The Risk: A Billionaire Romance (Wagered Hearts Series, Book 2) (8 page)

“I know,” I finally said. “Don’t even worry about it anymore. What’s done is done. Let’s move on. So, how are you enjoying the party?”

He looked like he still wanted to say more on the matter but then thought better of it. “I’m enjoying it a lot more now,” he answered.

“Don’t try to flirt with me. I’m on duty tonight.”

“And that means you’re immune to compliments?”

“I’m not supposed to be enjoying myself. That’s only reserved for the distinguished guests.”

“Hmm that sounds like a challenge to me,” he mused, shooting me a lopsided grin.

“Don’t. I don’t want to monopolize all your time. Besides, like I said, I’ve got to work.”

“You work too hard. You should enjoy yourself. Everything looks amazing by the way. I know you had a large part in that.”

I blushed at his compliment. “Thanks, you’re probably the only one who’ll say that. But it was mostly Paola’s vision; I just helped bring it to life.”

Paola was the special events director at Chère, and in charge of overseeing the party. I had been her right hand woman, helping her plan it since I started working there months ago.

“Don’t sell yourself short. I’m sure you had more input than you give yourself credit for.”

Before I could reply, I saw my mother approach us out of the corner of my eye. Judging from her frosty demeanor, she had probably just found out that Cara Galanis was here. I shot Ryan a quick warning look before she finally reached us. He turned around to face her head on. That stopped my mother in her tracks for just a moment.

“Cora,” Ryan said in greeting.

She gave him a curt nod, but her eyes were glinting. “So good of you to show up,” she said.

“Yes, thank you. I was just telling Melanie here that everything looks amazing. You’ve really outdone yourselves this time,” he said. His voice was calm and almost perfunctory. He gave no hint that he was agitated or in any way alarmed. He probably wasn’t. My mother would never turn her ire on to him. Even she wouldn’t dare piss off someone in Ryan’s position, at least not to his face.

“Thank you. You know I always pride myself on throwing the best parties,” she said, giving him a slight smile before turning her gaze to me. “If you’ll excuse us, I need to speak to Melanie for a moment.”

“By all means go ahead,” he said, but he didn’t move away. Instead he stood right where he was, almost daring my mother to say something. She narrowed her eyes and frowned at him before she took my arm and spun us around, hissing in my ear.

“Melanie, what are you doing in here? I thought you were supposed to be outside making sure only the people on the guest list were allowed inside.”

“I was,” I answered. “But I came back in to warm myself up for a little bit.”

“That’s no excuse. You were given a specific task and you failed. Now we have the likes of Cara Galanis here and I specifically blacklisted her from attending. I give you one simple task and you can’t even get that right!”

Before I could reply, I heard Ryan clear his throat. “It wasn’t her fault,” he said. My mother turned back to face him looking as surprised as her botoxed face would let her.

“Pardon?” she said, her voice dripping with ice.

“Cara came tonight as my date,” he explained. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault since not even you, Cora, could have kept us from attending.”

I shot Ryan a worried glance, but I couldn’t help but feel a growing respect for him. I’d never seen someone stand up to my mother and put her in her place.

“I see,” my mother said through thinned lips. If it were possible to kill someone with looks alone, I was sure Ryan would drop dead at any minute. I held my breath, watching the scene unfold with grim fascination. After a moment of charged silence, my mother finally decided to walk off, taking all her impotent rage with her. Once she was gone, I let out a loud breath.

“Holy shit, that was sexy,” I blurted. I felt my face flush in embarrassment and hurried to explain myself. “I think that’s the first time anyone’s ever stood up to her. People usually cower in fear.”

“I’m not afraid of your mother,” he said.

“I can see that. I just hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. She’s a nasty enemy to have.”

“So, she’ll ban me from some of her overrated parties,” he scoffed. “That doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“It’s more than that. She’s got the dirt on pretty much every person worth knowing. Why do you think everyone scrapes down to her? Twenty years in the magazine industry and you learn a few things,” I said.

