"Of course." I raise a shoulder. "Everyone’s entitled to their viewpoints, I suppose."
He stares at me, a look of amazement on his face. "Going mellow in your old age or something?"
"Or something."
He shakes his head, then pulls out his phone and shoots off a text message.
A few seconds later, a diminutive blonde dressed in a skirt and a jacket, which is two sizes too big for her, materializes by his side. She’s holding a cut-glass tumbler with amber liquid in it, which suggests he might have messaged her to bring him a drink? She holds out the glass to him. "Just as you like it, with two pieces of ice."
"You’re a doll." Knox takes it without looking in her direction.
She looks stricken for a second, then composes her features. "Do you need anything else before I leave?" she asks in a soft voice.
"Nope, you’re dismissed." Knox makes a dismissive gesture.
A hurt look comes into her eyes, then she squares her shoulders and walks off.
Felix and I exchange a glance with each other. "Who was that?" I clear my throat.
"Who was who?" Knox asks without taking his gaze off whoever in the crowd has captured his attention.
"The woman who brought you your drink?"
He looks down at his drink, as if noticing it for the first time, then in the direction of the woman who left. "You mean June?"
"June, huh?"
"She’s my assistant."
"Since when?" I frown.
"For a few months now." He shrugs.
"And you brought her to the opening?" Felix asks.
"Of course I did. She knows exactly how I like my drinks, and when I want to eat, and how to get my suits pressed so I never run out of them. She’s also very good at guarding my privacy and filtering my work emails so the riffraff doesn’t bother me. Couldn’t do without her." He throws back the rest of his drink, then looks around. As if reading his mind, she reappears at his elbow and swaps out the empty glass for a full one.
"Thanks, doll," he says absently.
She winces, opens her mouth as if to say something, then shakes her head, and mutters under her breath. This time when she walks off, her shoulders are rigid.
Felix whistles. "Now, that’s what I call service."
And if he keeps doing that she’s not going to be around for much longer. I drum my fingers across my chest. "She’s worked for you for a few months, but I’ve never met her before?"
"I asked her to accompany me to events recently. She makes my life easier."
"No kidding," Felix says in a dry voice. "She’s attractive, too."
"Who?" Knox shoots him a confused glance. "Who’re you talking about?"
"June, of course. I mean, obviously, she’s dressing to underplay her assets?—"
Knox’s fingers tighten around his glass.
"—and I’d wager, the glasses on her nose are more to hide behind, but boy, it makes you wonder what’s underneath?—"
The glass shatters with a crack that's lost in the general din of the crowd. But it shuts Felix up. He looks at Knox’s rigid features and takes a step back. "Whoa, no harm done, mate. I was simply voicing what every red-blooded man here is probably thinking."