love the rain,” she murmured as she gazed up at the sky once again. She could feel his eyes latch onto her profile and she was glad it was too cold to blush.
“You’re not like any woman I’ve met,” he told her, his serious tone catching her off-guard. “Anybody else would be running from the rain, not toward it.”
Andie slowly repositioned her eyes into Jac
k’s. “That’s because of the company you keep,” she told him as they walked deeper into the park. “You keep fame-seeking, fashion-conscious women on your arm and you ignore more realistic women because you’re worried about your reputation.” She paused, glancing at him quickly. “People think you hired me because you think I’m pretty and want to sleep with me.”
“Well, they’re wrong,” Jack told her. He stopped walking which caused Andie to follow suit. He looked deep into her eyes before saying softly, “You’re beautiful.”
Andie tilted her head to the side, a curious smile on her face. She wasn’t exactly sure how to respond due to the lack of experience receiving compliments from billionaire bachelors. Instead of addressing it, she decided to change the subject. “I’m really sorry for what happened at the bar,” she murmured. “Thank you, um, for that.”
“You don’t really do that a lot, do you?” he asked her with a touch of amusement, placing his hands in his pockets. “Apologize and thank someone.”
“Actually,” Andie replied, “I’ve never needed somebody to help me with something like that. Usually I just handle things myself.”
Jack continued to stare at her until Andie started to fidget with discomfort. She knew she looked bad with her hair matted to the back of her neck, makeup on her cheeks, and her clinging dress soaking wet, but did he have to stare so intensely? Without warning, Jack slid off his blazer and placed it around her.
“I’m not used to acts of chivalry,” she told him, wrapping the coat tighter around her. It was loose, but provided a considerable amount of warmth and smelled like aftershave and spice. “Your parents raised you right in that area.”
Jack chuckled. “Was that supposed to be an insult?” he asked.
She giggled at their inside joke. “I … I think so,” she told him, his eyes twinkling. “You know, when you smile, really smile, your whole face lights up like fireworks.” She paused as she took in his sharp features. “You should do it more often.”
The Dark Paradise Trilogy Box Set Page 14