“I’ve got no skeletons in my closet. Let her do her worst,” he challenged.

“I hope you’re right about that. Anyways, thanks for coming to my defense,” I said.

“Don’t mention it. It was the least I could do after instigating the situation.”

“Yes, yes it was,” I laughed.

“Why do you put up with it?” he asked, suddenly sounding serious.

It wasn’t the first time someone had asked me that question. People looking in on the outside probably thought I was a glutton for punishment. And maybe I was. All they saw was an overbearing, hypercritical mother picking apart everything her daughter did. I couldn’t look at it like that.

I’d always believed that deep down my mother wanted the best for me and was only hard on me because she expected better of me. She was never one to settle for less than perfection and that was what I strived for. Once I looked at it from that perspective, I could overlook her more hurtful comments and seemingly frigid attitude.

“It’s just a part of the job,” I finally answered. “She’s never been the easiest person to work with, it’s not just with me that she can get so…” I paused trying to find the right word.

“Bitchy?” Ryan supplied.

“Yeah, that among other things.”

“But she’s your mother. Shouldn’t she be a little bit more…oh I don’t know…nurturing?”

“That’s just not in her nature. Besides, Chère is the premiere fashion and entertainment magazine in the country. You said so yourself and that’s all thanks to her. She’s the best at what she does. I just have to separate my expectations and feelings as a daughter and just look at her as a boss.”

Ryan remained silent and stood there pinning me with an unfathomable expression. I didn’t know why I’d told him half the things I did, but it was just so easy to open up to him. Even when I was with Chad, I had never felt as comfortable talking about my past or my relationship with my mother. It was a startling realization and I didn’t know what to make of it.

Looking at Ryan now, I almost regretted blurting out my feelings. He looked almost stricken with some undefined emotion. Was it pity? I shuddered to think about that. The last thing I wanted or needed was pity. I wasn’t a victim and I didn’t need anyone to feel sorry for me.

“Well I should probably get back to work. It was nice chatting with you and I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening,” I said stiffly.

Ryan seemed surprised by my abrupt change in attitude, but he schooled his features quickly and put on his best charming smile. “You’re right. I’ve been holding you up. I should actually get back to my date and make sure she’s not causing too much trouble,” he said.

I gave him a curt nod and walked back over towards the front doors. It had already been an hour since I left my post and I was sure Candace could use a break. I shivered as a blast of cold air hit me when I stepped outside. My arms were clutched around my chest and I walked towards Candace and James.

“Hey Candace, James,” I called out.

“You should head back inside,” Candace said, eyeing me in concern. “We’re pretty much done out here. I mean, I am anyways.”

“Has everyone arrived?”

“Just about. It’s already three hours since the party started. That’s no longer fashionably late, just unforgivably rude. We can leave the rest of it up to James. Come on,” she continued, pulling me back towards the doors. “You’ll freeze your ass off out here. Even Ms. Abelgard can’t complain about us heading inside now.”

I let her lead me back in without much protest. “She already had a few words with me about that,” I said stopping just inside the ballroom.

“Really? What could she possibly say?” Candace asked

“Did you see who Ryan Marsden came with? I’m sure you must have.”

Candace looked at me confused. “Ryan Marsden is here? I didn’t even see him arrive.”

“He got here just a little over an hour ago.”

“Well, he didn’t come through the front, that’s for sure. I was there the whole time,” she said.

“He must have come in through another entrance, but that’s not the point. He arrived with Cara Galanis.”

“Holy shit.”

“I know!”

“What did your mother say? She must have been royally pissed.”

“Actually, that’s the funny thing. She didn’t have much to say. I mean she was about to chew me out about it, but Ryan was there, so she had to restrain herself. He actually told her that Cara was his date, and that even she couldn’t bar them from this party since he owns part of Titan!”

“That dude has balls,” Candace said awed. “It’s too bad he has terrible taste in women. I mean really? All that money, charm and good looks and the best he can do is Cara Galanis?”

