Chapter 11

Picture this—

A schmuck who thought he knew it all, suddenly discovers he knows nothing.

A poor fool staggers down the street, reeling with the realization that everything he had so recently learned about life and love has just caved in around him.

A detective who has absolutely no idea of the hidden truths that surround him.

I reached my office in a daze, my perceptions of Harry changing—becoming more and more distorted—with every unsteady step I took from Mamma Marlow's. It was a journey I had taken in broad daylight, and yet clouds of darkness seemed to envelope me the entire way.

I opened the door to the office and saw Stella standing there in a glitzy silver number, heels that boosted her over the four-foot mark, and a feather boa so fluffy she couldn't stop spitting out feathers.

I was confused. "Stella?"

She grinned and announced. "I'm beautiful, I know! Keep it in your pants, toots!"

I shook my head. "What's going on? Why are you dressed like a shiny hood ornament?"

Stella looked at me like I was still dripping with yesterday's placenta. "It's the Rainbow Palace reception for Aria Valentina's arrival, you knucklehead. You know, the one you're not invited to."

I decided in that moment. "Actually, I am invited. And I'm going!"

With a suspicious tilt of her eyebrow and one hand on her hip, Stella asked, "Oh really?"

"Yes really. Harry told me if I wanted to come, it was fine with him."

"That doesn't sound like much of an invitation to me. That sounds like someone with a twisted arm. Did you break a bone to get into this party? Was it some dirty sex game? Do I even wanna know?"

"No, you don't! Now where's my tuxedo?"

From the highest peak in the city, the sun shone—uninterrupted by any other skyscrapers—into the Rainbow Palace atop Wilde City Tower, making the crystal champagne flutes and teardrop chandeliers sparkle and glitter. Wilde City's elite filled the room, with socialites and celebrities, tycoons and talent, millionaires and megastars—

—and then there was me and Stella.

"Act fancy," she said, elbowing me in the knee. "This kind of crowd always tips. I might pick up a few extra clients here, you know. And I ain't talkin' about working in the hospitality industry."

My eyes were already scanning the room for Harry but there was no sign of him. I spotted Serafina Somerset talking with a bunch of jewelry-laden biddies across the room. She spotted me and her face soured instantly before she turned her back, making it clear she didn't want me going anywhere near her.

From another direction approached one of the Logan twins, who handed Stella and me a glass of champagne each. She leaned down and kissed Stella on the cheek, at which point Stella's eyelids fluttered like butterfly wings.

"Thanks, sweetie," Stella gushed.

"It's nice to see you, Lois," I said… without the gush.

Stella stamped on the toe of my shoe with her heel. "This is Lucy, stupid. Lois is flying the airship in today."

Lucy smiled politely at me. "That's right. The Zephyr from Berlin landed at Lassiter's Lake just outside town this morning. That's where Lois will take over as pilot and dock the airship here at Wilde City Tower. It's all rather showy, adds to the glamor of the event, but you know what we women say… anything a man can do, a woman can do better." Lucy winked down at Stella. "Right, Stella?"

I thought Stella's knees were about to buckle and send her crashing twelve inches to the ground. Thankfully she managed to stay on her feet and wink back at Lucy with a gaspy, "You betcha, toots!"

"Where's Holden?" I asked, trying not to sound like he was the only thing on my mind.

"He's on the airship with Howard and Signora Valentina." Lucy spotted something through the window behind me. "Oh look, here it comes now."

I turned as the entire crowd in the Rainbow Palace were all drawn to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city, a murmur of excitement rippling through the room. The Zephyr soared over the cityscape like a magical ship sailing through the air, its shadow ducking and weaving through the streets and over the tops of buildings below. It was a sight to behold as the mighty airship cruised towards Wilde City Tower.

As it neared, I could make out Lois at the helm, steering with confidence as the airship eventually blotted out the sun, hovering over the spire of the tower while a busy maintenance crew secured lines to the outside of the building and winched the gangplank out to the passenger cabin attached to the belly of the Zephyr.

The gangplank was fastened into place and the door to the cabin opened, and the entire room applauded as Signora Valentina stepped out of the airship, waved like royalty, then made her way down the gangplank to the viewing deck of Wilde City Tower. She was followed closely by Howard Hart, and in his shadow walked his son, Harry.

As the three made their way from the viewing deck into the Rainbow Palace, the applause became rapturous. Signora Valentina emerged wearing so many furs I'd bet my last drop of gin she featured prominently on the animal kingdom's Most Wanted list. Howard and Harry both nodded and waved to the crowd, both of them shaking hands with society's elite and smiling with charm.

My eyes were fixed on Harry, my heart aching for him.

There and then, I wanted to kiss him, bend him over and fuck him, and tell him that I loved him. Yep, I was turning into a goddamn mess over the man.

As though he suddenly picked up on the thoughts in my head, Harry turned and from across the room he spotted me straight away. His smile faded. A serious look turned his face stern and cold. He made a beeline for me.

"Oh look who's comin'," Stella said to me, like I hadn't noticed. "It's Mr. Moneybags who likes playin' with your fun-bags."

But before any of us could so much as greet Harry, he firmly grabbed me by the elbow and hauled me away from Stella and Lucy, muttering through gritted teeth, "Why Buck, how nice to see you. May I have a word in private?"

His grip on me was so tight it turned me on, despite the fact that I knew this discussion was not gonna be a pretty one. He dragged me through the room, smiling like a fake to people he knew left and right, before shoving me through the door into the stairwell.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded. "I thought you not-so-regretfully declined my invitation."

"I changed my mind."

"Well change it back. I don't know what the hell is with you, Buck. Last time I saw you, you stormed out of my office. Now you just waltz on in to the Rainbow Palace like everything's dandy?"

"Trust me, things are far from ‘dandy'."

"Then what are they?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Try ‘confusing'. Or ‘questionable'. Or how about ‘completely fucked up' for an apt description. Why? Because the more I learn about you, Harry, the more I realize I don't know you at all."

"What are you talking about? What do you mean the more you learn about me?" A thought dawned over his face. "Are you investigating me?"

"No! But maybe I should."

He looked me up and down with a stunned and furious glint in his eye, then turned to go. This time I was the one to seize him by the arm. I spun him about to face me, his body so close to mine I could feel the heat of his anger.

"Harry, this world is full of too many people with too many secrets. I don't want you to be one of them."

He stood facing me for an eternal moment, his nostrils flaring, his jaw clenched. Eventually he simmered. "The reason I didn't invite you here in the first place is because I don't want my father to see the two of us together. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is that what this is all about?"

"There's more to it than that."

Harry shook his head. "No, Buck. There isn't. There's my personal life, and then there's my business life. You belong in one, my father belongs in the other. There are things I don't want him knowing about us, and there are things you don't want to know about him."

"Why not?"

"Because it could get you killed," he answered, clearly and coldly. He seized my face in his hands then a laid a long, deep kiss on me. When he was done he simply said, "Stay away from Hart Industries, Buck. Don't make me choose between you and my father."

With that, he left the stairwell, returning to the reception inside the Rainbow Palace and the strains of Aria Valentina singing to her adoring audience.

The sound of her voice echoed down the stairwell.

I decided to follow it, descending the stairs of Wilde City Tower all the way to the bottom, my heart jolting in my chest with every downward step I took.