Chapter 17: The Christmas Event

OLLIE

“Please don’t touch the gem with bare hands,” one of Maxime Keller’s jewelry guards warned, “You’ll have to wait until Mr. Keller comes to retrieve the jewels at the end of the night.”

“If you keep your distance, I won’t touch it again,” I bargained, passing my hands over the long-sleeved haute couture gown Sarah had left in my closet.

On my left breast, the beautiful peacock brooch popped, complementing the golden embellishment on the dress’s fabric.

“Stand straight or else the feathers will look weird,” Sarah huffed, standing to my right.

“Confidence, Ollie, you look great.”

I glanced at my sister, looking pretty in pink.

The dress hugged all her curves in the right ways without showing any skin. ~Clever girl.~

“I look like a bird.”

Though I had to admit the tight mermaid figure and low back cleavage complimented my tiny waist, the long feathers in the tail were far too dramatic.

I feared I looked like the leading actress of a soap opera called ~Who Stole The Turkey?~

“Nonsense, you might be the best dressed,” she said. “So, perfect for the announcement.”

“Is that necessary?” I was unable to shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

I was sure it was going to be a catastrophe for the Rothschild family.

“Absolutely,” she muttered as we both watched Anna Rothschild from a safe distance.

Greetings and small talk—who knew how someone could endure being fake for so long?

“Your monster-in-law looks busy,” I said flatly.

That woman was in her element, flattering everyone with her public relations skills.

Her off-the-shoulder black satin ball gown floated with every step she made.

“Don’t call her that,” Sarah added, making me aware of Anna’s style, modern and nostalgic.

That woman was the epitome of class and distinction.

Her hair was pulled up, making her necklace the centerpiece.

Three strands of natural pearls connected by an emerald and a diamond clasp.

Yeah, she didn’t have security behind her.

Sarah and I were officially in trouble.

“The event is starting,” Sarah beamed as the music became powerful, announcing The Christmas Event.

The orchestra was about to hit a glorious peak.

Every instrument hit the perfect note, guided by the precise and firm stroke of the conductor’s hands in the air, merging into the perfect melody.

Then Alexander appeared, blond, preppy, and handsome, standing by his mother and placing a protective hand over her shoulder.

Sarah sighed before smiling like a fool.

“I should say hi.”

“Be my guest.” I took a step back as a sign that I was staying in this far end corner.

My sister walked to the center of the event with one of Mr. Keller’s guards on her tail.

I placed my elbows on the table, resting my face.

Who needed company?

I was mesmerized, hearing the live classical music so nearby.

Someone spoke beside me.

“That’s one of the world’s most respected conductors. We’re lucky to be here in his presence.”

I turned around and found Archibald Price standing in his crisp suit, smiling brightly.

If I thought the man was good looking in his polo uniform, in a black tuxedo he was a catch.

“Why are you hiding over here, Ballgames~ Girl~?”

~Think, Olivia. Think of something smart and funny. Show him the bold Olivia.~

Pointing at the peacock brooch, I whispered, “I’m a jewelry model, waiting for my grand entrance.”

He smirked.

“Bringing the big guns!”

“Yes, my shift ends at ten o’clock,” I shot back playfully.

~Oh my god.~ I was so bad at this.

He leaned in as if he were telling me a secret.

“Such a tiny model; I’ve never heard about that before.”

“Oh yes, we exist. I’m a hand model, too.” I waved a hand at him. ~A hand model? Really, Olivia?~

“Not buying it. Your hands are too…” He reached for my hand and held it in his, examining it.

Electricity ran down my hand, sending goosebumps through my body.

Did he know the effect he had on women?

I watched his face.

He was enjoying this.

His big palm was almost three times the size of my hand, and his skin felt warm, soft, and inviting against mine.

“They are too natural,” he finished, still examining my fingers.

My nails had no polish and were cut short, but had a feminine and delicate form.

I was pretty sure I could have pulled this off if I’d had a manicure before the event.

I pulled my hand away and placed it on my lap, slightly uncomfortable.

