A server swept by with a tray of Nina’s famous ahi crisps, Nina herself tailing a few feet behind in a black chef’s coat and black pants. She stopped beside Gwen and put her hands on her hips.
“You ready? Everything looks good out here, right?”
Gwen nodded. Her mouth was dry, and she couldn’t quite swallow around the lump lodged in her throat. She was a professional, dammit, but it had really just hit her, a fact that she’d suppressed up until now. She hadn’t spoken to Leo once since the night… The lump grew another inch. Since that night.
“We still think five hundred?” Nina asked.
“The list says two—”
“Which means five. Everyone’s going to want to be here tonight. The entire Yankees team and the Knicks are coming.”
That’d been tough—finding a day when they could get all of the Yankees to a party—but they’d managed. When you were a billionaire, there really wasn’t much you couldn’t do.
Except commit to having children.
Gwen shook her head. She didn’t have time for self-indulgent pity.
“These guys roll deep.” Nina surveyed the room and the growing crowd of New York glitterati.
“Leo does,” Gwen said and sighed.
“How’re you doing with all this?”
“Fine.” Gwen forced a tight smile to her face.
“Which means not fine.” Nina crossed her arms over her chest and directed a penetrating look at Gwen. “Look, I wasn’t opposed to you two dating. I watched him look at you for, what, six months? If anyone could have tamed him, it would’ve been you.”
Gwen’s heart fluttered. She didn’t know if that was a compliment or a tragedy. Right now, it simply felt like heartbreak. “He’s here.” She nodded toward the door, where flashes from photographers’ cameras blitzed the red carpet. With the event’s stellar guest list, the blinding picture-taking would go on for hours.
“I’m heading back to my safe zone.” Nina turned toward the kitchen. “Let me know if anything is off with the food or if you need me.” Her eyes held a knowing look, saying without words that she had Gwen’s back should she falter.
“Thanks,” Gwen said. “I got this.”
“I know you do,” Nina said and headed toward the back.
Gwen angled toward the entrance. She wanted to get her business with Leo finished. Provide him with a quick rundown of the evening and then go about being the active shadow she was at these events. Making certain everything ran smoothly. If she did her job well, then people wouldn’t even notice that she was there.
“Uh-oh,” Amanda said over the headset.
“What is it?” Gwen asked, immediately hyperalert. Not the right time to have a snafu, not when Leo was just arriving, not when the party was filling, not moments before the DJ was meant to introduce Leo to the crowd.
“Uhmm…” Amanda murmured. “Well…”
“What? What is it? Is a pap giving Leo a difficult time?” Gwen immediately picked up speed, her heels clicking across the floor toward the doorway that led toward the red carpet, the madness, and the photogs outside.
“No, it’s fine. I mean, Leo’s fine, it’s just that—”
Gwen didn’t hear the end of Amanda’s sentence as she looked out the door. She didn’t hear anything, not the crowd around her, the shouts of the paparazzi, or the music firing up in the room behind her. All she heard was a buzzing noise, a thrum in her ears, kind of like a bee was stuck near her brain. Her eyes…was she really seeing what she thought she saw? Her heart hammered and her fingers tingled.
“Gwen! Gwen are you there?” Amanda’s voice snapped her out of her daze. “Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes…no…I mean, what is it?” The sea of humanity parted for Leo in his black Armani suit, looking, with his black hair and sharp jaw, like he’d just stepped off the cover of Esquire magazine. Yes, he looked every bit the bachelor to snag, and why wouldn’t he? And he’d arrived with the perfect accessory—the heiress and model of the moment molded to his side. If not for the beaded gown cut down to her belly button and her bare skin, you couldn’t tell where the girl started and Leo began. That close. So close.
“I said, he’s not alone.”
“Indeed,” Gwen whispered. “He seems to have found someone to bring.”
*
Leo should have contacted Gwen before he arrived at the launch party with Mischa on his arm. Seeing her there at the side of the red carpet, her face the color of paper, her lips in a thin line, he knew he’d completely misjudged. Yes, he was most certainly the world’s biggest ass. He’d assumed that she’d understand, that she’d know this was necessary for the launch, that he needed to appear the man about town. Yes, of course, Mischa was lovely, and completely down with a convenient arrangement, but he didn’t think he’d sleep with her. No, he’d only wanted a piece of arm candy to bring to the event.