“We have to be quiet, remember? Or else we’ll be fired,” she said, giving me a sly grin. My eyes shot down, watching her play with herself with my cock. I breathed hard, my fingers clenching the hard wood of the desk before quivering as she pulled me inside her. My strokes were slow and deep as I took my time giving it to her.
“We’ll figure everything out, baby. I promise,” I whispered before thrusting into her one last time.
Soft music from the orchestra played at the front of the room as Atlanta's elite congregated throughout the large ballroom. I strolled down the wide stairway, arm-in-arm with Asher until we reached the bottom floor. Every woman was covered in an expensive ball gown and glittered in diamonds. Men were clad in their tuxedos, showing off their expensive watches and trophy wives. Welcome to another typical Douglas party.
Douglas parties weren't fun parties. I liked to refer to them as 'one-up' parties; every person in the room wanted to one-up the other. It was all about who was the richest, the strongest and the most powerful. Dalton's parents always went all-out for these parties for that exact reason, making them formal affairs, which I absolutely despised. As much as I loved shopping, I hated wasting my money on expensive ball gowns I'd only wear once for two reasons. First being that I didn't frequent them that often. Second being that the only ones I did attend were theirs, and I'd be spat on if I wore the same dress twice. Lord forbid I re-wear clothes.
Caterers were scurrying around, their hands full with trays covered with food and glasses of champagne. I was definitely staying far away from anything that contained alcohol. I'd always hated attending these damn parties, but I wasn't dreading this one as much as usual. I had Asher on my side and Dalton would be there, too. I'd talked to him earlier on the phone. He had to go to dinner with his parents before the party, so we planned to just meet each other here. Plus, Cora had called me earlier and revealed she and Lane were coming with his parents. So I was now going to be surrounded by my favorite people with me tonight.
Cora and I had gone dress shopping. I fell in love with the long, red gown I was wearing the moment my eyes landed on it. The strapless bodice was form-fitting around my chest, contouring my body to my knees then flaring out. It reminded me of a Jessica Rabbit look. I'd used my wide-barrel curling iron to curl the ends of my hair in thick spirals, applied minimal make-up with winged eyeliner and finished my look with a bright-red lip. I wasn't a big fan of over-doing my make-up, but I always had to have something on my lips; I felt naked without a good lipstick or gloss.
My mom and Kenneth had gotten home this morning so they insisted Asher and I ride with them, which sucked; I wouldn't be able to ditch out early without them finding out. They usually allowed me to drive by myself so I didn't have to hang with them the entire time. "There's my baby brother," Wilson called out, approaching us with a drink in his hand. The man always had a drink in his hand. That was my cue to get the hell out of dodge. I tugged on Asher's arm and pulled him away from our parents before Wilson reached us. I hadn't seen him since the whole lunch from Hell, and talking to him wasn't at the top of my priority list. I'd be one happy camper if I never had to talk to the jackass again.
"I hope you weren't wanting to talk to your uncle," I laughed, stopping us at the corner of the room. Asher and I had made up after our fight. It took me a few days to convince him to forgive me, but when he did, I explained everything to him. He wasn't happy with my decision to not give him a chance, but he understood where I was coming from. I couldn't bear to lose our friendship after our trial at a relationship went sour.
"Hell no, he's been trying to get me to stay here the rest of the summer and keep working for him. Apparently, I'm a natural at finding blackmail on people," he answered, grabbing a tart from a tray and popping it into his mouth. He glanced around the room and shook his head. "God, I forgot how fucking excruciating these parties are, and I've only been here five minutes."
"You should stay all summer," I told him. Asher was going back to Miami tomorrow and I didn't want him to leave me; I was going to miss him. We'd grown closer the few weeks he'd been here and I hated seeing him leave. He was Team Gabby, and I loved having someone on my side.
"I would if I could, babe, but I can't miss team conditioning." Asher played football for the Miami University Hurricanes, and summer practices were getting ready to start.
"I think I'm going to sneak into your suitcase and come with you," I said, leaning into his side.
He tucked me under his arm. "I have no problem with that. You know you're welcome to come visit me anytime."