My heart was beating fast.

“What can I say? Your fun-sized pinkie blew your cover,” he added.

“Damn pinkie,” I replied, feeling a bit self-aware, and with a shy smile.

His charming personality opened me up, and he got to know one thing I was really good at hiding behind my bold personality: my goofy, awkward, and insecure self.

“Has anyone told you how adorable you are?” He tilted his head to one side.

I felt my blood vessels opening, flushing my skin.

I was surely as red as a tomato.

“You are in a new league of cuteness,” he added. “I swear if you blush again… You might steal my heart.”

I, Olivia Summer, blushed again.

***

DARIUS

Finally, I was enjoying solitude.

Being the opposite of my mother, I liked being alone, especially at parties.

There were things I hated more than small talk, so I was grateful for every minute of silence.

The longer I could stretch this, the better.

I watched the guests enjoying the event.

Some watched me with curious eyes, but no one approached to make conversation.

Two long legs caught my attention as the red silk of her gown gave space for her left thigh to pop out deliciously with each step.

Seline, my one and only right hand, ignored all the curious eyes that greedily drank in her luscious body, and stopped right in front of me.

She rose onto her toes, bringing her face close to mine.

I gazed at the smooth, pale skin of her shoulder as her nails dug lightly into my chest.

“Hi, lover boy,” she whispered playfully in my ear.

~Lover boy?~

I dodged the kiss intended for my neck.

Not many women could reach the height to whisper in my ear—not that many would even dare to touch me, but Seline was the exception.

She was persistent.

“Not here,” I scanned the room but didn’t find what I was looking for.

“I’m not in the mood,” I lied.

I was always in the mood.

Looking at her perfectly round breasts made me clench my jaw.

Now, she was making me angry.

I liked making them beg for it, but she was demanding.

“Always so moody, Darius. It would benefit you to relax,” she murmured, extending her arms across my chest and digging her nails lightly into my skin—a savage invitation.

“I said, I’m not in the mood,” I replied. My eyes were already narrowing with disapproval.

I wasn’t mad at her. I was annoyed.

How many times did I have to remind her of boundaries? She knew better than to kiss me on the lips. That was off-limits.

~Keep pushing me like that, and I will fuck you so roughly tonight you’ll be sore for a week.~

The truth was that neither Seline nor any woman here tonight ignited anything in me, except for that tiny little creature who had slapped me and continued to enrage me with every word.

That dirty little mouth.

~Where are you hiding?~

“I’ve missed you too, Darius,” Seline fluttered her eyelashes, placing a glass of scotch on the rocks in my hand.

I took a sip.

Did I like her because she took care of all my needs? Maybe.

Was it something besides her beauty and smarts? No.

Seline checked all the boxes. Blonde, classy, intelligent, and gifted with those long legs.

My father’s words resonated in my mind.

~Build a family. Fuck a whore. Pay a surrogate. The options are limitless, even take that blonde you work with as a partner if you want someone as strong as your mother. Figure it out, but do it quickly.~

I sipped the drink, thinking—not that I was watching her any differently.

I put her ~partner~ skills to the test. “Let’s cut the sentimental talk.”

She had this look. The one that said there was something she was not telling me.

“So work it is. You are welcome, you ungrateful bastard,” she said, fluttering her eyelashes and putting her phone in my hands.

There it was.

Of all the reasons she was my right hand, this was the most important.

The way she said exactly what was on her mind was what did it for me. No filter, no sugarcoating. She had a dagger for a tongue.

She delivered the blow while I looked at the screen. “The news leaked.”

I only raised my eyebrows. Our gaze fixed.

“I told you sooner or later you would have to announce InkForce as a Rothschild acquisition,” she added.

“When?” I asked, reading the story on the screen. It was detailed. They knew everything about me managing InkForce off the books.

“That’s a draft. The story is to be published by the end of this week. It could be useful to announce it tonight. Food for thought?”

“It’s been years since your father reunited all the partners and stakeholders in the same room,” she noted.

