He covers my mouth with his palm, and I can feel how careful he’s being, how in control he is. “Nothing, darling. All these things are only pale imitations of how much I love you. How much I want you.” His cock twitches as he says this, and Leo’s jaw works. “How much I need you.”

I turn away from the mirror, into the comforting black of his clothes, and try to catch my breath. It doesn’t work. “I love you,” I tell him, and it’s like the necklace and the ring and the gown—the words don’t match how I feel. “This party is terrifying.”

Leo pulls back to look into my eyes. He’s not laughing now. “Nothing will happen to you at my parents’ house. We’ll go, do an hour of small talk, have dinner, and leave.”

“Before it’s over?”

“Well before it’s over.” A glint in his eyes and a curve at the corner of his mouth make the room even hotter. “I have other plans for you.”

“Like what?”

“First on the list will be to get you out of your dress.” Leo traces the hard edges of my necklace. “We’ll leave this on. I want to see how it looks when you’re crying.”

“From sadness or orgasms?”

“You’ll see when I make you do it.”

I want to drag him down to the floor and forget about the party, but I settle for hooking my hands over his wrists and holding tight. Leo takes my face in his hands.

“Do you promise?”

“Of course I fucking promise.” He kisses me again, soft and quick and the meanest possible tease. “Time to go.”

“Won’t we be early?”

“No. We’ll be late.” He’s leading me out of the closet, through his bedroom, and out into the hall. “Eva’s been there all day, and she texted to say that Lucian and Elaine arrived together.”

I remember the cold, disapproving greeting Leo’s parents gave us at our own engagement party. “So it’s already a good time,” I say as he holds my coat for me.

Leo snorts. “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

He’s joking, but I know another secret about Leo—holidays are his favorite. Not because he wants to spend time with his parents at their mansion in Bishop’s Landing, but because they were safer for him. The more semi-public events his father had to attend, the less opportunity there was for violence. So, though he’d rather spend these occasions in peace, he rarely misses a gathering. After all this time, he’s still trying to keep everyone out of harm’s way.

His own coat on, Leo offers me his arm. “Ready?”