"I plan on it," I said, smiling and grabbing a bottle of water. "I'm definitely going to come watch you kick some gridiron ass."
He grinned, looking down at me. "You better."
"What's happening, hot stuff?" Cora yelled, bouncing on her heels and coming our way. We'd just watched Sixteen Candles the other day and she's greeted me like that every day since. "I knew you'd look like a hot sex-kitten in that dress. God, I wish I had your curves, you lucky thing." She smiled, giving me a giant hug.
"You're perfect, baby," Lane said, coming up from behind her and wrapping his arms around her torso. Cora was wearing a green dress with a slit up her thigh that only a size zero could pull off. Which I definitely wasn't. It sucked we could never share clothes because my friend was a skinny bitch.
"I seriously love that color on you," I said, admiring her dress.
"Why, thank you, Gabby," Lane replied. "I always knew I looked fierce in black." He modeled a pose in his black tux and Cora smacked his stomach.
"Quit stealing my compliments," she huffed, giving him a bright smile.
"You guys remember Asher?" I asked, pointing to my stepbrother watching our interaction beside me. He'd lived in Atlanta until the divorce his freshman year, so he still knew people around there.
"Hell yeah, I used to kick your ass in football on the playground," Lane laughed.
"Yeah, right, man. You know I got past your sucky-ass defense every time. Plus, who’s the only guy who made varsity his freshman year?" Asher argued back.
"Dude, that's only because you had fucking frog legs. This dude would jump over kids like that damn Leap Frog game. Oh, and I made varsity my freshman year, too. You just weren't here to see it." Asher was a year older than us.
"Seriously?" Cora broke in their argument. "Both of you were deformed, pubescent boys in middle school."
"Eh, I guess you got a point there," Asher said, pulling Lane in for one of those side-hug things guys do.
Lane grabbed a glass of champagne for him and Cora before looking over at me. "I would've grabbed you one, but we all know you don't make the wisest decisions when you have alcohol flowing through your system," he said, doing a cheers motion before chugging the entire contents. "Wouldn't want history to repeat itself, would we?"
I rammed my heel into his foot and he jumped. "Funny, asshole. Do you want to be wearing your next glass?"
He gave me a side hug. "You know I love you, Gabs." He stopped and pointed at me. "Actually, I have to love you or Cora will dump my ass. But you're like the little sister I enjoy tormenting." I slapped his side and he moved away from me. Looking to his right, he wrapped his arms around Cora's shoulders. "There's my grandparents, babe. We better go say hi. You kids stay out of trouble." He pointed back and forth between Asher and me before saluting and walking away with Cora.
"Do you ever miss it here?" I asked Asher, curious.
"Not really. My mom won't admit it, but I know she was miserable with my dad. Plus, she's a hell of a lot cooler in Miami. She doesn't have the constant anxiety of having the Douglas approval over everything she does. These people will exhaust the fuck out of you. They judge you on your hair, your clothes, fucking everything."
"Oh, I know," I muttered. They'd done the same thing to me since the first time I met them. I'd eventually learned to deal with it, but my mom was still dying for their acceptance. Deep down, I knew she was scared that if they didn't accept her,
Kenneth would end up leaving her.
"So no, I really don't miss it. I enjoy visiting you, my dad, and my old friends, but that's really it. Plus," he grinned, "girls wear a lot less clothes in Miami. They go grocery shopping in their bikinis."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course that would be your favorite part."
"I didn't say it was my favorite, but it's definitely high on my list." I was glad Asher got away from here before he ended up like them. He was such a better person.
An older woman I recognized as Kenneth's sister came up and began talking to Asher, taking his attention away from me. I glanced around the room and spotted my mom standing in the corner alone. I hated when Kenneth left her at these parties. I knew he didn't do it purposely, but he just didn't realize my mom didn't have any friends there.
I headed toward her, dodging the group clusters of bodies conversing. "Have you shanked a bitch yet?" I joked, coming up from behind her, and she jumped.
