Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) (31 page)

P
lacing my hand on the brass handle, I yanked it open. My heart was thumping in my chest and my nails were digging into my palm when I stepped out into the brightly lit ballroom. I took in a deep breath in an effort to calm myself down. I kept picturing the two of them fucking, the image of Gavin’s face pressed against hers, him whispering how badly he wanted her in her ear made me livid.

Who the hell did she think she was?

Trying
to erase the image from my mind, I reassured myself that I meant more to Gavin than she had.

I found Constance
standing in front of a table with a jewelry case opened. She held a necklace up to the light, admiring the sparkling, jeweled pendant that dangled from the end of the silver string. I walked over to her, taking cleansing breaths with each step.

Constance
placed the necklace back on the velvet cloth covering the case and looked up at me. Her face relaxed and her mouth hung loosely opened. “What’s wrong with you? You look pissed,” she said.

“Amy just cornered m
e in the restroom.”

“What?” H
er eyes widened and her head lurched forward a little. “
What
? This is getting ridiculous!”

“Oh, she just wanted to let me know that she’s fucked Gavin, wanted to
give me a few details so I’d know she was serious.” I ran my finger over the tablecloth and rubbed my lips together.

Constance crossed her arms in front of her.
I saw a fire spark behind her eyes and she blurted out, “What a stupid bitch!” Her voice was loud. The profane outburst caused several people to look up from the items they were browsing.

G
rabbing her arm, I yanked her over to the side of the room next to a large planter. The thin leaves of the palm it housed scraped the top of my head as I shoved her beneath it.

Constance leaned against the wall
, her eyes searching the crowd for Amy. “What did you do?” she asked while continuing to furiously scan the room.

“I honestly don’t know exactly what I said to her because I was so
damn angry, but I pretty much told her that I’d be screwing him tonight, not her.” Glancing over, I noticed Gavin standing in front of the case Constance and I had just been at.

Constance
frowned. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared out. “You should’ve punched her!”

L
ooking disapprovingly at her, I said, “Yes, please let me be that girl that starts a fight in the restroom at a charity event. That’s absolutely the reputation I want.”

“Well, if you had of punc
hed her hard enough she would’ve been laid out in the floor for about ten minutes before anyone found her, no one could have proved it was you.” She looked down at the floor and paused for a moment. Her eyes flinched and her brows arched, wrinkling her forehead. “I’ll do it,” she said.

“Enough. I’m just ready to leave.” I searched through the sea of people
for Ashley and Colton. “Where’d our friends go?”

Constance pointed to the ballroom. “Over there.”

Ashley and Colton were dancing. “They really like each other, huh?” I asked Constance.

“Yep, they do. I can’t believe my brother put on a suit for a girl. It’s sickening
.”

I
turned back to the auction tables and watched as Gavin browsed the items. Constance moved the palm leaf out of her way and peered over at him. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help but to stare at his ass.”

I shook my head. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously.” Her head bobbed up and down while she stared at Gavin, licking her lips. “Grrrrr —- Mwrah!”

“Oh, my God. You are such a perv!”

I peeked around Constance and saw Amy crossing the room. She was making a beeline over to Gavin. Her strides were long and her hips moved from side to side with each step. She walked up to Gavin, stopping next to him. When he moved down to the next set of items, so did Amy.

Constance
glared at me and rolled her lips under her teeth. “Ya gonna do anything about that? Hmmm? Because I’m not above punching her.”

I
nstead of answering her, I just walked toward the table and stood beside Gavin. He looked down at me and smiled. I glared over at Amy, who was staring at me; her eyes were swimming in a sea of envy. I swept a piece of hair behind my ear, running my hand along Gavin’s back briefly as I asked, “How much longer? I can’t stand it. I just want to go back to your house.”

Gavin cleared his throat. “Just a little while longer.”
His voice became loud enough for Amy to overhear him say, “I can’t wait to get you home, love. Having to watch you all night knowing I can’t touch you has been almost unbearable. I want you so badly. I just want to feel your body underneath my mouth.” His eyes fogged over with lust and his fingers rubbed over my hips as he wet his lip with his tongue. “You look so sexy in that dress.” He lowered his voice and groaned, “I can’t wait to
rip
it off of you.”

I let out a seductive laugh and
flirtatiously tossed my hair behind my back. “That’s exactly why I want to get outta here,” I said as I glowered over Gavin’s shoulder. My eyes met Amy’s with a look of pure contempt. The corners of my lips curled up, forming a closed smile with my red lips.

Letting
out a frustrated sigh, Amy stomped off.

Gavin laughed
. “She’s a piece of work.” He glanced around the room and backed a few inches away from me. “Are you staying for the auction?”

“No, I think I’m
gonna go outside for some fresh air.”

Gavin
nodded and said, “All right. I’ll find you when it’s over.”

“You better.”

On the way out I passed by Dan. He forced a cordial smile and kept walking. I was beyond relieved that he was leaving me alone; I had enough to deal with without him adding anything to it.

Colto
n came up to me and Constance. “We’re gonna go. You two staying here?” he asked.

L
ooking over my shoulder at Constance, I answered him. “Just for a little while longer. Constance, you want to go with them? I’ll drive your car home.”

She squinted her eyes
, counting something on her fingers. “How much did you drink?”

“I don’t know, four glasses… five?”

“Yeah, I’ll stick around. You definitely don’t need to be driving, even if my car is a piece of shit.”

