Blended (Redemption #1) (52 page)

Once I’ve applied my makeup and my hair is straightened, I toss the towel into the laundry basket and walk into the bedroom. He’s seated at the end of the bed, tying the laces of his Oxfords when he glances up at me. “Jesus.”

“What?” I ask as I blush. I admit that I walked in here naked on purpose: I love his reactions to me. It makes me feel beautiful and wanted.

“You’re going to make us late to our own party, Rye.”

“It’s your party, Wade, and I am in no way making us late. Just keep that cock of yours in your pants and we won’t have a problem.”

“It is ours. Don’t argue with me.”

I raise my brows before walking up to him and kissing his cheek. “I wasn’t.”

His knuckles graze the outer skin of my thigh as I walk away from him and toward the closet and look at the outfit that I had dry-cleaned yesterday for this evening. I won’t lie: having the extra hands of the staff in the penthouse and Colin Jacobs may come in handy when I cannot break myself away from Wade.

“Whiskey?” I call out, and he steps into the closet a moment later while straightening his bowtie.

“Hey, gorgeous. Everything okay?”

I purse my lips and point to the dress in front of me. “I’m going to freeze in this dress.”

He stands next to me as his eyes run down the length of the dress. “You’ll need to stay inside when the fireworks take place—most people will regardless.

“Maybe.”

“Rye,” he says as he wraps his arms around my middle, “the majority of people will be staying in the interior for the evening because it will be too cold to go out onto the pier or the terrace. Why don’t you pick out another outfit and change once the evening is over and before we make our way to the hotel? That way you can wear what Lola made, and be warm after midnight.”

“I think that’s a good idea. Only if you’ll help me change, though.”

“I’ll try to get away,” he says as his lips caress the skin of my shoulder and then he runs his tongue along my collarbone.

“Will you pick out what I’ll change into?”

He chuckles and stares at my side of the closet. He called the moving company two days after Christmas to gather my things and transfer them here. To
our
place. He points out my Burberry wool coat, black leggings, and a black knitted sweater.

“What about those?”

“I like it. You might have a sense of fashion, after all, Mr. Brass.”

“I would hope so, considering I’m going to be placing Lola Marc’s designs all over the world.”

I squeal and turn in his arms. “What? When did you decide to do that?”

“Right this moment.”

“How?”

“That dress. I want her to be the one to dress you for all of the social events we will need to attend. Does she carry a men’s line?”

“Holy shit. She’s going to freak out, Whiskey. I don’t think that she has delved into menswear, but can I be there when you tell her?”

“Certainly. Now get dressed, Hadley. We’re already late.”

“I thought you said we had time to get settled first.”

He smirks and moves his hands down to cup my ass. “That was hours ago, Rye.”

“Fuck,” I huff and swat his arms away. “Give me a few minutes to get this on.”

He nods and grabs the items that he picked out for my outfit change for midnight. I walk over to the shoe section of the closet and grab my black booties for him to add to the overnight bag. He takes them and places a kiss on my lips before he walks out.

I sigh and turn to look at the gown again. Another Lola Marc original. It’s a beautiful shade of blush pink. The straps are barely visible, and the v-neck plunges past my breasts. It has a few ruffles on the right thigh, but nothing is overdone. It’s straightforward and elegant. Lo knows exactly what I like to wear, as well as how to correctly dress my body type. Once I’m dressed, I slip my feet into the heels that she provided and move my straightened hair behind my shoulders, pinning the sides in place and glancing at myself in the full-length mirror before I walk out of the closet.

Wade isn’t in the bedroom anymore, so I grab my coat that he left on the bed and make my way downstairs to where Liam, Addy, Isla, and my fiancé are waiting. My heels click gently against the hardwood floors, announcing my arrival before I can speak. Wade turns around, and his smile falls from his face. I watch as he takes in a deep breath.

“Rye.”

It’s only a word. My last name, but it holds so much more than that coming from his lips. The others turn around to look at me and Addy gasps while Isla whistles. I roll my eyes at the two of them as Wade reaches me and takes my hand, speaking only to me. “You’re stunning.”

“Thank you.” All of the world could disappear right now and I would not notice.

“All right, you assholes, let’s get going. Jacobs has been waiting outside since Isla got here twenty minutes ago.” Liam’s arms come around my waist once he speaks, and I wonder what Wade might do.

“Touch her once more and I’ll castrate you.”

He lets go of me and holds his hands up in defense. “I was making sure she was wearing underwear. No bra—you’re in luck.”

I smack his bicep as Wade goes to lunge at him, but Isla quickly puts her hands on his chest and pushes him backward. I know that Liam is messing with him, seeing just how far he’s able to push Wade when it comes to me.

“Hadley,” he growls through gritted teeth, “come here.”

I’ve never heard him growl before, and my panties reap the effects of the sexual noise as I take the few steps toward him. Isla goes to one side of Liam while Addy goes to his other and they step into the elevator before us. Wade’s arms are around me as he leads me in behind them. It descends as Liam talks to the girls about having a threesome. I think that Isla might be all for it, but Addy remains quiet the entire time until we get into the limo, and I slide in next to her.

“I need a drink,” she tells me.

“Are you okay?” I ask her softly as Jacobs shuts the door behind Wade.

“I’m going to have to be.”

“How about we buddy up tonight when I’m not with Wade?”

“You’ve got yourself a deal. Is there champagne in here?”

Wade must hear her because he pops open a bottle and hands each of us a glass before holding it up in the air. “Cheers to one hell of a year.”