"Gabby," she whispered, holding up her hand to her chest. "If they hear you, they'll hate us." My mom looked great for her age. Her auburn hair was the same color as mine, but cut to her shoulders. Even for being in her mid-thirties, her face was wrinkle-free, and not because of plastic surgery. She had pure, natural beauty, and I hoped to God I would inherit that from her.
I smiled warmly at her and shrugged. "Eh, I think we're pretty used to that."
Her voice dropped and she pursed her pink-colored lips. "Just because I'm used to it doesn't mean it makes it any better. I wish they'd actually give me a chance." She was getting agitated, and I immediately knew someone must've already said something to her. I hated when they made her feel this way; she deserved so much better.
I grabbed her hand. "Mom, half of these people are losers. If they're going to sit around and judge someone before they even know them, they're losers. They're the ones missing out on getting to know what a wonderful, caring person you are." It pissed me off that they treated my mom like that. She'd spent her entire life trying to take care of the two of us with what little she had.
"At least Wilson kept his mouth shut around me, which is surprising. It's that damn wife of his. Oh, and his son, what's his name?"
"Dalton?" I questioned.
"Dalton," she repeated. "Yeah, that one. He came over and said hello. He told me you two were working together and you were doing a great job. See, I told you you'd do great there."
My heart fluttered at Dalton talking to my mom. I knew his family wouldn't be too happy about it, but I knew he was doing it for me. He was showing me that he'd never said anything bad about my mom and he had nothing against her. It was also his way of showing he would stand up for me against them. And I believed him.
"Hey, honey, I want you to meet someone." We both twisted around to find Kenneth with John standing next to him. Oh, great, one more asshole to add to the party list. His face paled when his eyes hit my mom, like he'd just seen a ghost. I looked away from him, back over to my mom, who pretty much had the same expression on her face. What the hell? My stomach churned, fairly certain my mom was added to John’s list of mistresses.
"Hi, John." My mom said, finally, taking a moment to find her words and avoiding looking at him. "I mean, Governor Gentry," she quickly corrected.
John let out an awkward laugh. "Nonsense, call me John. We don't need formalities, Shelia."
"Do you two know each other?" Kenneth asked, pulling my mom into his side and kissing her on the lips.
"We went to high school together," my mom answered, playing with her hands.
Kenneth smiled. "Wow, what a small world. You never told me that, honey." He was either clueless to the obvious tension or was choosing to ignore it.
"Small world, indeed," John agreed. "I'm sure she didn't find it necessary to say she knew little old me." He looked around her, straight at me. "Is Gabrielle your daughter?" He looked back and forth between us a few times, like he was taking in the similarities between my mom and me.
My mom nodded slowly. "She is."
John's eyes narrowed. "Huh. I had no idea. She's a beautiful girl. I guess she gets that from her mother." Okay, it was now getting weirder. I couldn't believe the scumbag was hitting on my mom in front of her husband.
My mom grabbed Kenneth's hand. "Thank you," she said uncomfortably and still avoiding eye contact.
“I’m going to go find Cora or the bathroom or something,” I said, my voice trailing off as I eyed the awkward scene in front of me. I moved around my mom’s body, resisting the urge to ram my knee in John’s balls when I made my way around his penetrating stare.
I jumped as I felt warm hands wrap around my body before I made it to the restroom to check my make-up. "You look so damn sexy right now," the husky voice, breathed into my ear. "Did you save me a dance?" I whipped around, still in his arms, and his hand moved down to cup my ass as he leaned me into the wall.
I looked up at him. He was dressed like all the other men in the room, wearing a black tuxedo with a bow tie around his neck, but none of those other men stood out like he did to me. None of them made butterflies swoop around my stomach at the sight of them; fluttering their wings and making me feel good. None of them made me want to rip their clothes off and have them take me against the wall, either. "You don't look so bad yourself, handsome," I grinned, pointing my finger into his chest before running my hands down. "Are you sure you're allowed to dance with the daughter of the home-wrecker?"
"Do you think I really give a shit?" I grinned, loving his response. He was becoming my protector, the one thing I'd been longing for my entire life. "If any of them say anything to you, I'll set them straight. No one is going to talk shit about my girl and get away with it."
