Casey
The evening was wonderful, full of good food, dancing, and lots of conversation with people I hadn’t seen in ages. Jade made a beautiful belle of the ball in a sleeveless, strapless, emerald sequined gown, her long red hair swept up in a messy updo. Nick’s cousin, Michael Kingsley, had danced with her several times already and I wondered if there was something going on with them, but there was no time to ask her because her dance card was full. Even at the exorbitant price of a dance, she barely had a break all evening and seemed to be having the time of her life. I was happy for her, because her life had been hard before we’d had our first hit with Viktim of Prey, so she deserved this and more.
My biggest surprise of the evening was watching Nick and Skye. They’d danced multiple times and she’d moved to his table for dinner, where they talked and laughed the whole night. She didn’t seem at all his type, but maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did. Our relationship had always been such a strange mixture of friendship and sex, I probably didn’t have any idea what he looked for in a girlfriend. As far as I knew, he’d never had a serious one. Skye seemed like an unlikely candidate, but they appeared to be getting along and I wanted nothing more than for my future sister-in-law to be happy. Or happier.
Erik had bought Sandor a dance with Jade and they were on the floor now, talking animatedly, as if they were friends. This event seemed to bring out the best in people and I enjoyed seeing it. I made a mental note to attend every year, if possible, since this had been such a memorable evening thus far. Sandor dancing with Jade might have been a highlight though. He was tall, probably six-five to her five-eleven, and he was striking in a tuxedo. I’d never really looked at him as a man before because I’d only had eyes for Erik since we’d gotten together, but women were probably going to be clamoring to find out who he was after this, and I smiled to myself just thinking about it.
“Hey, Casey.” A familiar voice made me turn and it took me a moment to recognize Liz.
“Hi.” I gave her a hug. “What are you doing here?”
“I try to attend every year. I didn’t get in until this afternoon, though, so I didn’t have time to let anyone know I was coming.”
“I’m glad to see you. What’s been happening? How’s construction going?”
We talked about the hotel, the upcoming wedding and other random topics as I occasionally scanned the room, watching friends and family as they danced and drank. We were about to step outside to get some fresh air on the open-air patio just outside the ballroom when something caught my eye. I turned, squinting slightly as I tried to make out who was who and what was going on. Skye and a man I didn’t recognize were standing by one of the ballroom exits, and he was holding her by the arm. By the looks of it, she was trying to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. He looked vaguely familiar, but also had on a mask that covered his face so I could only go on the gut feeling he was someone I knew, just not his identity.
“What are you looking at?” Liz asked, following my gaze.
“Oh, shit, shit, shit.” I gripped Liz’s arm. “Where’s Erik? Oh my god, this is not good!”
Liz swung her gaze around and spotted Erik at the bar. “He’s over there—” she began.
“Go get him. Now!” I turned and hurried over to Skye, leaving Liz confused but already moving.
“Skye!” I called out to her with a big smile. “The photographers are waiting to take a family photo of us—can you get away?”
Skye turned grateful eyes to me. “Of course,” she said immediately.
“We were about to dance.” Omar turned and the look he gave me was filled with hatred.
“I don’t think the lady wants to dance with you.” I instinctively moved closer to Skye, putting a comforting hand on her arm and squeezing lightly. I’d only seen the man in pictures before tonight, but I’d recognize him anywhere.
“The lady doesn’t have a choice, unless she wants to make a scene, which I don’t think she wants to do.” He stepped closer to us, his smarmy gaze shooting through me like an arrow.
“Omar, please,” Skye whispered softly. “Why are you here? This isn’t necessary.”
“Oh, but it is,” he hissed under his breath. “You left me—and Limaji women do not leave their husbands. You’ve humiliated me and embarrassed me.”
“You had a mistress,” she whispered back. “Our laws do not allow for adultery!”
“The writers of those laws never had to sleep with a cold fish like you,” he ground out, reaching for her again. “You will dance with me, Skye, and people are beginning to stare.”
“She doesn’t have to dance with you.” I stepped forward. “I’m a black belt in karate, and I will take you down even if it makes a scene.”
“Casey, no.” Skye fearfully clutched my arm. “I’ll just dance with him and—”
“What the hell is going on?” Erik’s voice was low but deadly as he came up to us with Nick and Sandor right behind him like second-in-command lieutenants.
“This woman is still my wife, and I will dance with her, whether you like it or not,” Omar said, his voice equally steely.
“Skye doesn’t want to dance with him,” I said, meeting Erik’s eyes meaningfully.
“Then she won’t.” Nick never even looked at Skye, his eyes pasted on Omar’s face. “This is my family’s hotel, our event, and you weren’t on the guest list. You can leave on your own, or I can have you escorted out.”
“I will make the scene of all scenes if you try to keep me from my wife. Is that the kind of press you want for your precious charity event? I also paid good money for my ticket.”
“Sandor, take Omar to my father and get him his money back.” Nick still hadn’t broken his gaze.
“So you’re going to deny the children with cancer that much money just because she’s being her normal selfish self?” he taunted.
“Not at all.” Nick smiled but it was without mirth. “I’m going to repay that money personally. And please note, Casey and I are both black belts in karate—so trust me when I tell you that you won’t walk out of here on your own if you don’t do it in the next five seconds.”
The men stared each other down until I felt sure that one was going to take a swing at the other. Skye was clutching my hand, and Erik stood next to Nick, ready to take whatever action was necessary. Finally, Omar stepped back and gave Skye a little bow.
“My apologies, Your Highness. This was obviously not meant to be tonight, but there will be another occasion, I trust.” He turned to Sandor. “I understand you’ll be returning my money to me?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll go with you,” Nick said, his eyes still not leaving Omar’s face, “to make sure there are no issues.”
“Don’t try to see my sister again,” Erik finally spoke up. “The divorce will be final in a few weeks, and she never wants to see you again.”
“She has no say in the matter,” Omar retorted. “That’s not how things work in our country.”
“I don’t know what country you’re talking about, but women have rights in ours.”
“Not for long.” He walked away, his head held high, leaving us all holding our collective breaths.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I whispered worriedly.
“I don’t fucking know.” Erik blew out a breath. “But I need to talk to my father.”
“I want to go home,” Skye said in a shaky voice.
“Hang in there just a little longer,” I told her. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe here with us.”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” she whispered.
“Come on, sit down.” I dragged her to the nearest table and pushed her into a chair.
“I’ll get her some water.” Erik motioned to a waiter as I sat beside Skye.
“Breathe,” I told her. “You’re okay. He can’t hurt you. We’re all here.”
“But he came all the way to Las Vegas, to this event, to find me. How did he even know I would be here? I hadn’t fully decided until a few days ago, and only our family knew.”
“He was probably hedging his bets,” Erik said, handing her a glass of water. “It’s a huge event and you’re about to be single again. It made sense that you would attend.”
“What does this mean? I can’t even leave the house again because he’s looking for me?” Her eyes were filled with trepidation. “And what the hell was he talking about that women in our country have rights for now? He scares me.”
“He scares me too,” Erik said quietly.
“I wish you were going to be king,” she said sadly. “He wouldn’t be able to do or say those horrible things if you were.”
I glanced at my fiancé and saw a muscle twitching in his cheek. He wanted to be king too. Too bad that could never happen.