Author: Sylvia Day

But she was still as beautiful as ever, with dark hair cut into a sleek bob that framed delicate features and big blue eyes. Her aqua-hued gown was a lovely contrast to her porcelain skin.

“Hello, Allison,” I said, turning my attention back to the two darkly handsome Rutledge men across the room.

“That’s a beautiful dress.” She examined me. “Gretchen must be partial to it. She suggested it to me, as well, but it’s not my style.”

I took another sip of champagne to hide how I felt at the unexpected mention of the stylist’s name. So, Gretchen was an ace in the hole for the entire Rutledge family. Nice to know. “You might be surprised to hear that it wasn’t my first choice, either.”

Her smile was anything but friendly. “You’re smart to let Jackson dress you. But then you’re obviously smarter than I gave you credit for, or you wouldn’t be here.”

“Can you go be a bitch somewhere else?” I said, waving my hand carelessly. “This is my space and you need to see your way out of it.”

“If I remember correctly, you’re not a woman who likes pretense and bullshit, so I’m not shoveling any your way. We have to get along, after all. Might as well start now.”

“We don’t have to do anything.” My gaze flicked over to her. “I suggest we do our best to avoid one another.”

Her brows rose as if she were surprised, then she laughed, the sound as melodious as her voice. “That’s not how this works, Gianna. You and I are going to be best friends, as far as public knowledge goes. We’ll have lunch and shop together. Ted and I will have dinner with you and Jackson. We’ll go to ball games and exhibitions. All sorts of things where we’ll smile at the camera and look tighter than sisters.”

“You’ve had too much champagne.”

“I’ll let Jackson explain it to you.” Her eyes were suspiciously bright, which got my back up.

“Explain what?” Regina Rutledge asked, joining us.

“Ted’s upcoming mayoral bid. Jackson’s outdone himself this time.”

My hand tightened around the stem of my glass, alarm bells ringing.

Regina’s mouth curved, but her voice came cold and sharp. “I think you should leave Gianna to Jackson. He’s very protective.”

“I get the hint.” Allison looked at me. “I’ll plan for us to have dinner in the city soon. Enjoy yourself, Gianna. And again, you look stunning. That dress was made for you.”

She glided off and I rubbed my nose with my middle finger, discreetly flipping her off before dismissing her and looking away. Parker still had Jax at his side, his hand resting on his son’s shoulder as they spoke to a white-haired gentleman whose face was vaguely familiar.

“Don’t pay her any mind,” Regina said, stepping into my line of sight.

Her blond hair skimmed her shoulders in stylized waves that were reminiscent of the heydays of Hollywood starlets. “She’s jealous. She has a Rutledge, but...” She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Ted isn’t Jackson or Parker.”

I silently agreed with that. “It’s nice seeing you again,” I said instead.

Her mouth curved. “You and I are lucky women. Trust me, Jackson’s stamina won’t fade with time.”

My brows lifted. Even though Regina was nearer to my age than her husband’s, she was still Jax’s stepmother. It felt weird talking to her about sex with our men.

Jax appeared in front of me, taking my flute and passing it to Regina. His dark eyes hot on my face, he caught my hand and pulled me into him. “Dance with me.”

He led me onto the dance floor, his arms coming around me. “You’re the most beautiful woman here.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere.” It was heady being in Jax’s arms in public, nearly as heady as being held by him in private. “I have to say, though, that I’d rather not work with stylists who are also working with Allison. I don’t like her, Jax.”

His fingers stroked over my back. “She’s not one of my favorite people, either, but she’s married to Ted. She’s family.”

“I’m done with her treating me like I’m the scratching post for her claws.”

“She can be a raging bitch,” he agreed, “but she has those claws for a reason. You’ll need them, too, Gia.”

I treated him to a sulky stare. “I know you think I’m not strong enough to deal with your life, and I’m going to prove you wrong. That said, I am not going to go out of my way to spend time with people who give me grief.”

“So, the part about us acting as a team...that only applies to things you choose?”

“That’s not fair! I would never ask you to just suffer quietly while people insult you. I respect you more than that!”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “It’s not about respect, Gia. I shouldn’t have to tell you that I’m going to talk to Allison about how she approaches you—that should be obvious. But whether we like her or not, we’ve all got to work together.”

“I don’t have to do anything for her.”

“Then do it for me,” he snapped. “This is my life. I was very clear about how unpleasant some parts of it may be for you.”

I was startled by his vehemence. “You don’t like this any more than I do. I know you don’t. You don’t want to be here, at this party. It’d be different if you were asking me to hang in there because of something that’s really important to you, but that’s not the case!”

“I made my bed, Gia,” he said tightly, his face hard and remote. “And you made the decision to lie in it with me.”

I shook my head, trying to reconcile the Jax in front of me with the one I’d first met. That Jax had been fun-loving, larger than life, a hedonist in many ways. “I don’t understand you. Life is short, Jax. Why spend time doing things that don’t make you happy?”

