“You for me, me for you, for the rest of our lives, honeybee.”
“You for me, me for you, Wes,” I reply as he treats me to a kiss I feel deep in my soul.
The next few hours pass with much less pomp and circumstance as the ball shifts from being formal to more celebratory, the copious amounts of alcohol available causing people to let down their guard. The masks seem to help, too. It certainly helps me.
At some point, a DJ replaced the band, the music no longer jazz standards but more modern songs. And since Julia has a night when she doesn’t have to worry about Imogene, having left her with their nanny in Charleston, she has no problem letting loose on the dance floor. Being the good friend I am, I join her. Or maybe I just can’t help myself when the DJ starts playing “Uptown Funk”. Then again, neither can Julia.
“I’m going to have to start hiring the two of you to come to more of these things,” Wes laughs as Julia and I make our way off the dance floor, needing a minute to catch our breath. “Y’all make it infinitely more entertaining.”
“If you can’t let loose on New Year’s Eve, when can you?” Julia shoots back, joining him at a high-top table near the bar. She takes Wes’ scotch from his hand and throws back a healthy gulp.
“I suppose you’re right.” He smiles at me before turning his attention to Julia. “Don’t forget we have a speech to make.”
“I haven’t. If we didn’t have that speech, I would have been doing shots all night instead of sticking to champagne.”
“Aren’t you just the picture of responsibility?” He chuckles, taking his scotch back from her.
“When you have kids of your own, you’ll understand what a rare treat a night without a child truly is.”
“I’ll take your word.”
Wes brings his scotch to his lips, about to sip, when he stops, squinting into the distance. “Nick?”
Hearing her husband’s name, Julia stiffens, her eyes following Wes as he excuses himself and walks toward a man dressed like every other man here — dashing tuxedo and black masquerade mask. But I don’t pay too much attention to him, too worried about Julia’s nervous reaction.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, my hand covering hers.
“Yeah. Just surprised.” She forces a smile, but she seems jittery.
“Julia said you got caught up in New York,” I hear Wes remark over the music.
“I couldn’t miss kissing my lovely wife at midnight,” Nick replies. “Plus, it’s about time I meet this girlfriend of yours.”
“Come on over then.” Wes leads him toward the table. “Nick, this is my girlfriend, Miss Londyn Bennett.”
I tear my gaze away from Julia, unable to shake the premonition in my stomach that something is seriously wrong. When my eyes skate over the tall man in a tuxedo, his blond hair slicked back, it’s no longer just a premonition. Something is seriously wrong.
“Londyn,” Wes continues, oblivious to the panic racing through me, “meet Julia’s husband, Domenic Jaskulski. But he tends to go by Nick.”
Chapter Thirty
Londyn
It’s ironic, really. I’m wearing a Medusa mask, yet I’m the one turned to stone, unable to move, to think, to breathe. For years, I’d imagined what I would do if I ever saw him again. Now that he’s mere feet away, I’m frozen.
Truth be told, I never expected to see him again. I certainly didn’t expect to run into him here of all places. And I never could have imagined he’d be married to the woman who’s become like a sister to me. That he’d be the father of one of the most precious little girls I’ve ever met.
Imogene…
The reality hits me hard. The pictures he proudly showed me of his little girl all those years ago. It was Imogene. The man Imogene looks up to, loves, cherishes is the same man who destroyed my life.
I want to pinch myself, wake up in Wes’ arms, learn this is all a nightmare. But if this were just a nightmare, I wouldn’t smell his familiar cologne of leather and citrus. Wouldn’t feel a tingle of apprehension trickle down my spine. Wouldn’t hear his voice with such striking clarity as he addresses me, a sly smirk curling his lips.
“It’s a pleasure to finally put a face to the name,” he says with the same smooth demeanor he had all those years ago when he first introduced himself as Jay. “Or as much of the face