Chapter 186

Violet’s POV

It was a little petty of me, but if I was going to my ex’s wedding while my current mate attended with his fake mate who we had to pretend was real all while I couldn’t drink, then by the Goddess was I going to look drop-dead gorgeous.

My bright red toes matched my nails and the skin-tight, fire-red dress that showed off all my curves. I had a fresh haircut from yesterday before the slumber party, and my makeup was flawless.

Kincaid met me at the front door and stopped cold when he saw me.

“Kincaid, if you tell me this is too much, I’m not going to care even a little bit.”

He cleared his throat. “I was not going to say it’s too much. But I think Dahlia and Theo are both going to be a little jealous when they see us arrive together.”

“It’s tradition for Betas to accompany an otherwise unaccompanied Alpha to events. We’re not going together. Besides, I’m sure you’ll be spending every spare moment with Dahlia once we get there.”

He shoved his hands in his pants pockets, and I realized he looked quite dapper himself. “With Lily not attending, I was actually intending to spend the whole night at your side.” He paused, the reason for his decision lingering in the air between us.

My hallucinations.

It wasn’t customary for Gammas to attend formal events unless they were someone’s guest. I considered bringing Lily, but I didn’t want the press to comment on how sad it was that I’d brought a friend to comfort me through my ex’s wedding. It hadn’t occurred to me that I would tie up all Kincaid’s attention though.

“I’m sorry—”

He interrupted me with the shake of his head. “Dahlia and I are being careful in public about our engagement until you announce it anyway.”

I nodded in concession to his good point. “Shall we?”

He passed me to open the front door, inhaling deeply as he did. “You smell good. New perfume?”

“Nope,” I smirked as I strutted through the door he was holding open for me. “Just confidence.”

Kincaid and I were doing a round of the venue during the pre-ceremony cocktail hour when my mate filled my head. I brought you a surprise.

Lingerie underneath your tux? I teased. Though my joke made me a little sad as I realized I wouldn’t get to see underneath whatever dashing outfit he was surely going to show up in.

A pause. Well, now I want to know what you’re wearing underneath your outfit tonight.

I smirked at no one in particular as I held onto Kincaid’s arm. Under this dress, I’m wearing absolutely nothing.

A longer pause. Damn it, Violet. I’d rather not get a hard-on while sitting next to your cousin in my carriage.

I froze at his words, and Kincaid turned to look me over with concern. I quickly regained my composure and kept moving, nodding subtly that I was okay to my Beta. What?

Now that Bennett and I are publicly friends, I invited him to the wedding as our guest. I hoped he would bring you some comfort… and me, honestly.

It was a sweet gesture, and I was excited to see my cousin. But also a little sad. Except if you’re publicly friends with him, then he has to pretend not to know me, or it will raise suspicions about our current relationship.

Shit.

I took a glass of champagne off a passing tray, as did Kincaid. It’s okay that you didn’t realize that. We’re juggling a lot.

No, well, yeah, that, too. But holy shit, Violet.

And that longing caress with which his voice echoed in my mind was a hint. I subtly looked around until I found him off to my right, gaze raking over me hungrily. Practically drooling.

You’re welcome. I smirked, then quickly averted my eyes.

My gaze landed on Olivia Bronson.

As good as I looked, she gave me a run for my money in a shimmering, beige dress that gave the illusion of being completely see-through. I definitely still looked better though.

“Olivia,” I called, handing my glass of champagne to Kincaid to hug Olivia. We were old friends and knew each other politically, so it wasn’t suspicious to greet each other in public like this. Though I lowered my voice for the next part.

“Is our agreement still to your liking?”

Olivia’s polite smile widened into her infamous, venomous smirk. “Concerned, are we?”

I ignored the jab – mostly because she hit the nail on the head. “I hear you’re spending an awful lot of time with the Luna of Midnight.” Out of the corner of my eye, Kincaid took a sip of champagne.

Olivia examined her nails as if she were bored. “You’re welcome.”

I fought to keep my eyebrows from bunching in confusion. “Excuse me?”

She glanced over my shoulder, lowering her voice to practically a purr. “You mentioned she had her hands all over your man. A few fictional details about my very not fictional exploits,” she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, “with Theodore fixed your problem for you – or so I hear.”

My lips parted in shock, but I clamped my mouth shut before I was all out gaping at her. “Thank you.”

I blinked in surprise, quickly wondering how this benefitted Olivia. “I would like to discuss—”

“Let me guess,” Olivia interrupted as Kincaid took another sip of champagne. “You want another favor.”

“A development in our mutual goals,” I corrected.

Olivia glanced over my shoulder, then raised her voice to a little above normal as if she wanted to make sure someone heard her. “You’ve become boring since the Academy, Violet. But if we must talk business, your people know how to contact mine.”

A warm body swooped in as Kincaid took another sip of champagne, and suddenly Eva was linking arms with Olivia. “Hello, friend.” Eva emphasized the second word in greeting to Oliva all while glaring at me.

“Oh, goodie,” Olivia plastered on a fake smile that deserved an award. “Someone actually interesting has arrived.”

As the two of them slinked away, Olivia looked me over. “That’s quite the dress,” she winked. “If you were anyone else, I’d say you look even better than I do.”

Then they disappeared into the growing crowd.

Off in the distance, I caught sight of my gorgeous mate and my baby cousin looking handsome as all hell next to him. Bennett caught my look and stuck his tongue out at me before anyone could notice the exchange. I twisted my mouth up to keep from grinning as I turned away.

When I told Bennett back in Henosis that we would need him before everything was said and done, I hadn’t imagined what we would need would be him making funny faces at me at a formal event. But I held tight to that unadulterated, childish joy for the rest of the night.

“Alpha.” I returned my attention to Kincaid as he lowered his voice. “I’m happy to pass on that new piece of intel to Lily so she knows we can stop looking into why Eva’s come ons have ceased.”

I nodded approvingly as he handed me back my glass of champagne.

The one he had taken several sips from.

And now I was holding a half-empty glass of champagne, so no one had reason to wonder why I wasn’t drinking or to assume I wasn’t drinking in the first place.

My gaze drifted back to my mate, charming in a suit I recognized to be the work of Master Remy, his smile melting me where I stood.

Maybe my glass of champagne was half-full instead.