33. Things Nathan Hunt’s Real Girlfriend Should Remember

THIRTY-THREE

#5 his freinds names. crap what r they again?

And so, at six p.m., I was waiting in the lobby of Nathan's and my apartment building, ready for the grand finale.

Or so I thought.

Kiara hadn't come to play when she got me ready, finishing my elegant manicure, then rolling my hair into the barrel curls needed for the elegant updo more fitting for a first lady than an out-of-work dancer. The understated makeup was limited to a coy cat eye and nude lips, complemented by tasteful crystal drop earrings and a sedate chain around my neck—the only part of this costume that was mine was the twenty-four-carat gold pendant of Mary Magdalene hanging around my neck.

Because that's what this was, wasn't it? A costume. As beautiful as the Gucci gown was with its pleated, gold lame skirt and the plunging black top, it was hardly something I would ever wear on my own. Beautiful, yes. Glamorous, for sure. But never something I'd ever wear in real life, where I was more at home in thrifted jeans or loungewear.

Still, if it would keep me safe with Nathan's upper-crust world, I'd take every inch of armor he could afford.

I hugged the black mink shrug to my shoulders and pulled out the little red booklet I'd tucked inside my matching clutch, along with my ID, a few extra dollars, and my lip gloss.

It was the final to-do list for this little charade. The one I needed to remember.

Things Nathan Hunt's Real Girlfriend Should Remember

No interrupting. But also no raising your hand like a little kid.

Smile and nod when people talk about things you don't know. It's okay not to stand out.

Nathan likes you just the way you are.

"Just to way you are," I repeated to myself as a large, black BMW pulled up to the curb. A driver got out, wearing a black cap that matched his uniform.

I smiled. Nonno used to wear the same thing as a chauffeur before he died, and now sometimes Mike did too, since he and Lea took over the garage and driving business when I was a kid. This uniform wasn't family, but it was a way of having them with me. Even if I was mad at them.

Ten minutes later, the car pulled up to the front entrance of the Natural History Museum on Central Park West. I tipped the driver, a nice man named Miguel, and followed the line of other people toward the entrance.

At the top of the steps, I found Nathan, who had arrived straight from work, though not, however, before changing into an outfit that made him look like James Bond. The classic tuxedo was tailored perfectly to his sculpted body, making his shoulders look even broader while tapering to the trim waist and muscled thighs in ways that put very dirty thoughts into my head. His hair had been tamed with pomade—or as much as it could be since it still misbehaved with a rakish bit sticking up here and there—and he'd foregone his glasses tonight in favor of contacts.

He was casting his sharp gaze over the entire steps, then checking his watch every few seconds, looking like a general surveying his troops. His world.

There was royalty in his blood, I thought as I approached. Royalty to my peasantry.

I couldn't ever really compare. But somehow, he wanted me anyway.

His gaze finally landed on me when I was only a few steps from him, and he startled, forced to jog down to me to prevent himself from falling.

I grinned. Point for the gold dress.

"You look…" He scanned me up and down, his mouth moving like a fish's. "Unbelievable."

I looked down at the pleated skirt, then back up to him. "I'm glad you like it. You don't look so bad yourself, Double-Oh-Seven."

He appeared confused for a moment, but the frown quickly broke. "Oh, James Bond." That produced an adorably shy smile. "Too bad I don't care for martinis."

I grinned back. "No. But you do like your sparkling water with a twist."

He stared at me for a long moment. "I don't know why that makes me want to shove you against the wall over there, but it really does," he said, unable to keep his eyes off my lips. With some obvious effort, he dragged them away and took my hand. "Let's go inside. I'd like to get this evening over with so I can take you home and fuck you in that dress."

I shouldn't have been shocked by his vulgar language—already, I knew that Nathan wasn't one for innuendo. But for him to state his desire so openly and calmly only steps away from some of the richest people in New York, the most proper, I assumed…Yeah, that turned me on more than I could say.

I leaned in and brushed a kiss to his cheek, then murmured into his ear, "Only if you keep the tux on while you do it, babe."

I nipped his ear, enjoying the full body shudder as I pulled away.