With Sophie’s will being unlocked, this was no coincidence—not that she needed to know the details, just as the rest of the world. They were all waiting for my father to drop the new playboard.

~Is that why you want my signature, Father? Move resources here and there. Show the Board how, after the reading of the will, your influence is still untouched?~

“You are silent, brooding. What’s up?” She placed her hands above her hips, facing me.

“Well, think out loud. Are you going to do it then?” she pressed. “Tonight?”

Announce InkForce to the world and become the public leader of my publisher?

“Whether you want to promote me to be the new CEO or you want me to keep handling the operations, it’s up to you,” she said, putting a hand in mine.

“I’ll consider it,” I muttered.

Her almond eyes glittered as a smile formed on her lips.

She really wanted that position; I could read it so clearly in her before I pulled away, breaking contact.

“InkForce is already competing well in the market. This is good. Your last name will bring prestige to the publisher.”

She had no idea how many people wanted to tear me down at the right opportunity.

“Maybe. I’m certain it will attract trouble.” I scrolled to the end of the story.

Seline stood by my side as we watched the guests.

“The top-tier media is here, if you must know, among others,” she told me. “I recognized them. Whatever your brother wants to announce, he made sure to mix in some reporters as guests.”

~He did?~

“Good catch,” I praised, giving her some deserved appreciation. “Then we have everything in place to run our story before hell breaks loose.”

Surprise got her, and then her face turned sad.

I knew she wasn’t happy about staying in the same position.

“I guess it’s going to happen.” She hid her emotions with a slight grin.

I stared right into her almond eyes. “Yes.”

We needed to act before Alexander. Whatever he wanted to announce needed to wait.

If everything went according to the plan, tonight I would announce my position as InkForce’s CEO.

“Anxious about Edmund?” She squeezed my hand tightly.

About stabbing my father?

“He will not see it coming,” I muttered.

I had to take advantage of the element of surprise.

“Go and make everything ready. We’ll start in thirty minutes.”

She nodded in agreement and left, and I breathed the night’s fresh air, imagining the possibility of a new start.

A new start that could mean freedom.

I had none. None.

I was the executor now. The strings that bound me to my father were getting thicker, and having that news leaked already exposed me. Exposed my legacy.

Now I was out for the wolves, but at least my grandmother left me prepared to stay strong among them.

I was fighting.

Talking about wolves, I spotted Junichiro Saionji in the crowd, staring right at me with his big pitch-black eyes.

Junichiro Saionji was close to my age, yet he appeared younger.

I scanned his body language. Bored and relaxed, with those Japanese features and prominent nose.

Why was he not mourning his father?

“Saionji,” I acknowledged him as soon as I got close to him.

“It is always a pleasure to meet you, Robert.” He managed to make his statement sound like a question. ~So entitled with your aristocratic blood, aren’t you?~

“Your brother is finally back from all his ~travels,~” he said. “Is he planning something?”

“Didn’t picture you reading the yellow press, Saionji,” I teased him. “Unless you are into my brother, I suppose?”

He laughed, passing his fingers through his long black hair, now slicked back from his elongated oval face.

“He brought her here.”

We looked at Alexander holding Sarah Summer’s waist close to him.

Yeah, both he and the board were enjoying the view.

I changed topics, diverting the attention from my brother and his curvy trouble.

“I’m sorry to hear about your father; I heard it happened quite recently,” I offered condolences, searching for any trace of weakness.

“A seizure, isn’t it humbling how nothing can save you from a quick death?” he agreed. “We are all going there, eventually, and we are here minding what we can’t bring with us once we rot.”

~Humbling~. That was a first. Maybe the guy was human after all, or did his father’s death screw his mind?

“Getting soft, Saionji?” I frowned.

“Wiser,” he replied softly, a bit cryptic. It bothered me, especially that he was looking at me.

“My father was always so fond of you; it made me wonder. What is so special about the grand Robert Darius Rothschild? All those golf weekends talking business with you. He never cleared them from his schedule, even when sick; it was like he liked seeing them.”

“Are you expecting a golf invitation from me, Juinichiro?” I asked him, dark sarcasm all the way.

