Page 121 of Sweet Ruin

Kane reaches me without looking toward the door. He does not slow down. His smile never dims.

He stops in front of me and looks down at my empty hands. “Where’s your plate?”

I have to shake myself back to reality. “What?”

“You had food.”

“Oh.” I glance at the table beside me. “I put it down.”

He follows my glance to see the still-full plate. “You ate none of it.”

“I was talking.”

“That’s never stopped Niko from shoving food down his throat at every opportunity.”

Niko holds up both hands, protesting his innocence. Unfortunately for his case, one still has a bone in it. “No need to drag me into this,” he complains.

“Go away,” Kane says.

Niko looks past his brother and meets my eye. He gives me a quick smile, a What’re ya gonna do? shrug, and backs off into the crowd.

When he’s gone, Kane touches my elbow. “Are you cold?”

“No.”

He adjusts the shawl around my shoulders anyway.

Behind him, the room is still reacting to Alisa. People are crossing the ballroom to greet her. Men straighten their jackets and fix their cuffs. A waiter nearly walks into a chair because he is watching her instead of where he is going.

I keep waiting for Kane’s eyes to join the flow in that direction.

They don’t.

“Lilah.”

“What?”

“You’re staring.”

“I’m thinking.”

He studies me. “What did Niko say to you?”

“Nothing interesting.”

“You’re a bad liar.”

“I’m actually an excellent liar. I fooled my husband for a whole day while building a public presentation about his affair.”

“You didn’t fool him. He was too stupid to see you.”

That shuts me up.

A server passes nearby with two glasses of champagne. Kane stops him, takes both, and gives me one. Touching the rim of his glass to mine, he says, “To new memories.”

I echo the toast in a mumble and take a sip, grateful for the distraction.

But the ruckus is growing in intensity. I look back at Kane, sure that he’s going to at least take a peek in that direction any second now.