“
I’m gonna go to Gavin’s,” I began.

One of her eyes narrowed a
nd she lowered one brow. “Are you gonna leave here with him? Won’t that look a little strange if someone sees you?”

She had a point
.

Abou
t thirty minutes later the auction was over and people poured back into the ballroom. I knew it would be best if Gavin and I didn’t leave at the same time, so Constance and I headed outside.

The warm, humid air
surrounded me when I stepped outside. A film of moisture clung to my skin as we walked down the steps toward the valet.

C
onstance dug around in her purse, almost losing her balance on her ridiculous heels. “Did I give you the keys?” she asked.

“I don’t have them
. You gave them to the valet. Remember? Fancy event and all.”

“Oh, right.”

We waited in the drive that circled the front of the building. I looked up to the sky and couldn’t see a single star. The lights from the city blocked them from view.

“Excuse me
,” a voice called out from the top of the stairs. “I think that woman is supposed to be riding with me.” Gavin came jogging down the stairs and walked up to me and Constance. “You all right to drive?” he asked as he looked at Constance.

Constance nodded.
“I only had two drinks. I’m fine.”

The valet pulled her
car around to the front.

Gavin
studied her, trying to make sure she wasn’t lying to him. “Okay, well, I’ll take her home with me.” A smile crawled across his face and he placed one hand behind my back.

Constance
leaned inside the driver’s door, looking up at Gavin, and said, “So I figured, you really need to get some friends that I could date, you know? I mean, after all, you’ve stolen my best friend.”

“I’ll see what I ca
n do,” Gavin replied.

Constance clim
bed in the car and Gavin shut her door. He handed his ticket to the valet and glanced over at me. “You have a good time?”

“Is it okay for me to ride with you?”
I nervously asked him.

“I don’t see why not. I could just be a nice guy trying to ensure an employee
made it home safely after she’d one too many glasses of chardonnay.”

“Yea
h, I just don’t want you to get in trouble.” I glanced up at him.

Damn
, he is sexy.

“
Trouble?” he chuckled. “I’m not too worried about it.” He directed his eyes down at the pavement and shuffled his feet. “So, you didn’t answer my question, did you have a good time?”

“It was
all right.”

I wanted to bring up the encounter I had with Amy in the restroom. I
needed to see his reaction. I was too drunk to try to formulate a polite way of bringing the topic up, and honestly at this point I didn’t really care how inappropriate it may be. I blurted out, “You slept with Amy?”

He
stared straight ahead and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

I’d been hoping that maybe Amy
was just a really damn good liar, but his body language told me that they’d been together. The valet pulled Gavin’s Porsche up in the circle, got out, and handed the keys to him.

The young boy
hurried over to the passenger side door and opened it for me. “Ma’am,” he held the door open. I didn’t budge. I was waiting on Gavin to answer my question.

Gavin
mumbled as he went around to the driver’s side, “Yeah.”

The valet was
still waiting on me to get in the car. Glancing over, I made eye contact with him as I bunched my dress up and climbed into the car. “Thank you,” I said.

“Have a good even
ing,” the valet replied and shut the door.

Gavin shifted the gears and pressed the accelerator
, pulling out of the drive. The light from his dash cast a green glow on his face and I could see tension forming on his brow.

“I did,” h
e paused as he shifted gears again. Gavin gave me a quick glance. “It bothers you, aye?”

“A little,” I
said quietly. My mind spiraled out of control and I anxiously picked at my nails.

He took in a short breath before he said,
“That’s why I was so agitated about going to dinner tonight. I didn’t want to be around her. Don’t let her bother you.” He sighed. “I know it doesn’t make me look good, but she really meant nothing to me. Honest.”

I turned
back to face him. “I saw you two eating lunch when I first started. How long ago was it, Gavin?”

Gavin
threw his head back, resting his head against the red leather seat. “It was before that. Maybe a month or so. She wanted to have lunch. She said it was to discuss some of these studies we’re trying to get started. I didn’t see the harm in it. I’d already told her I wasn’t interested in pursuing anything with her.” He glanced over at me. “However, that lunch proved that she couldn’t handle working with me.”

Anger trickled throughout my body
and the trust I had miraculously begun to feel with him was faltering. He’d told me he’d never done anything with someone he worked with before. I hated being lied to,
especially
for no reason.

“So you knew that you’d
be working with her when you fucked her?” The tone in my voice made it evident I was upset with him.

“
Jesus! No.” Gavin sounded slightly annoyed. “I met her one of the few times I went out with Zach. Her service refers out to the clinic sometimes. She came over to our table and we started talking. I’d heard Scott mention her, but had no idea there was a chance we may work together on a study. Amy wasn’t even involved in research then.”

I sat there, the vision of him
screwing her incessantly creeping back into my head. Not wanting to look at him, I stared out the window. The alcohol made it almost impossible to control the smart-ass comments rolling to the tip of my tongue. “So, you took her home and fucked her. End of story?” I asked with a hint of disgust hidden in my tone.

Gavin
cut his eyes over at me. He looked displeased and his tone became stern. “Brooke. Don’t.” His tone almost reminded me of my father’s when he was disappointed in me.

Alcohol always made me more emotional
and I could feel tears pool in my eyes. I tried to pry my eyes open and make the tears dry up before they rolled down my cheek. “She told me you fucked her, and from the way it sounds you fuck everybody the same,” I said.