Nathan shook his head and mumbled something like "fucking torture" before he tugged me up the stairs and into the museum to show his parents, his brothers, and his entire world that he could be who they wanted him to be.

We followed the trail of people walking through an exhibit on biodiversity, then into the Hall of Ocean Life, where the gala was set up beneath the iconic blue whale suspended from the high, lit ceiling.

I'd been here more than once as a kid. The Museum of Natural History was a common site for field trips, and I'd gone at least once at every school I'd attended through high school. But never at night, like this, with twinkle lights wrapped around the pillars extending to the ceiling, the models of oceanic life haunting us from the corners, and the rest of the room filled with linen-covered tables, a dance floor near the front, and a stage where a band already played big band swing.

"Wow," I murmured as I took in the scene.

On top of the opulent surroundings, the room was filled with what could politely be called the glitterati of New York. They were mostly older. Mostly white. And mostly rich. Very, very rich.

But it wasn't what kids in my neighborhood thought of when they imagined wealth. There weren't gold chains, Birkin bags, or logos on everything. The wealth in this room was quiet, almost uniform. Men in tuxedos, just like Nathan's, with strong handshakes and insincere smiles; women arrayed with subdued diamonds, porcelain skin, and tastefully draped evening gowns. Nothing so flashy as mine. The jewelry they did wear was sedate and tasteful. No one had a hair out of place, too big or too small. They all just blended into one big moneyed tapestry.

And here I was, flashing like a strobe.

Nathan reached down to take my hand, which had been pulling at my skirt, and tucked it into his arm. "You don't need to be nervous."

I turned to him. "How can you say that? I don't fit in here at all."

He glanced back at the room, but his gaze returned to me. "Joni, why would you think I'd ever want you to fit in?" He leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Just the way you are, remember?"

It was like he knew what was written on that list.

He pulled back but cupped my face, drifting a thumb over my mouth, then pressed a gentle kiss there. When he stood up straight, I stood with him, newly energized.

Just the way I was. Now, I just needed to remember my posture and to keep my mouth shut.

It shouldn't be too hard when the whole room rendered me speechless.

Nathan guided me to a table near the front with the name HUNTWELL printed on a placard in the middle next to a vase of pink peonies. We were the first ones sitting here to arrive. I spotted his coworkers at another nearby table; Reagan waved at me and gestured that she loved my dress. I smiled in response.

"I'll have to introduce you to a lot of people in this room," Nathan said as a caterer arrived with a tray of champagne. To my surprise, Nathan took flutes for us both and handed me one.

"Drinking tonight?" I asked.

He took a grim gulp. "Trust me. We'll both need it." He finished off the glass and replaced it with another from a passing server. "The richest people in the tri-state area are in this room. It makes them kind of bloodthirsty."

I frowned. "Aren't they here to give money away?"

Nathan shook his head. "Events like these are never really about the charities; they're places for the powerful to convene. Every person here is on the hunt."

We looked around. Suddenly, I was imagining everyone in the room with fangs.

"My sister Marie cooks for a really rich family in Westchester," I said. "That's why she's in Paris. They sent her to some fancy cooking school so she could take over for their chef, who's retiring."

"Who are they?" Nathan wondered.

"I don't remember. Their name sounds like a cat. Tyger. Cheetah. Dammit, I know this."

"Lyons?"

I turned to him with a grin. "That's the one. Marie is obsessed with one of the brothers. His name is Daniel. You know them?"

He didn't look thrilled to be nodding his head. "I'm familiar."

"Of course you are. I bet all you glamor pusses know each other."

Not even a twitch for my efforts. Just a long sigh as he turned back toward the crowd. "Lucas Lyons is on the board of Huntwell, actually. Yes, that's him over there with his mother. They live next door to my parents' house in New Rochelle," Nathan confirmed. "Daniel isn't here, but Lucas and I went to Episcopal together."

I eyed Lucas Lyons, a tall, serious-looking man whom I recognized now from Page Six. He looked a lot older than Nathan, if only because of his expression. Ice cold. I resisted the urge to shiver.

