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Sonjay made a beeline to Anderson and Channing, bumping into couples who drank champagne by the stage. “Excuse me, Anderson.” She fidgeted in her navy blue wrap dress with a slit up to her hoo-ha. “I need to borrow my sister. Is that okay?” Before he answered, she pulled Channing to a table.
“Girl, what the hell is your problem?” Channing snatched away from her. “I’m sure the last thing you want is to embarrass Klein.”
Sonjay spun Channing in the opposite direction. “Look.”
Dex stood by the entrance, putting every man to shame in a black tux with a satin collar and a sexy, wide-eyed blonde on his arm.
“Shit,” Channing whispered. “What the hell is Dex doing here?”
“That’s what I’d like to know and he’s with Bridgette East.”
Channing squinted. “Wasn’t she Miss Thompsonville five times in a row?”
“Four,” Sonjay growled, wanting to snatch every bleach-blonde hair from Bridgette’s scalp. “I can’t believe he showed up with another woman. How could he do this?”
“Are you for real? You’re engaged to another man. Who are you to demand loyalty?”
“But Bridgette East?” Sonjay stomped the heel of her diamond-studded stiletto sandal. “That twit?”
Dex and Bridgette mingled, talking to guests.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Sonjay asked.
“I don’t care, and I’m going back to Anderson.”
“What?”
“You kept telling me to relax and give Anderson a chance well I’m trying to do that.” Channing straightened the skirt of her gown. “So let me enjoy this.”
“Channing?” Sonjay reached for Channing but she scurried away. “Shit.” When she turned back around, Dex was staring at her with that sly grin.
He whispered to that twat Bridgette, she nodded, and he headed toward Sonjay.
Sonjay pivoted in the other direction, rushing through guests.
He caught up with her and grabbed her arm before she left through the side exit. “Are you trying to avoid me?”
“More like forget you.”
“That dress.” He sucked his lip. “Wasn’t Rihanna wearing one just like it at the American Music Awards?”
She rolled her eyes. “Cut it out, Dex. What are you doing here—?”
“Yes that is Rihanna’s dress.” He snapped his fingers. “It didn’t look half as good on her.”
“Blow it out your ass.” She ran through the side door ending up in the empty, adjoining reception lounge.
Dex sauntered behind her. “You can’t get away.”
“Leave me alone.” She hurried through the little tables. “I don’t wanna talk to you.”
“Where the hell are you going?”
She looked behind decorative curtains that covered the walls. “How do you get out of here? Isn’t there a door?”
“You look great in that dress.” He clicked his jaw. “You’d look better out of it.”
She faced him, the slit exposing damn near everything.
“Mm.” He cocked his head to the side. “No woman gets me harder than you.”
“Not even Bridgette? How could you show up and with that bimbo?”
“The mayor invited Bridgette and she invited me.” He put his hands in his pockets. “She figures the pageant queen showing up with Thompsonville’s Most Eligible Bachelor would get her some easy press. No more and no less.”
“I’m supposed to believe her draped over your arm like a floozy is a favor to her?”
“I don’t care what you believe.”
She stomped toward him. “Are you fucking her?”
“Who are you to demand an explanation when you’re with another man?” His eyes twinkled. “Now maybe you understand how I feel when you go home to Klein every night.”
“Fine, I don’t care.” She breezed past him and he grabbed her arm.
“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t.” She tried to break free, but he was too strong. “You can have Bridgette or any woman you want. I don’t give a damn.”
“The only woman I want is you.”
She hurried out the room.
“Sonjay!”
****
Anderson stepped out on the hotel balcony. “Mayor Bordeaux?”
“Mr. Abraham.” Bordeaux’s chubby, rosy cheeks spread. “How are you?”
“Fine.”
“What brings you out here?” Bordeaux took a drag from his cigarette. “Ah, that’s heaven. My doctor wants me to quit, claiming I’m too old to be smoking.” He sat in the suede chair with the tall back. “I told him the cigarettes keep me alive.”
They laughed.
“I need something to take my mind off the stress.” Bordeaux crossed his legs, looking over the balcony. “It ain’t easy being me. I’ll tell you that.”
“I can imagine.” Anderson sauntered to the railing and peeked over it. “Thompsonville is a beautiful city. I’m glad I came tonight.”
Bordeaux smiled. “Any friend of Klein’s is a friend of mine.”
Anderson faced him, propping his elbows on the railing. “You value him a lot I see.”
“Klein’s like my shadow. I wouldn’t be able to do anything without him. I’ve never met someone who works so hard and is so determined. He’s driven like I was at his age.”
“He feels indebted to you. He says you’re making a run for Governor.”
“I plan to.” Bordeaux shook his foot.
“If you were Governor, what would you do about the current drinking and driving laws? Would someone like Nate Lancaster be free on bail if you ran the state?”
“I should’ve known you didn’t come out here just to shoot the breeze.” Bordeaux’s forehead wrinkled as he leaned up, fixing his white tuxedo jacket. “You want a story from me.” He stood. “Not happening here, Mr. Abraham.”
Anderson leapt in front of him. “This is Sonjay’s niece. Don’t you care?”
He waved his cigarette, smoke floating from the corner of his mouth. “I can’t take sides in this.”
“You mean you won’t. Let me get you on the record for my story.”
“For you to make me out as the villain? Too late for that.”
“I’ll give you a chance to address this in your own words. I’m not trying to dictate anything here.”
“You’re telling me you’re not personally involved? I saw you dancing with Channing Mills. This story doesn’t seem to be the only thing on your mind. This isn’t about me. I didn’t put Presley Mills in that hospital.”
“You didn’t punish the man who did.”
“I’m not the damn law.” Bordeaux spread his arms out. “It’s for the court to decide not me.”
“You’re the mayor. You can snap your fingers and Nate would be back in jail within minutes.”
Bordeaux got in Anderson’s face. “Leave or I’ll—”
“What?” Anderson moved closer, staring the shorter man in his eyes. “Throw me out? That would be the first action I’ve seen you take since I’ve been in this town.”
“Anderson.” Klein rushed to him. “What the hell are you doing? Who do you think you’re talking to like that?”
“Klein?” Bordeaux stomped out his cigarette. “I’m not taking disrespect at my party. It’s bad enough I got the media breathing down my back.” He gestured in Anderson’s direction without looking at him. “This is your trash, you take it out.” He marched off the balcony.
“What the hell is your problem?” Klein shoved Anderson, sweat clinging to the sides of his face. “This is my career you’re messing with, man.”
“Jesus.” Anderson shook his head. “I didn’t want to believe it but your career is all you care about.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Klein panted. “That man has done more for me than anyone ever has. He was there for me even when you weren’t. I owe him my life.”
“God, you’ve sold out. What happened to the guy from college who stuck up for what he believed in no matter the cost? We’re talking about family here, Klein.”
“You don’t think this is killing me?” He pounded his chest. “It makes me sick to think of Presley hurt, but I can’t take sides in this.”
“Wow. Maybe you would make a good politician. You’re good at doing nothing while making excuses for it.”
“Fuck you.” Veins pulsed in Klein’s neck. “Are you paying my damn bills? No. Is my future in your hands? Then don’t judge me, Anderson. Either you accept me for who I am or go to hell.”