He scoffed as an answer.

His family was as influential in the East as mine was in the West, and yes, it was part of my responsibility to maintain the partnership our families have held for decades.

His father enjoyed golfing.

“So, no tee time?” I raised my eyebrows.

His father’s death was a big change in their infrastructure, as Sophia’s Rothschild departure had been for us.

“It is a big portfolio.”

I reminded him.

He scratched his neck. “He never did such things for me, you know? He never scheduled time for outdoor activities. Only for you, Darius,” he said, his lips pressed in a flat line.

No, he was not looking for pity—maybe a spark of resentment? Never thought I could relate to him.

Yeah, well, I was never going to admit to him my father was the same piece of shit as his, even when I was Kenzo’s exception to that rule.

“To your father...” I raised my glass. “May he rest in…peace.”

~And may our business alliance remain in peace too,~ was along the lines as he too raised his glass to mine, nodding respectfully, and then drank.

After he swallowed, he turned his attention to a stunning brunette dancing in a backless dress.

“Such a beautiful girl.” He followed her with his eyes. “Don’t you think?”

And all this time, I’d thought he had a thing for Seline. They all did.

I glanced at the woman in the feather dress, tracing her small and tight body.

Something was familiar, something about that face.

~Who are you?~

Only when she finished smiling that silly smile did I recognize her.

Behind that heavy makeup, I could see her.

It was Olivia.

She looked different. I would even say beautiful.

A petite beauty.

I studied her as she smiled brightly at a blond man.

The hem of her skirt fluttered out for a second and I saw she was standing on his shoes.

She wasn’t dancing; she was being guided.

My eyes moved to her partner’s face.

Look at that. Olivia Summer in the arms of the ~golden boy.~

His arms touched her low back and brought her closer, and something bitter in my mouth changed my mood.

It wasn’t jealousy. It didn’t have a name.

~Aren’t you tired of eating my crumbs, Archie?~

Rage filled me, pumping my blood, spreading a wicked smile across my face.

I wanted to end their little moment.

The urge to erase that goofy smile from her lips consumed me.

~***~

Ollie

We’d been talking for a while now, playing this flirtatious game.

He stared into my eyes, softening his face. “But really, tell me your story.”

“Long story short? I am broke, single, and unemployed.”

He watched me as I brought the champagne glass to my mouth and drank the whole thing.

“And I really don’t know what the fuck I am doing here.” I opened my arms wide and shrugged, giving him a funny expression.

“How about finding out that your genetic father is actually your uncle?” he teased, turning his mouth in a U shape.

What he said was alarming, but he sounded so cool about it, like a Floridian under a hurricane alert.

Surely, he was joking.

“Scandalous. Does your father know?”

“All Prices are blond,” he shook his head in response.

Archibald Price was as blond as the sun.

“My eyes, maybe—no one in my direct family has them.”

Yes, those eyes were so green.

“How is this easy to talk to you, Olivia?”

~Because you don’t know me. Because it’s easy to talk to strangers.~

I felt a warmth in my chest. “I know, right? I am kind of awesome.”

It had been a while since I’d felt so carefree.

He smiled at me, and I smiled back.

Oh, but he was a keeper!

“It’s sealed,” I blurted.

“What is sealed?” He gave me his sexy smirk again.

“You. Me. Friends!” I explained cheerfully.

“Ouch!” He put his hand to his heart, faking pain. “Friendzone already? My answer is a solid no.”

“What? Why? You don’t want to be friends with me?” I made my best puppy face.

He stared at me solemnly, choosing carefully what to say, and then pulled my chair with a swift movement, dragging it effortlessly in front of him, closing the gap between us, making our legs touch.

I swallowed hard as my mind went back to the bathroom with Darius.

~Stop it, you fool. Concentrate on what’s in front of you.~

“Do you picture kissing your friends?” He leaned closer to me.

My heart was racing but not in the savage way it did with Darius.

This was different. Softer. Steady.

“Archibald!” I blushed and slouched into the back of my chair, turning my face away.

