18. Julian

"Temper, temper, Julian," Carmine smirks as he bows slightly toward Claire. "Good evening, Claire Anderson of Nuvola Scura. Thank you for the invitation."

"It"s withdrawn," I tell him in a low voice, my eyes scanning the room for Edward. Once I find him, I nod and tip my head toward Carmine.

"Julian," Claire whispers. "What"s wrong?"

"You have no idea who this man is, Claire," I tell her because if she did, she would have never invited him.

"He works for the Building Department at City Hall," she hisses. "You said I could invite whoever I wanted."

"I also offered Miss Anderson an internship at Pro Point," Carmine volunteers, leering at her as other guests are announced and enter the ballroom. He knows I won"t cause a scene in front of all these people and disappears in the influx of people arriving.

Claire and I have to smile and greet everyone while I"m desperate to get Carmine out of here. After everyone"s inside and enjoying themselves, more like plowing through every expensive bottle of champagne and alcohol I have to offer, I pull her outside.

The valet drivers at the stand give us room. The four of them head toward the cars they"ve parked, pretending to check on them so as to not eavesdrop on our conversation. It gives me a chance to see them wreaking havoc on the lawn. It only adds to my building fury.

"Of all the fucking people. How? In what world do you and Carmine Scarpella cross paths?" I ask, my eyes darting between her and the drivers moving cars off the cobblestone circle and onto the left lawn. The way the tires spit up grass and dirt remind me of a monster truck rally, not a formal black-tie event.

"That day Fiona sent me on those errands. I ran into him at the office where I had to drop off those documents you signed off on. It was the day you exploded because your father showed up and forced his way into an invitation to this party. Thank god, he"s not here, either."

"We"d never be that lucky. He"s coming," I assure her. "My mother isn"t here yet either. They"re up to something, but you need to understand how dangerous Carmine is. And what the fuck was that about a job?"

"He was spouting something about guns and ammo and me being pretty for the campaign because I was upset, and he wanted to give me a way out of my current job."

I scoff, "Yes, because of course, he wants to sell guns to children. Great, be the face of that campaign in this political climate. He"s a mob boss, Claire."

"No, he"s a bit weird but there"s no way he"s a mob guy, right?"

My glare silences her rebuttal. "Why would I lie? And if you knew what I know about him, you"d want him dead."

"What did he do?"

"I don"t want to ruin this evening. Let"s talk about it later. I"ll have Edward work on getting him out of here before my temper ruins everybody"s night. Just stay away from him, and from now on, you tell Bonnie or Edward if you see him anywhere throughout your day."

"Okay." She also turns to look at the cars on the mess of a lawn and back to me. "I"m sorry. I vetted the drivers. They swore they"d put down a temporary cover to protect it, Julian."

More late guests arrive, and Devon Shaughnessy is among them as he comes in at the tail end of our conversation.

Claire jumps in before I can say anything, scolding him. "I told you not to come. You need to leave, Devon. Now, please."

"Well, happy birthday, Princess." Devon beams with an air of arrogance I can"t stand.

"Why don"t you listen?" she asks him.

"Please, don"t make a scene." I warn him. "Just leave."

"I just got here. Relax man. I was invited." Devon"s deliberately pushing me as if this tuxedo can"t come off. My attire does a phenomenal job at hiding just how lethal I can be. He"s pushing me on a night when my rage is simmering, ready to explode.

"Don"t let this," I circle my finger around at the manor and start shrugging off my jacket, "fool you into thinking I won"t smash your face into this cobblestone. Claire asked you nicely. I told you respectfully. If you make the mistake of having either one of us repeat ourselves, you"ll be removed forcibly and you"ll be out of a job."

Claire touches me gently on the shoulder, and Devon puts his hands up in surrender. "Fine. Alright. Don"t get all pissy with me. Let me grab my car before they tear up more grass with it. Why aren"t they using a lawn cover?"

I growl through clenching teeth as Claire circles around to face me. She"s beautiful and despite me planning this event without her in mind at first, I know how much of a mistake that was.

"I"m sorry, Claire. He wouldn"t be here if I did this for the right reasons. I should have just taken you away to Malta or somewhere," I sigh.

"Julian," the softness in her voice soothes my raging beast. "Why did you throw this party?"

"The majority of the people on the guest list are politicians and others who affect real estate purchases and property use around the city. I needed them on my side for the business deal I"m working on with Fiona."

"The charity work to turn the properties into affordable housing?"

My body is on constant alert out here. We have to head back inside, but I won"t leave our conversation as it is. "Yeah, but Mr. Scarpella being in the office the day you dropped off those documents makes me think he"s the reason 75% of Fiona"s deals fell through. I lost a lot of money because of him."