"Friend of yours?" I wondered. I hoped he didn't say yes, even though I didn't think Nathan had many friends.

He shook his head. "Acquaintance, mostly. But he seems like a decent person." He turned. "Over there is the de Vries table. Eric is a major stockholder in Huntwell, but Dad is also looking at securing a shipping deal with his company. You might like his wife—she's a designer."

I shoved into his side. "I actually know that. Eric's cousin married my brother. They'd probably be here too, if Nina wasn't eight months preggo. But other than that, I promise I'm a nobody. They're the special ones."

I had just finished speaking when we were interrupted by one of the somebodies, as it happened.

"Joni?"

I turned at the sound of a familiar voice—and a British one at that. My eyes widened when I found Xavier Parker, my sister's husband, restaurant mogul, and an honest-to-God duke, breaking away from a conversation to round a table toward me.

I blinked, truly shocked. "Xavier? What are you doing here?"

Frankie, apparently, had the same taste I did in large, steely-eyed men who parted crowds like Moses at the Red Sea. Xavier towered over most people in the room, and if they didn't move, he only had to fix his sharp blue eyes on them, and they flinched like he'd cut them with one of his kitchen knives.

To be honest, none of my family really liked him very much. It was a matter of loyalty. Even if, in the end, Xavier turned out to be kind of nice, seemed to be a good dad, and was stupid in love with my sister, I was supposed to hate him anyway for the years of suffering she'd been through before he came back into her life.

Even if right now, in the middle of this room of circling sharks, he was a life preserver.

"Hey…Xavier," I said again, nervously trying to ignore the curious looks from the people he'd been speaking to.

"Joni, what the fuck are you doing here?" he asked in his typically coarse way, with that not-quite-upper-crust accent Frankie said was from South London. He might have been a duke, but Xavier's origins were just as humble as ours.

"I'm here with my boyfriend." I gestured weakly at Nathan, who stood beside me, taking in Xavier's presence.

Unlike most people, he didn't shrink under that dark blue gaze. Considering Xavier only had him by an inch or so, it was rather like watching two wolves challenge each other. One was bristly, British, and kind of rude. The other was quiet, contemplative, and wouldn't make a move until absolutely pushed.

"The one you just moved in with? Yeah, Ces told me all about that."

Something in my chest hurt at the casual nickname, pronounced "Chess," that my new brother-in-law reserved just for Frankie. For all his brusqueness and intimidation, Xavier wasn't afraid to display the closeness he had with my generally private sister. With him, she was obviously an open book. I got the feeling he was with her too.

I wondered if he understood how special that was.

"So, what're you doing here, then?" Xavier wondered.

"I'm his date," I told him. "Obviously."

"Nathan Hunt." Nathan extended a hand, and I watched as they exchanged a white-knuckle handshake.

Xavier's blue eyes, however, popped open at the name. "Radford Hunt's son?" He turned around as if to search for the evidence.

Nathan nodded. "That's right. My parents should be arriving momentarily."

"Blimey…" Xavier drifted off, rubbing his chin.

"There they are now," Nathan said. He squeezed my hand and let it go. "I'll bring them over here to say hello."

I nodded, and he left me with Xavier, who I had the feeling was ready to launch into the third degree.

I sighed. I didn't need another protective sibling. I already had five.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, deciding to go on the offensive. "Don't you live across the ocean? I'd think you have better things to do with your time than bother poor relatives."

Xavier ignored the cutting remarks as he watched Nathan through the crowd. "My CFO sent me over to meet them—he wants me to invest with Huntwell." When he returned to my blank expression, he seemed surprised. "Don't you know who your boyfriend's family is?"

I gritted my teeth. I was getting really tired of people saying that to me. "Nathan's a surgeon. I know his family is rich, good at investing, and they own a lot of horses."

Xavier shook his head. "You Zolas are all the same, you know that? For all your street smarts, you don't question a soul, do you? Even if it would be for the better."

I opened my mouth to protest but found I couldn't. After all, he knew that better than most. Frankie's decision not to look for him cost him the first four years of his daughter's life.

