Claps fill the garden. This is our cue to kiss, but I’ll save that for later.
Joy breaks from my grasp as soon as the ceremony finishes, hitching up her skirts to stalk across the garden.
She heads over to the catering tables, dipping a strawberry under the chocolate fountain and taking a bite.
The congregation stand from their seats, plucking champagne flutes from the serving trays, using the ceremony as an excuse to kick back and have a few drinks.
Tomorrow, they get back to work. I need those documents from Igor’s apartment burned— the ones Joy was breaking in to steal. I want my money back.
And I look forward to seeing my son’s face when he realizes I found out he was stealing.
I head over to the catering table as Joy bites into another strawberry, pulling her aside. I drag her into the stone cloister where it’s sheltered from the sun, keeping my hand hooked around her hip.
“I know what you do for a living,” she starts.
“Good. A lot of people do.”
“You’re skating on very thin ice.”
“I get told that a lot,” I say. “The more powerful you become, the more threats you receive.”
“No,” says Joy, biting into the strawberry. She curves her lips around it while looking into my eyes. “The higher you climb, the harder you fall.”
“There’s no need for that attitude,” I say, pulling her closer. “Any woman would kill to be in your position, living a life of luxury. My estate is one of the best in Beverly Hills.”
“Maybe,” says Joy, “but you bought it using blood money.”
I shrug. “What makes you think everybody else in this city is so innocent? Everybody has secrets.”
Joy tightens her jaw and looks away. “Doesn’t matter,” she mumbles. “Your resentment should be directed at your son. Not at me.”
“It wasn’t directed at you. Not until you decided to take a swim and not be here when you were supposed to be.”
“Right,” she scoffs. “Because this world revolves around you.”
I step in, shadows falling over her face as I become the center of her vision. “I think you underestimate me,printsessa.”I dragmy eyes up and down her face. Her cheeks are the same, ripe color as the strawberry in her hand. “All due respect, I saved you.”
“Um,” she scoffs, “I beg your pardon?”
“It’s been three days since you broke off the engagement with my son. You were living with him before, which means you’re currently homeless, searching for a new place to live. You’re lucky I found you when I did.”
“Lucky?” Joy sniffs a laugh. “What? That you’re trying to control my life?”
“You say that like you’ve been living the life of your dreams, getting everything you want out of it.”
Joy furls her lip and tries to barge past me.
I pull her into me, her chest colliding with mine.
“You don’t know anything about me,” she says.
“I know that you’ve been writing for the same magazine since you were eighteen years old.”
Joy clicks her teeth. “Of course. I forget how much a person’s career sums up their life.”
I arch my brow at her. No need to waste my breath and keep speaking. She knows that’s all her life consists of. Tapping away on a computer all day. Pouring her heart and soul into writing about fashion, and not quite reaping the rewards of her hard work.
“I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”