“Cheers,” we all chime and take a drink. Addy downs her glass in one go, and I hand her mine when she puts hers down. She mouths
thank you
and takes a sip.

She remains quiet for the remainder of the drive, and I realize just how much he must mean to her if she’s willing to put up with his bullshit. I lean my head against Wade. He’s been watching me the entire time, and I suddenly feel tremendously fortunate to be with him.

I haven’t been paying attention as we drive, and when the vehicle comes to a stop, I can tell that it’s noisy outside. I glance over at Isla and her eyes light up.

The limousine’s door swings open to a plethora of flashes going off as Waylon Brass steps out. I watch him straighten his tux jacket, button it, and reach his hand back into the limo, offering me his assistance. His smile is beaming, and I take his offered hand with my right as he helps me out. The flashes seem to get more intense as I take my place beside him.

“Are you okay?” he says in my ear, and I nod as the flashes seem to intensify once again.

His hand rests against my waist as we walk away from the limousine and toward the ballroom that has a white carpet stretching from the drop-off area to the double doors ahead of us. Before we walk down the stretch of it where there are no more photographers, Wade turns us around to face the swarm of blinding flashes.

With subtlety he angles me so that my left side is toward the cameras and he places his right hand in his pocket while his left-hand remains at the small of my back, covering my piercings as he always does. I straighten my left hand out, holding my clutch as the photographers yell directions at us. There’s a soft murmur amongst them before someone shouts out, “Is that an engagement ring?”

I turn to look up at Wade. His smile widens as he glances down at me. He takes my lips with his and speaks against them, “now the entire world will know.”

I nip at his bottom lip before he pulls back and takes my hand, leading me down the remainder of the carpet and away from the crowd. Isla, Addy, and Liam follow behind us.

“Were they invited to take pictures?” I ask curiously.

“No, baby. They show up each year. It’s a mixture of media, paparazzi, and independent photographers.”

“Interesting.”

“Come.” He offers me his hand once he steps through the set of double doors and into a vast dome-shaped ballroom. This venue has a panoramic lakefront view, and the domed ceiling adds to its timeless look of pure elegance and splendor. He tugs on my hand a bit too hard, causing me to crash into his chest. When I look up at him, instead of the venue, I know it was on purpose. This gorgeous man cannot keep his hands off of me. I run my index finger over his newly shaven jaw, but I’d rather bite him there.

“Introduce me to the rest of your world, Mr. Brass.”

“It’d be my pleasure, Rye.”

He intertwines his fingers with mine and leads me to the center of the ballroom. It’s already filled with people that I don’t recognize. I know that Lola and Owen are here somewhere. Hold might be here as well since I invited him, but I’m unsure if he’ll actually show up.

Everyone is dressed up in black tie, and waiters are walking around with champagne flutes, tumblers of whiskey, and hors d’oeuvres. Wade pulls one of them aside and asks for two tumblers of the Macallan 64. My eyes shoot up to his, and he shrugs as if he’s not asking for two glasses of a bottle of Scotch worth a few hundred thousand dollars. The waiter nods and leaves us before he leads me into a crowd of men, introducing me as his fianceé to a few of what he refers to as his C-level employees—the men and women who work directly under him and make Brass Global a force to be reckoned with.

I catch a few names, but one stands out: Gage Cooper. For some reason, I can’t remember the others. He’s about the same height as Wade, with dirty blonde hair. He’s dressed in a tuxedo that looks just as tailored to his frame as Wade’s does. I give him a smile, and he nods toward me.

When the waiter finds us with the two tumblers, Wade takes them and hands one to me. I breathe in the one-of-a-kind Scotch and sigh as I take a sip. The liquor explodes in my mouth, and I almost moan. Wade’s eyes darken as he takes a drink from his glass before returning his hand to the small of my back.

“I see that you’re forcing your whiskey on beautiful women now, Brass,” Gage Cooper says as he eyes my tumbler.

“My fiancée knows what she likes, Coop. How’s your little girl doing?”

I watch the two of them interact, and it seems as if Wade is much more comfortable with Gage than he is around the other C-levels that he introduced me to, all of whom seem to have wandered off.

“She’s doing well. Maggie has her this evening, though, which is why I was finally able to make one of these things.”

“I’m glad that you came. I have a private whiskey stock. I’ll inform the waiter that you’re welcome to it.”

Gage nods and pats Wade on the shoulder. “Thank you. I might need a drink or two after dealing with her excuses.”

I smile up at him and ask, “You have a daughter?”

“I do, but her mother is . . . well, someone who no longer has a place in my life.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. How old is she?”

“Emery turned three two months ago.”

I smile at him as two other couples join us, one of them being Adriana and Liam. Gage’s eyes fall on Adriana and then to her hand in Liam’s. He clears his throat and offers me his hand. I let go of Wade’s to shake his. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Hadley. I’ll see you around.”

“You as well,” I call after him as he turns his back to us and takes quick strides away.

Addy smiles at me, and I walk over to her. “Hey stranger. How are you holding up?”

“I’m drunk. Frankly.”

I giggle and fix her smudged lipstick. “Should I kick Liam’s ass for you?”

“Sure. How high are those heels? Go ahead and stab him while you’re at it,” she slurs, and he looks down at the two of us.

“Planning my demise, beautiful?”

“Fuck you,” she hisses at him and takes my hand. “I need to pee.”

“I’ll take you,” I tell her and Liam nods as I take her hand and lead her off to the bathroom where I’m sure there will either be more drinking or tears.