He stopped short, his chest going tight and his thoughts fading away. He honestly hadn’t thought she’d attend this year, or he would have made some excuse to skip it and send someone else as the O’Malley representative. Except, even as he tried to believe that, he knew he was a fucking liar.

He’d respected her wishes. He’d stayed the fuck away from her. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from keeping tabs on her, though, even though every piece of information felt like losing her all over again. Cael had almost gone to her after her husband’s death six months ago, would have if not for her soft words still ringing through his ears from the last Christmas ball.

I’m not for you, Cael O’Malley. This was only ever a temporary escape.

As if the strength of his thoughts drew her, Eleanor looked up and met his gaze across the ballroom. She looked good. She always looked fucking good. At forty-seven, she’d never been one of those senator’s wives who tried to downplay her sexuality, though she’d also never flaunted it. A careful balance. He’d always wondered if it exhausted her to continually dance on that knife’s edge of public opinion. The one time he’d asked, she’d laughed the question off.

Tonight, she’d leaned a little more to the sexy side. Her pale blond hair was pulled back from her face in an elegant style that left her neck and shoulders bare. Like his aunt, Eleanor had gone with black for this event, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress that clung to her breasts and then fell in a straight line to the floor.

Eleanor held his gaze for a long moment, the room seeming to still around them, though he was distantly aware that they were the only two affected. Finally, she turned, breaking the connection, and headed toward a doorway leading to another hallway filled with festive lights.

Cael was moving before he made a conscious decision to follow. Rose grabbed his arm. “Where are you running off to?”

He barely looked back at her. “Bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Rose released him with an arched brow. “Uh-huh. Enjoy the party, cousin.”

He was already gone, cutting through the swathe of dangerous people in expensive clothing. They didn’t matter, and Rose would be fine without him. Even if everyone wasn’t determined to be on their best behavior, Rose was more than capable of taking care of herself. She was heir, after all, and Cael knew all too well what was required of the heir to a mafia family after watching his sister walk that path.

None of it mattered tonight.