“It’s been far too long, Ezra.” I turned my attention to the man and took his arm as he offered it. “Catch me up?”

Long gone was the shy, introverted boy, and in his place stood a man who would cause any woman to swoon.

“Oh, do I have stories to tell you,” Ezra whispered deviously.

19

ADDISON

“Meth and blood all over the inside of the car,” he said in a scandalized whisper. “And they really thought the police would believe anyone would leave all that perfectly good product behind, let alone rub it into the carpet as evidence.”

I let out a light gasp.

“But Victoria was like straight As, got into Stanford, Miss Perfect⁠—”

“She cracked,” he said with light in his eyes. “It’s the quiet ones, I’m telling you.”

I shook my head and took a sip of the champagne we grabbed on our first circle of the property. We stopped in front of a less crowded set of paintings to continue our gossip session.

Fuck, did I love hearing just how fucked up people from our high school had turned out. It made me feel better about the shit show my life had turned into. Like I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t where I thought I’d be.

“You seem to be doing well, though,” I commented, motioning to his velvet suit. “What is it you do now?”

“I own my own internet security company.” He wore a huge grin. His pride radiated off him, and I couldn’t help but smile back. “It’s not where I want it to be just yet, but we got a few good clients that have really kick-started our growth.”

“Well, you made it here, didn’t you?” I asked and motioned to the crowd filled with the wealthiest people Dominic could find. “That’s no easy feat.”

“I’m not the only one. You’re here. With Warren King, no less.”

I flinched at the mention of Warren. I had hoped that Ezra would overlook it. I couldn’t help but automatically look for him.

My eyes had wandered to his frame less than a minute before, and luckily enough, he was still standing in the same spot, looking utterly annoyed by the tall brunette who was animatedly talking his ear off.

His broad back was to me; the only way I could tell he was annoyed was just how tense the muscles in his neck were getting.

It had been hard to get my eyes off him all night. His presence was that overwhelming.

He turned just slightly, his eyes finding mine, like he could tell I was watching him, and we both just stood there, staring, for a second.

Until the brunette called his attention back to her by leaning forward and running her hand up his bicep.

Annoyance prickled at the back of my neck.