"Then you’ll probably have to set the entire room straight," I joked. No one talked to me at these functions. They all knew who my mom and I were from the gossip mill.
"Always my smartass princess," he laughed, grabbing my hand resting on his chest and kissing it before engulfing it in his. He dragged me away from our corner and I groaned. Staying in that corner with him sounded like a much better time than going out there with everyone else. I stayed by his side as we walked back into the ballroom that was now growing busier; things were about to get interesting.
We were just inches away from the dance floor when Wilson's voice called out Dalton's name. I froze in my tracks. I was for sure he noticed our connected hands. Dalton whipped around, and his parents were directly behind us, like they'd been on our trail the entire time. "I've been looking around for you, Son. Why didn't you greet me when you arrived?"
"I had things to take care of."
He glanced down at our connected hands. "I see. Dancing with my intern was one of them?" I winced at the low blow, but I had a feeling that was just the warm-up. The full fight show was coming soon; I just knew it.
"Cut that shit, dad. Don't disrespect her like that."
"Gabby, honey. That dress is just darling," Victoria said, giving me a mocking smile. I wanted to rip that smile off her face and shove it up her ass for whatever snide comment she'd said to my mom.
"Thank you. Yours is very lovely, as well," I complimented. She was wearing a black, long-sleeve gown, and her neck was dripping in so many diamonds I was close to going blind. She was just asking for someone to rob her.
"And there's my other son!" she shrieked, clapping her hands together as Leo came strolling our way. Thank God; saved by the sibling. I didn't know Leo that well but I knew he and Dalton were like polar opposites. Dalton was the fun, party guy and Leo was the serious, family guy. The only features they shared were physical. Oh, and Leo wasn't a total asshole to me, either, so I guess the Gabby-hating gene didn't reproduce in everyone. Leo gave his mother a kiss before saying hello to everyone.
Dalton had tucked me into his side, his hand resting on the small of my back as his family began to banter back and forth about mergers. I stood there silently, begging for the conversation to be over so I could scurry away. "There's my future daughte
r-in-law," Wilson shouted, waving to a short, blonde-haired woman. She smiled, coming our way, and I took in the bright blue dress she was wearing paired with a gold pair of chained heels I desperately wanted to snatch off her feet and stick in my closet.
Huh? Leo must've gotten a divorce. "Your new wife is gorgeous," I said, not completely catching on to anything happening around me. Leo looked over at me but immediately turned to Dalton and gave him a tight glare. The woman stopped and gave Dalton's parents a hug before turning to him and kissing him directly on the lips. His entire body went still, and the glass of water in my hand fell and shattered across the floor without me even realizing what was happening. It was like all the butterflies swarming in my stomach lost all their air and died.
I jumped. "I'm so sorry," I rushed out, leaning down to pick up the broken shards, but Dalton stopped me. As much as I wanted to shove him away and tell him to never put his hands on me again, I couldn't make a scene.
"Gabby, dear, it's all right," Wilson said, grinning. "We're all a bit clumsy at times." I gave him a weak smile and wiped my wet hands down my dress. "I don't believe you two have been acquainted," he added, smugly. "This is Eva; she's Dalton's fiancée."
I forced a smile on my lips, begging myself to hold back the tears. I wouldn't cry in front of them; I wouldn't allow them to see they'd hurt me. Karma had finished sharpening her nails and finishing her drink, and she was now ready to ruin me. I waved. "Hi," I choked out. "His uncle is my stepdad."
She gave me a heartfelt smile. "It's nice to meet you." She was nice and I felt bad for hating her, but I couldn't help it. It was like she was an added pawn in the game to break my heart. "You two have been working together, too, right?" I nodded. Had he told her about me? Did he call her late at night, complaining about his day while they planned their future together? Or was she in on the scam? Did they want Dalton to date me so I'd get heartbroken and quit working at Douglas PR? A million thoughts were running through my packed mind, causing me to panic. Without saying another word, I dashed away from them, holding my dress up while I searched for somewhere to run to.
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