"Radford Hunt is basically a king in his own right on this side of the pond." He tapped his long nose thoughtfully. "And you ended up with a prince? How'd that happen, then?"

I grimaced at his disbelieving tone. What was it about me that made people immediately think "no better than trash"?

"He was a customer at my bar," I said through gritted teeth. I caught Nathan watching us as he neared an older couple that I guessed were his parents.

"And he's a surgeon too, I hear?" Xavier nodded at him. "Not for long. Fuck me, that's a lot of pressure."

I shrugged. "Yeah. He seems to like it, but I'd probably freak out if I had to cut people open every day."

"I don't mean that." Xavier waved the comment away. "I mean, being Radford Hunt's first-born son."

I frowned. "Oh. I guess, yeah. I know they put a lot of pressure on him to act a certain way. I know it's cost him a lot."

Vaguely, I wondered if Nathan's history with Lindsay and her daughter was a secret everyone in this room had known but me.

Xavier just snorted. "Act? Nah. You really don't know who you're shagging, do you?"

I scowled up at him. Not because my brother-in-law was casually discussing my sex life, but because he clearly thought I was stupid. Just like everyone else.

"I know Nathan," I said through my teeth. "Better than you, that's for sure. I know he does what's necessary to keep his life and others' lives intact. Tonight is a formality. Then we'll go back to normal."

But Xavier didn't believe me. "I'm only saying this for your own good. This here posh ‘gala' is a sham, arranged only because they knew your boy would come. It's an ambush. I've seen it a thousand times before—experienced it myself with a father just like that. Before you two walked in, the only thing everyone in the room could talk about was the fact that Radford Hunt's about to unofficially nominate your boy as the next CEO of the Huntwell Corporation. And in front of the entire board and half the company's investors, that old man won't be taking no for an answer."

I gaped. "But…they wouldn't do that. Nathan has a job here. He owns his practice—I just met the other doctors a few weeks ago. There's one over there." I pointed to Charlotte Mueller and smiled. She did not smile back. "He's a surgeon, dude, not a CEO."

"Who still serves on the family's board, doesn't he?" Xavier prodded. "As his father's proxy vote along with his own, I'm told."

I couldn't argue with him there. I honestly hadn't even known. Nathan had never mentioned anything like that at all.

"I was a chef until suddenly I had to be duke," Xavier said grimly. "When you're born into a family like this, you don't just inherit money. You inherit a life. Your Nathan might think he has freedom and choice now, but I promise he doesn't. One way or another, they'll get him back."

I gave him a dirty look. "You don't know that."

Xavier held up his hands. "I wish I weren't right. But I am." He nodded in the direction of Nathan, who was leading the older couple toward the table. "Looks like your cue, babe. I'll be at the de Vries table with friends. Find me if you need an escape."

And with that, Xavier disappeared into the crowd, leaving me feeling a bit like a cornered rabbit in a den full of wolves as Nathan returned, his family not far behind.

"The Lyonses, now the de Vrieses, and now the Duke of Kendal?" he murmured.

I smiled, reaching for his hand. "It's just family. We aren't close at all."

"Still. Are there any prominent families you aren't connected to?" Nathan shook his head in disbelief. "My parents might enjoy you more than I thought."

God, I hoped that was true.

"Well, I'm in my best Elizabeth Taylor drag, and your parents will take one look at us and think they can't possibly tear us apart," I told him, sounding more optimistic than I really was. "I'll charm the pants off them, no problem."

This time, I had finally earned a small smile. "That's such an odd expression."

I nodded. "It really is. Could you imagine your mother so happy she just ripped her pants off in front of everyone?"

The smile turned into a grin. "I'd really rather not, especially since she's right here."

He turned as the people he was with earlier arrived at the table, followed by two other men, including Carrick, wearing his perennial smarmy scowl.

"Hello, Gigi," he sneered.

I shot him a quick glare, making him chuckle before I turned my brightest, most charming smile to the rest of the people with him.

"Joni," said Nathan in a voice that seemed like it would weight him to the bottom of the Hudson. "I'd like you to meet the rest of my family."