Page 28 of His Obsession
“I’m saving my joy for after the check presentation.”
Her mouth stays straight when she says it, but there’s dry humor underneath. Better than the frosty professionalism from earlier, but not by much.
I lower my voice slightly. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
Her expression doesn’t change. Not outwardly. But I see the pause before she answers.
“I got enough.”
She’s lying. She looks as collected as ever, but there’s a faint tightness under her eyes that I doubt anyone else here would catch.
“We’ve got everything covered,” she says before I can push further. “I’ll handle donor flow, stage transitions, board wrangling, the auction sequence. You need to go get dressed.”
There it is again. Business only. Structure and efficiency and not one inch of room for anything personal.
I study her for a second. “You’ve got everything covered, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Her answer is immediate and certain.
Valentina built this evening the same way she builds everything else, through sheer force of competence and control. The smart move is to trust that and step back so the event can run. Instead, all I can think is that she doesn’t seem remotely affected by last night.
Unfortunately, it’s all I can think about.
11
VALENTINA
“Val, the ice is getting low,” one of the waitresses whispers to me in passing.
I nod and pass the task off to my catering director. Tonight is going well, and that’s not by accident. I’ve made sure I’m ready to mitigate any disaster that comes our way. There is nothing I haven’t prepared for.
Besides the aftereffects of sleeping with Sebastian, of course.
God, I hate feeling this distracted when I need to be focused on the event. I’m doing my best to ignore him, but I clock every single place he’s in, trying not to let our paths cross. I wasn’t lying earlier. I do have this completely under control, as long as I don’t think of him or acknowledge him in any way. It gets harder as the night goes on.
An hour before the gala started, I slipped into a supply closet to change into the black dress I’d brought for the evening. I don’t always dress up this much for my events, and I told myself I was only doing it because of the caliber of clientele. That was, of course, a lie. I knew I’d look good managing the event in thisdress, and I wanted Sebastian to see me looking good. I bought the dress long before I decided to sleep with him.
My makeup is light and professional, but I know it accentuates my features. I’ve spent years perfecting this look, and I know exactly the effect it has on men. Part of me wishes I could put a paper bag over my head so I wouldn’t be so aware of the way his eyes linger on me from across the room.
“Veronica says the canapés aren’t going out on schedule,” Tessa tells me halfway through cocktail hour. “And Bruce says the photo carpet has a crazy line.”
I groan internally.
“We have three photographers there. Tell Bruce to make sure the guests aren’t stopping at every single one. You get one photo tonight. This isn’t the Oscars. I’ll deal with the canapés. I already have to tell Veronica we’re running low on ice at the bar.”
She nods and scurries off to deal with our front door coordinator.
“Oh, T,” I call after her. She rushes back. “Also remind the guests that the photo line will be up all night. They can grab a cocktail now and wait for the line to die down.”
She nods. “As long as the canapés go out on schedule.”
I smirk. “I somehow feel like one solution will fix the other.”
We head off in separate directions, and I check on what’s happening with catering. Veronica was one of my first contacts in this business, so I trust her with my life. There’s no way she’s the reason we’re having issues.
“I can’t work with this fucking guy.” She gestures at her assistant when I reach her. “Who the hell hired him?”
