Billy & The Beast (Ever After, New York #3) - Eli Easton Page 0,79

housecleaning at the company. Emmanuel was arrested in November—just in time for the holidays. Some of his cronies at the company resigned, willingly or otherwise. Those who’d watched what was happening with unease grew more vocal and cooperated with the police. Amanda Wilkes was rehired, and she led a call for Aaron to take over as CEO.

We discussed it, Aaron and I. He felt he owed it to his dad to serve in the role for a few years at least, to help get the company back on track. Then, perhaps he could find someone he trusted to run it. Maybe even Amanda Wilkes. That woman was no fool.

I was happy to support him in anything he wanted to do, and anywhere he wanted to do it. I offered to move to New York City with him, but Aaron said he needed Malfleur to keep him grounded—and to avoid the paparazzi.

By the spring, the media frenzy faded. The Shar McGill scandal became old news, and Aaron was mostly just working, having given up his bad boy ways. He wasn’t as interesting to press. Thank God.

Though we still got a kick out of the occasional high-profile outing. Like this one.

“Seb! Billy! Can you give us a kiss?”

Seb and I looked at each other. I was about to say no way when one side of his mouth quirked up in a smile and he kissed me good—deep and wet—right there on the red carpet. Okay, then.

My hand curled into the lapel of his tuxedo and I leaned into his warm body. I caught the heady scent of the red roses we both wore pinned to our tuxes—the scent of Malfleur. Cameras flashed somewhere out there. Whatever.

By the time Aaron pulled away, I was breathless and in danger of ruining the lining of my trousers. A few of the photographers cheered and thanked us for putting on a show. We continued into the Roosevelt Hotel.

The charity gala tonight was to raise money for Surgical Friends Foundation, which provided free plastic surgery to people suffering from birth defects or accidents, who couldn’t otherwise afford treatment. Seb had been undergoing laser treatment for his burn scars and they were lighter now, though it didn’t matter to me one way or the other. They were a part of him, and I still found them badass hot.

Inside, there was a whole table reserved for Montgomery Enterprises. Amanda Wilkes stood as we walked up. She wore a silver gown that matched the color of her blunt pageboy haircut.

She kissed Aaron on both cheeks—his right one and the masked left. “You always look so handsome in a tux.” She turned to me and kissed me on both cheeks too, then stepped back to check me out. “And look at you, Billy Martin. What a swan you turned out to be!”

“He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?” Aaron agreed, putting a hand on the back of my neck. “That tux fits him like a glove.”

He smirked at me. He insisted I go to his tailor and paid the man to resist all my attempts to get a looser fit. But I had to admit—seeing the admiration in Aaron’s eyes when I dressed up like this was worth the restrictive clothes.

For the first five minutes, anyway. After that, it was just annoying.

It had taken me a while. But these days, I finally felt like I was worthy of Sebastian Montgomery IV.

“Thank you, Amanda,” I said. “You look beautiful tonight. And happy. Are you still enjoying being back at the company?”

She leaned in conspiratorially. “I love it. I’m not cut out for retirement. And working with Seb is a dream.” She patted my arm. “His father would be so proud.”

We joined the others at the table and there were greetings all around. I liked everyone there. The people left at Montgomery Enterprises were good people, and they seemed tight, like they’d been through a lot together and had come out stronger on the other side.

We watched the entertainment and had dinner. I paid more attention to my date, however, than either the food or the comedian.

I loved being out with Aaron. Of course, my favorite activity would always be hanging out together at Malfleur, by the pool if weather permitted, or in the library at night, just us and Jack and our new dog, Sasha. Or having our friends over—my mom or my high school friends when they were in town.

But being out with Aaron out in public was fantastic in a different way. Aaron