She shook her head. “Not the old guy. Him.” She pointed carefully. “Sebastian Roux. The duke. He was the one.”
“The one you went home with at the gala?” I questioned.
“Yes,” she eked. “Shit. What if he sees me?”
“Is that bad?”
I still had no idea what happened with her the night of the gala. On the rare occasions we had seen each other since, we were so short on time it wasn’t discussed. I assumed I would get the details eventually, but not like this in a room full of hundreds of people.
“It’s terrible.”
I looked at Brooklyn. “Did he do something?” I was worried. “Did he hurt you?”
“Oh God no. Nothing like that. No, he wasn’t like that.” She gulped. “He saw me. He’s coming over.”
There was no point in trying to conceal her. Brooklyn was tall. She was stunning and men always noticed her. I saw the man she was talking about and he was on a mission. He was headed straight for us.
33
Damon
“You realize this is beneath you.” I stared at my mother. She hadn’t softened in the years since she left Freychon.
“It’s certainly beneath you,” she snapped. “She’s not crown material. You know that. She will disgrace your father’s legacy.”
I leaned toward her as if I was going to kiss her cheek and smiled. “I am my father’s legacy. And I have chosen her.”
“American?” I heard the disdain in her voice. “Not an ounce of royal blood.”
“That’s enough.”
I took a step back. There were too many ears in the vicinity. Too many bullshitters who would eavesdrop and gloat over our family squabble. Happy that we were broken since my father died. One more sign the House of Sauvage should hand over the royal reins to another family.
My mother clicked her tongue. “Looks like Sebastian has the same taste you do.”
I rotated in time to see Roux’s hand land on Molly’s wrist. She tried to shake him off. What in the hell was he doing? He couldn’t touch her.
I cut through the dancefloor, ready to rip the head from his neck.
“Get your hands off her, Sebastian.”
Molly’s face was horror-stricken. “D-Damon, wait.”
I barely heard her. I gritted my teeth at Roux.
“Your Majesty.” He smirked. He let go of Molly’s wrist knowing that if he didn’t I would punch him in the teeth.
“Do you want to tell me what the fuck you’re doing?”
“Having a conversation with my tally.”
Molly tried to explain. “I was only trying to tell him—”
I narrowed in on Roux, pushing Molly out of the way. “That was settled at the gala.” I didn’t believe he had the balls or the stupidity to bring that up here. She was never his tally. “You’re drunk, Sebastian. Go home.”
He laughed. “Not your tally.”
“He’s talking about me.” I noticed the girl next to Molly. “Hi.”
“Damon, this is my best friend, Brooklyn. The one I told you about.” She pressed the information with her eyes.
Sebastian puffed his chest. “That’s the problem. What is she doing here?”
My anger started to dissolve and I realized the problem. Roux had no interest in Molly.
“Who let the tallies in here?” he asked. “They shouldn’t be allowed at balls. And not in the prestigious blue ball room,” he mocked. He was definitely drunk.
No one else seemed to notice our discussion. “Shut up, Roux. No one knows. There’s no reason for you to announce it.”
“Lesage is here. You don’t think he’s going to realize the new Royal Consort is a tally?”
I wasn’t comfortable with where he was going with the conversation. He needed to shut his fucking mouth.
“I’ll leave. I’ll just go,” Molly’s friend offered. “I don’t want to ruin your night, Mol.”
“No. You’re not leaving.” Molly spoke up. “You’re my guest. You have every right to be here.”
Roux laughed as if he heard a hilarious joke. There was nothing funny about this. The fucker liked trouble.
“Guest?”
“Sebastian, please,” Brooklyn pleaded. “I’ll go. I’m sorry.”
Molly looked at me frantically. We both knew things were escalating. I still had no idea what Roux’s problem was with Brooklyn.
“Out here,” I ordered.
We hurried through one of the side ballroom doors. We maybe had five minutes before our absence was a problem. They followed me to one of the sitting rooms women used to use during balls. It had been aired out for tonight. There were fresh bouquets of flowers. There were crystal dishes with House of Sauvage chocolates and mints on the tables. I locked the doors behind us.