Chapter 1
"What is the holdup?" Aiden called up the stairs.
"What's your rush?" Gwen yelled back as she tried to pull the strap of the red pump up over the lump of her heel.
Normally she didn't have this much trouble dressing herself. But there was nothing normal about her life at that moment.
Her eyes kept straying over to the broad bay window. Or, rather, what she could see through said window. Mountains. White-capped mountains with the bluest pool of water Gwen had ever seen at their base. She didn't think anything could be that blue.
"They can't start the party until we get there, for one," Aiden said.
"Then that means they can wait!"
Aiden's chuckle reached her up the stairs and she couldn't help smiling.
She wondered what her parents would think of her chosen attire for the night. The red dress hugged her body, showing off the curve of her hips. She wouldn't have minded if it had been a little sexier, actually. The bodice displayed the barest hint of cleavage, and the hem ended exactly over her knees.
"You look amazing!"
Gwen turned and saw Aiden at the top of the stairs. He looked dashing in his coal black tux, his shoes polished to a mirror shine that even the most meticulous of drill sergeants couldn't take issue with.
Despite having been together with Aiden for close to a year now, Gwen still blushed when he complimented her, and the feel of his eyes on her body stirred at the embers of a heat locked deep within.
She threw her arms up around his broad shoulders. The pumps she had on diminished the height advantage that he had over her.
"Really?" she said. "You think so? Because I could think of something more comfortable to wear right now..." Her eyes tracked over to the king-size bed with its sumptuous covers and piles of plush pillows. She'd been wanting to jump onto that mattress with him ever since arriving at the hotel, but so far he'd been able to resist her womanly charms.
Aiden's hands swept around her and locked at the small of her back. He pulled her closer so that she could smell the musk of his aftershave and the hint of his cologne. Her mouth went dry.
"I wish we could... But your parents are getting here any time now. And then she'll be here, too," Aiden said.
He groaned when Gwen let her lips graze along his jaw line and then down his throat. She plucked at the buttons holding his jacket on. "Are you sure about that?" Gwen said, letting the heat of her breath caress his neck.
She liked how he was still so attracted to her, so turned on by her, after all these months.
"Gwen..." he said, trying to stop her efforts, his resistance fading with each passing moment.
"They can wait. They can all wait. My parents, your grandmother. All the others. They can wait," Gwen said, getting ready to lead him back to that beckoning bed. Those embers within her flared up into flames of desire, her legs getting rubbery and her inner thighs heating.
As soon as Gwen mentioned Aiden's grandmother, his playful resistance turned real. Gently, he moved her hands away and then popped his jacket buttons back into place. And then he took a pointed step back from her, leaving a protective cushion of air between them.
"I want to, I really do. But not now. Everything needs to follow the schedule."
Gwen crossed her arms beneath her breasts and gave him her best pout. "Okay, fine. I don't see why you're so worked up about this. It's just a party. Relax."
"Right," Aiden said, his eyes dropping. He smoothed down his jacket, his hands running over the expensive fabric, and blew out his cheeks. "You're right. Just a party."
Gwen closed the gap between them and then tugged at his bow tie, straightening it. "After all the stuff we've been through together, with... with Henry, I can't believe anyone could still make you this nervous," she said.
Time hadn't softened the memory of Aiden's father for either of them. Sometimes Gwen woke up from nightmares about being chased by the paparazzi, or of standing in Henry's high-ceilinged office. And it had taken Aiden a long time to come to grips as well, what with Henry's deathbed reconciliation.
"You'll see why when you meet her," Aiden said. He rolled his shoulders like an athlete limbering up for a bout, then offered Gwen the crook of his elbow. "Shall we?"
***
Judith Manning had never liked Switzerland. It wasn't the breathtaking mountain vistas she could see through her limousine's windows as the long vehicle wended its way through the cramped European streets. It wasn't the fresh, crisp air she breathed with every breath.
"How much longer?" she asked the driver, her voice still more than powerful enough to make the capped man start.
"A few minutes, ma'am," he replied.
Normally Judith wouldn't have bothered coming to such an occasion as this. But she'd puzzled out the true nature of the gathering. The true motive behind it all. And she couldn't stay out of things any longer. Not where her family was concerned.