I didn’t tell Candace about Ryan’s reason for bringing her. It seemed like something I should keep to myself. My eyes scanned the crowd automatically, searching for him. Even though I knew why he brought Cara, it still didn’t completely erase my irrational jealousy. It wasn’t only irrational, but unfounded. He wasn’t even mine to be jealous over.

I felt torn in two directions. I knew it could be so easy for me to fall for Ryan. He had everything a woman would want in a man, but that was the problem. He knew it and used it to his advantage to get any girl he wanted. Even though he would flirt with me, I knew there was nothing serious behind it, and I didn’t want to go making a fool of myself and risking my heart on someone who was obviously just looking to have a good time.

His laughter rang across the room and I snapped my head in his direction. As if confirming my thoughts, Ryan was standing next to the ice sculpture of Chère’s logo, with Cara right next to him. He was surrounded by a group of beautiful women, flirting with them and charming their socks off. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world, one hand casually draped in his pocket and the other hand holding a drink.

“He’s probably the type that goes for quantity over quality,” I remarked, snidely. I knew it sounded petty, but it wasn’t like he was around to hear me. “Come on, let’s go get a drink. I could use one right about now,” I added over my shoulder as I made my way to the bar.

Cara hadn’t let go of my arm since returning from my conversation with Mel. It seemed like she was afraid that Cora would throw her out without my presence there to protect her. So I stayed by her side. My conversation with Mel left me unsettled and judging by the way she was pounding back the drinks, there was something eating away at her too.

I observed her from a distance going to the bar for her third drink and watched as she wobbled unsteadily towards an empty chair. Her coworker Candace had left after the first drink so she wasn’t around to witness Mel’s downward spiral towards drunkenness. I braced myself to step in if the situation got too out of hand. Something about Mel made me want to watch over her and protect her, especially from her mother.

God, what a total and utter witch Cora Abelgard was. I never knew how lucky I was to have the parents I did until I met Mel. I wouldn’t have traded my childhood for all the money and prestige in the world. I may not have grown up rich and connected, but I was beginning to see that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, especially with parents like her.

It made me feel bad for Mel and what she’d had to endure her whole life. I could tell she didn’t appreciate my pity and I couldn’t blame her. In her situation I’d feel exactly the same way, which just made me admire her more. There was such a silent and enduring strength in that small frame.

“So like, there’s so many haters here tonight. I can’t even tell you how many dirty looks I’ve been getting all evening. I mean look over there at Maddy Hudson. She’s so jealous right now, I love it. She’s been talking shit about me on Twitter for, like, the past month. I just wish I could go over there and give her a piece of my mind. But you know I’m totally not even going to make a scene. I’m classy like that.”

I barely registered Cara’s voice and nodded my head absentmindedly. I learned early on that it was best just to tune her out whenever possible. Her voice was starting to grate on me.

Instead, I focused my attention across the ballroom. I tensed up when I saw Cora and another woman approach Mel. They both looked angry and annoyed. I was half tempted to make my way over there to find out what they were saying. Judging by the angry scowls on their faces, they were not pleased. Cora’s voice rose at just the same time as the music had died down a little so I was able to make out the words “disgrace” and “embarrassment”.

Once they were gone, I saw Mel’s shoulders slump as she wiped her face with the back of her hand. Thankfully no one else had noticed this little scene. I was sure the public humiliation would have made her feel worse. Mel quietly made her way out of the ballroom and I decided to follow her. I excused myself from Cara and exited the ballroom on Mel’s heels. She had turned towards the restrooms and went inside before I could approach her.

I paced around a small alcove just off the hallway that had a clear view of the restroom doors. When the doors finally opened a few minutes later, I could tell she’d been crying. Her eyes were puffy and red and her makeup was a little smudged. Mel didn’t notice me at first, but when I stood up from the leather bench, she startled and sucked in a gasp.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” I said.

“Ryan! What are you doing here? The men’s restrooms are down the hall.” I could tell she was still a little tipsy from the alcohol, although the set down from her mother and that other woman had sobered her up a little.

“I was waiting for you.”

“What? Why?” she asked, confusion clearly written on her face.