Page 57 of The Forbidden Villain
“Ladies and gentlemen, the auction will start in ten minutes. Please keep that in mind before going to the Pleasure Zone.” The music resumes right away, and I blink.
“What’s a Pleasure Zone?”
“Judging by the name, it's probably a dedicated place to let their sexual fantasies loose without dropping any names.”
Shaking my head—because fucking what? I thought this stuff happened only at the sex clubs, not that I have any idea how sex clubs are run anyway—I answer her question. “Levi hates me. Do you remember what he did at the engagement party?”
She picks up her champagne glass and takes a sip. “I do. You slipped into the chocolate fountain, and got covered in it from head to toe while various photographers snapped photos.” Sheclicks her tongue. “Guests didn’t care, though. They looked and didn’t say a thing.”
“Only because Rafael paid them all off. Otherwise, my photos would have been all over social media. And I didn’t just slip.”
She pauses in the middle of her next sip, and her gaze becomes sharp. “What do you mean?”
I exhale heavily, crushing some nuts in my mouth and hoping for it to calm down the annoyance and humiliations gliding through my veins as the memory flashes in my head.
I pick up the water bottle, flick it open, and take a greedy pull, welcoming the cooling sensation in my throat as I scan the crowd, watching all these people enjoy the engagement party in full force.
Since our family mansion is huge, there is plenty of space for everyone to drink, eat, chat, and dance as the band plays soft classical music, while various maids and butlers walk around, making sure everything runs smoothly.
I smile as I notice Aileen doing a little dancing pirouette before Rush wraps his arm around her waist and lifts her, making her laugh, and then kisses her. They are so consumed with each other… It’s beautiful and painful at the same time.
Beautiful because my brother deserves happiness after everything he has gone through. When Wright men love…they love obsessively and for life.
At least the good ones.
And painful because it serves as a reminder that I will never have such a love.
The tingling in my spine pops goose bumps on my skin, and I look back only to freeze when my eyes meet stormy blue ones. Levi leans on the wall, staring at me while I spot some young girls whisper something to each other and blush as they glance in his direction.
It must be a blessing to be so handsome that everyone wants to be in your company.
I made sure to cover my scarred half with my hair and put on as much makeup as possible, not that anyone asked or anything.
No one would dare mention my scars in front of my brothers, and tearing my gaze off from Levi, I wave at Rafael, who winks at me before dragging Emmaline outside. These two cannot keep their hands away from each other.
“Lavender? Hi.” I blink in surprise when a handsome, dark-haired man approaches me and grins. “My name is Raven MacAlister.”
Oh, the name rings a bell.
Ryder and Estella MacAlister’s son. He has two sisters, the three of them are triplets, and together they recently joined some science project since they are all geniuses. Rumor has it that his parents met when Ryder was his mom’s professor, and they have a fourteen-year age difference. To add to that, their families were sworn enemies, and their maternal uncle, Octavius Reed, hated Ryder.
Not sure how true that is. Either way, they all seem to get along just fine now, but, to be fair, it’s been more than twenty-five years.
“Hi. It’s nice to meet you.” I expect him to shake my hand. Instead, he grabs it and lifts it to his mouth.
“Would you like to dance with me?”
“Oh no.” Mortification fills me just at the prospect. “I don’t know how to.”
He shrugs. “Nobody really knows how to. Still, I think it’s better than just standing here.” A certain glint flashes in his eye, and he leans forward, dropping his voice to a hushed whisper. “You’re too pretty for that, Lavender.”
In any other circumstances, I’d take this as a mockery, except the Four Dark Horsemen and their offspring have been super nice to me all this time. I’m not sure if it has to do with Octavius having a huge scar on his cheek, or because they are tight, so naturally, they try to take everyone under their wing. Either way, their kids never made me feel uncomfortable or out of place.
Well, so far. I’ve yet to meet Florian and Jimena Price’s children. Heard one of their sons blew up someone’s car recently for daring to touch his girlfriend, who is not really his girlfriend, according to her. Aileen tried to explain the drama, but she lost me the minute she started mentioning all their names.
I open my mouth to refuse, because I do appreciate their gesture, but an excited voice calls, its melodic tone drawing my attention, “Levi!” I turn in time to see a blonde-haired girl wearing an emerald silk dress wrap her arms around him, and he hugs her tight. She’s so graceful and tiny she practically disappears in his embrace.
Simply put, she’s stunning, and she must be around his age. She kisses him on the cheek and leans back, smiling and saying something exciting to him. He grins right back and flicks water bottle open, offering it to her like the freaking gentleman he is.