“I don’t want to be your friend.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“How about I be your dance partner for the night?” He stood and held out his hand with a dazzling smile.

How could I say no to that smile? How could anyone?

I reached for his hand, and we walked to the center of the dance floor, where the party was buzzing.

~Shit!~

I had been so busy flirting that when Archibald had offered me his hand, I’d forgotten to mention a little detail: I had two left feet.

“What’s wrong?” Archibald asked.

His hand squeezed mine as soon as I started shaking my head.

“I don’t know how to dance this,” I murmured.

“Hop on my feet.”

“What?”

“Trust me. You’re tiny; it won’t hurt me.”

He took me by the waist and pulled me up like a doll, placing the tips of my sandals on top of his shoes.

I felt like a kid.

My father had done this when he was alive.

I hated those kinds of memories. It was too painful to give it a second thought, so I focused on how indecisive I felt instead.

Archer wrapped his arms around me. “Trust me.”

I hadn’t noticed before, but Archer’s arms were broad, and his posture was solid.

I swallowed nervously, placing my hands over his shoulder and arm, bracing myself for how horribly this could go.

“Ready?” he smiled.

Oh, how those emerald eyes sparkled.

All I could do was trust him, so I did, relaxing my body against his chest.

I nodded.

He guided me across the floor.

His movements were long and elegant as we swayed to the beat of the orchestra playing a waltz.

“Aren’t you full of surprises?” I asked, but he only chuckled.

“Now, hang tight,” he said as he lowered his hand to my back.

He pressed me lightly to his body, securing me in place before he twirled me.

I closed my eyes, feeling each turn.

This was beyond fun.

I was dancing, against all odds, moving like everyone else.

I forgot about everything that was on my mind.

I laughed. ~Loudly. Genuinely.~

He stopped for a moment, and I opened my eyes.

He was looking at me.

His eyes were so lively, his curls so golden, his smile so warm.

Was this guy for real?

“My turn,” said a raspy voice behind me.

“Luther,” Archibald said politely as I turned.

Luther Rothschild was standing with his hands curled around an antique pocket watch.

“May I steal Miss Summer for a minute?” Luther asked politely, checking the time before tucking the watch into his left pocket.

I stared into Archibald’s eyes, not wanting him to leave me.

“I’ll come to find you later,” Archibald whispered in my ear reassuringly.

I was left in front of Luther.

His arms opened in invitation.

~I can do this.~

It was just swirling around like I did with Archibald.

I’d just have to move my feet this time.

Luther closed the gap between us as we took our positions.

With the beat of the music, we moved into a disastrous attempt.

He tried guiding me through the ballroom, but I lost my balance and stepped sharply on his left foot.

“Fuck! I’m so sorry,” I muttered.

He closed his eyes in pain as we continued dancing.

“Language, Miss Summer.” He swung me to the left.

~One, two, three. One, two, three~, I counted silently.~

My heel slid on the floor, and I stumbled backward.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“Do you have any control over your tongue?” he snapped, grabbing my arm to stop my fall.

I couldn’t reply.

I was surviving.

I continued counting to no avail.

I tripped again, stumbling against his chest as my heel dug back into the same shoe.

~Shit. Shit. Shit.~

I couldn’t get away from his disapproval.

He looked at me like I was unfixable. A glitch. A mistake.

He clicked his tongue, clearly irritated.

“Lack of elegance, lack of refinement, lack of grace. Clumsy, clumsy, clumsy Miss Summer.”

“I didn’t mean to step on your feet,” I apologized again, blushing.

“Enough of this.” He brought us to a stop. “I have a message for you, Miss Summer. My brother is waiting for you in his studio. It is an urgent matter involving your sister, I am afraid. You must attend immediately.”

~Urgent matter?~

He checked his watch again.

“I don’t have all night, Miss Summer. Follow me.”

“I—” I began, but he didn’t wait.

He turned and started walking, leaving me speaking to myself.

Was I supposed to follow him?

I did, leaving the party behind with a bad feeling in my gut.