“Doing you makes me very happy.”

I shoved at his shoulder. “Be serious. This is important. I really need to know.”

He didn’t answer me for a minute, long enough for one song to end and another to begin. I felt a change move through him, the quickening of his breath and a tightening of his hold on me. “The time for me to make a different choice came and went a long time ago.”

“That’s a cop-out. You’re not even thirty. Your whole life is ahead of you and nothing is behind you that you can’t fix.”

Jax looked over my shoulder, his gaze distant and unfocused, as if he were seeing something I couldn’t. “Sometimes you can’t go back,” he muttered. “You just have to face the consequences and own your mistakes.”

“You don’t have to keep making new ones.” I cupped his cheek, returning his attention back to me. “We’re starting over, Jax. We’ve got a second chance to get it right. Let’s not waste energy on people and situations that just drag us down.”

He heaved out his breath, then pressed a quick hard kiss to my forehead. “Let’s get out of here.”

7

“YOU LOOK FANTASTIC,” my best friend, Lynn, said, checking me out. “I haven’t seen you look this good since Vegas.”

“Considering that was a couple years ago, I’m not feeling too hot about that compliment.” I was teasing her and she knew it, just as I knew I was looking pretty good lately.

Three weeks of living with Jax had led to me dropping about five pounds—the honeymoon diet without the honeymoon. Jax was insatiable and I was eating better because of it. There was a greater incentive to make smart food choices when you knew someone was going to be seeing you naked every day.

She laughed and glanced around Rossi’s. “This place looks great, too.”

Business at both Rossi’s locations was brisk, due in part to media mentions of Jax and me. Because I’d made an effort to avoid hearing anything about Jax while we were apart, I hadn’t realized just how often his name made the news. He’d said the gossip blogs and social media hounds would love me, but he hadn’t mentioned how much they loved him. The public wanted him in office. He was young, gorgeous, a Rutledge, and he had just enough ruthlessness to put him on the right side of edgy.

“The eye candy is delicious as always,” Lynn went on, her attention drifting to Vincent, who was working the bar.

He looked up, caught her eye, and winked.

“Be still my heart,” she said, tucking a stray lock of her red hair behind her ear and blowing him a kiss.

I groaned. “He’s got a big-enough head already.”

“Wouldn’t I like to find out?”

“Eww.” I rolled my eyes. I’d suggested we meet at Rossi’s because I wanted to relax without worrying about someone snapping a picture of me. I’d gotten used to having a bodyguard around all the time, but at Rossi’s I had the added eyes of my family watching out for invasions of my privacy.

She shot me a sympathetic look. “Is it really bad?”

“It’s not terrible. I’m not a celebrity or anything. But there always seems to be one or two photographers lurking around.”

“Stalker rat bastards.”

I shrugged, having accepted them as part of my life. Whenever I got irritated, I reminded myself that Jax had broken both our hearts to protect me from the attention. If I’d learned anything over the past three weeks, it was how happy being with Jax could make me. I couldn’t remember ever being happier. “I just have to be careful, that’s all.”

Twisting on her bar stool, she faced me, her long legs kicking playfully. Dressed in a long floral maxi and jean jacket, with a ton of bracelets and necklaces that she made—and sold—herself, she rocked bohemian elegance. “How is Jackson, anyway? I mean, on an ordinary day. He seems so...intense in interviews.”

“He is. But he can also be playful. And funny. He makes me laugh every day.”

She grinned. “Look at that smile on your face. Almost makes up for his conservative politics.”

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to get into a discussion about Lynn’s liberal views. I left that to my dad, who loved to talk to her about their similar stances on issues. “That’s not to say he can’t be stubborn, irrational, frustrating—”

“A man.”

“Yeah.”

“So...speaking of politics.”

“We weren’t,” I said firmly.

She gave me a toothy grin. “I was. You manage to get the tribe all together in one place yet?”

“Not yet.” My feet tapped on the brass foot rail. “Shooting for a brunch this Saturday. It’s the only time we could get everyone together.”

“God. You’re going to have to give me all the details. Wish I could listen in. That’s going to be a hell of a brunch.”

She wasn’t wrong. In most ways, the Rossis and Rutledges were two different breeds of family.

I took a bite of a crostini, then glanced at my smartphone as it buzzed on the bar. The text message from Jax made me smile. Bring home lasagna.

Lynn glanced at it, too. “Girl, don’t tell me the romance is over already.”

My phone vibrated again. I’ve got the gelato to lick off your body....

She laughed and I laughed with her.

“I need a boyfriend.” Her gaze slid over to where Vincent was shaking up a drink. “Or a booty call.”

I distracted her from my heartbreaker of a brother. “How’s work?”

“Busy.” She played with her long necklaces. “Internet sales are really picking up. If my rent and taxes keep going up, too, I may close the store and just focus on the online business.”

“Really? But you love that store!” I knew how hard Lynn had worked to open it, and how much she’d wanted to prove that her jewelry making and pottery weren’t just worthless hobbies.