"I"m sorry, Julian?—"

I cut her off. "Carmine Scarpella is to blame. Not you, so don"t apologize for doing your job."

The conversation ends abruptly when I see a stretch limo circling the cobblestone drive and pulling to a stop. "For fuck"s sake."

"It"s going to be fine, Julian," Claire smiles softly, but the charge in the air is palpable. It"s not going to be fine. Every fiber of my being is telling me that this night is going to end in disaster.

The minute I see Charleston step out of the limousine with two giggling women a few years older than Claire, I want to bang my head against a wall.

"I"m sorry, Claire," I apologize to her again.

"For every unnecessary apology you utter tonight, Julian, it will cost you."

Now that"s interesting. My smirk is unstoppable. "Cost me what exactly?"

"I don"t know yet. Five minutes of nipple clamps and a cock ring with me teasing you until you"re about to explode, but you"ll never come. Or one day of your undivided attention," she says quietly as Charleston approaches us.

"I"m sorry," I tell her with a devious smile.

"You"re not supposed to enjoy this."

"I won"t, I promise. I"m sorry, Claire," I mumble as she shoves me playfully.

"Mr. Blackwell, thank you for coming," Claire says to my father, extending a hand he shakes for a few more seconds than I like. I can sense her disgust with him, gritting her teeth to bite back what she actually wants to say. However, the women on his arm are keeping him somewhat docile.

"Oh, I know my boy. He doesn"t want me here long. I"m just here to show my face, make a quick announcement and leave your gift. We"ll be on our way shortly." Charleston"s tone tells me everything I need to know. He"s more than up to something. He"s plotting, and I don"t like it.

I whisper into her ear. "Claire, why don"t you head inside with Bonnie and Danny? I"m going to find Edward to check on our other unwanted guest."

Claire heads inside as Charleston steps closer to me. "Our little Eclair is something magnificent."

"She"s not our little anything. What announcement?" I ask him.

"I"m just going to let people know about an upcoming political campaign I"m considering. I miss the inner circle, and this is the perfect opportunity to throw some blood in the water to see who bites. I want to see who my true supporters and donors will be."

"You have twenty minutes," I warn him. I see Devon drive off the property in his beat-up car, which alleviates one problem. Charleston follows me inside as Carmine steps out with Edward behind him.

"Mr. Scarpella." My father beams with faux joy as the men shake hands. "How lovely to see you. Have you met um Daphne, and Macy?"

Charleston exhibits the women around him, twirling them like show ponies, and they go for it. Carmine is as easily tired of my old man as I am. Two men worthy of my bullets are in my fucking home on the night of a party celebrating the woman I"m dating.

Off in the distance, I catch a glimpse of Claire with Bonnie"s younger sister, Danny. Repulsion blankets Danny"s eyes as she glares at Carmine. I get it because it"s taking every bit of restraint I have to contain my intrusive thoughts.

I will not stab Carmine Scarpella.

I will not shoot my father again.

I will not miss if I stab or shoot Carmine or my father.

Well, I"m a work in progress.

Danny bolts back into the ballroom before Carmine or my father glance in her direction. I shrug as Charleston finds a different person to annoy and leaves me alone with Carmine.

"You should be more careful, Julian." Carmine"s voice is low as he stands with his fingers laced in front of him. "There"s someone in your office who"s doing a terrible job. They are jinxing people who are in business with me. One has been declared missing. Another"s warehouse by the dock has gone up in flames, and I"d hate to see you or any other investor lose so much money because you can"t close the deals in escrow. Deals made that waived contingencies, but I"m sure you have no idea what I"m talking about. Right?"

"Right as rain, Mr. Scarpella."

"I like your place here. Oh, and tell Claire, I apologize but I can"t hire her after all. Conflict of interest and all that, seeing as she"s the main interest of my biggest conflict," he chuckles and swaggers out, with Edward stopping beside me.

I lean in close to him. "Get SFPD on him. Have one of the boys bust his taillight or something. The cops will pull him over, hassle him a bit. Let"s cross our fingers he has a fresh body in the trunk. And remind me not to kill Fiona, if she ever gets here tonight."

"The taillight I can manage, and I can see if someone we can pay at the precinct is on duty tonight. Oh, and you might want to get in there. Charleston"s got a mic in his hand, and nothing good ever comes out of your father"s mouth," Edward grunts and follows Carmine out of the door.

I step inside the ballroom, where everyone"s attention turns toward me as Charleston, in his obnoxiously white tuxedo jacket and black bowtie, gestures toward me. I don"t think he needs a mic, but he uses it anyway.

"Ladies and gentleman, here he is, the next Councilman of our fair city, Julian Blackwell."