19. Claire

Applause.

A standing ovation for the announcement of Julian Blackwell"s candidacy for City Councilman. I don"t know what the councilman"s duties to San Francisco are, but I doubt if Julian has the time for it.

He barely wanted me to take on the charity work. I know I mentioned it would be a great look for his future if he went into politics, but not now. And why would Charleston announce it?

Fuck.

The applause and cheers from the guests force Julian to share a spotlight beside his father. A man, who I have to remind myself, I can"t stab with a fork, or knife, or candelabra.

Julian"s soft green eyes find me at a table, front and center to him on the dance floor. Danny"s fidgeting and Bonnie"s trying to get her to calm down. When I look at Julian standing beside his father, the resemblance is there, but there"s something putrid behind Charleston"s eyes.

However, Julian"s a professional in every sense of the word. Julian can handle being in the same room, smiling, and pretending to like the man next to him. People will praise Charleston in the open but add to the rumors behind his back. The one circling around this ballroom tonight is that the women he"s with are mail order brides from Scandinavia. It sounds ridiculous, but they don"t speak. They just giggle and twirl on Charleston"s command.

"Thank you, thank you. I just want to thank everyone for coming out to celebrate a special person to all of us. Happy Birthday, Claire," Julian"s voice bellows around the room as he snatches a glass off a tray to raise it toward me. Everyone around the room follows the gesture. It"s clear some of them had no idea this party is for me.

Julian continues his speech. "This event was never about my candidacy. But we cannot ignore the state of things around our city. Let"s raise a glass to a better tomorrow by ensuring the right candidate runs for office, starting today, apparently."

People around the room laugh and clap.

"To the candidates of tomorrow and a very happy birthday to the woman of the night. Claire Anderson everyone." Julian says, but it"s in a very political tone that"s just vague enough where people might believe I"m the one running for office.

Applause erupts, people drink, and music plays. Danny leans toward me and whispers. "Hey, I"m not feeling too good. I don"t want to be a downer at this thing and I should probably go. I promise to take you out. We can actually celebrate your birthday. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great, Danny. I"m sorry you don"t feel well and wish there was something I could do to help. You can lie down in my room if you want. Didn"t you come with Bonnie?" I ask her.

"Yeah, but I can call a taxi or UBER. It"s fine. I swear. Have a great time. Later, girl." Danny leaves the party before she"s even had a taste of the food.

It takes me a few minutes to move through the crowds. Some people are congratulating me while others are wishing me a happy birthday. A few of them are too sloshed to realize where they are. I"d guess we"re going to need a few more taxis to get these people home.

Bonnie and Edward are skulking along the outskirts of the party, keeping an eye on everyone as they always do.

"You two are supposed to be happy and having a good time. You"re not supposed to be working," I tell them.

Bonnie shimmies her shoulders for a few steps before going back to her rigid stance observing the guests. Edward chuckles beside her.

I wag a finger at both of them. "Don"t encourage her. You"re not supposed to be working either. What is the point in me fighting to get you on the guest list? Everyone I invited is doing everything I didn"t want? I wanted people who knew me here to help me have a good time."

"Sorry, Claire," Bonnie says with a half a smile.

"No more apologies. I"m sick of them. Scarpella is a crime boss. Devon is an asshole. Danny"s sick and going home, and you two are working. Charleston is here twirling his latest victims around in a circle and I"m certain Fiona"s going to try to make me work if she ever gets here."

Edward grins. "At least the gifts are great at these things."

"What gifts?" I ask him.

He rubs his thumb and index fingers together. I shake my head. "Edward, I think I"m going to use that money to tip the servers and catering staff. I imagine if these people get any drunker, it"s going to be an absolute mess to clean up."

"Speaking of messes to clean up," Edward groans. "Bianca just showed. Fuck, Armande"s here, too. She looks like her party started before she got here. I"ll be back, ladies."

Edward heads across the room as Julian meets him halfway. They lean into each other as Julian morphs into a CEO doing damage control and walks over to us as I feel like shrinking into the corner.

I have no idea what"s on his mind, but he holds his hand out to me. "Claire, may I have this dance?"

Bonnie smiles when Julian leads me onto the dance floor where we draw the attention of his mother. Edward"s doing his best, along with Julian"s uncle, to keep her civil and away from us in her current state. I"m ready to bolt, but the firmness of Julian"s hand pressing against my lower back holds me in place.

"Stop looking for the exits," he says quietly with a smile, talking through his teeth. "Smile, dance, say thank you and pretend you"re having a good time like I am."

I copy and paste a similar expression onto my face as we move to the music. "I"m sorry, but this is all your fault."

"Oh, now you"re apologizing?" he asks, his smile feeling far more genuine this time. "Are we going tit for tat on the pain of apologies?"

"We can. It should make this evening end far better than it started. So, Councilman, what the fuck?" I laugh with the question that draws a stern look from those eyes I love gazing into.

"Charleston"s ready to get back into politics and since he"s a disgraced judge, no one will touch him. But his golden boy, his successful CEO son, is the perfect candidate for whatever office he announced. I specifically told him that I don"t like being tied down with the bureaucratic red tape?—"

"You"re ranting," I sing to him as his smile disappears. "Everyone will see and hear how much you despise this idea."

Julian spins me to the beat, dipping me slightly as people watch us glide to the music. "I do despise it. This is not a family that should go into politics. We have too many connections to people like my father, and Scarpella. To open up our lives to that kind of scrutiny is asking for indictments and tabloids to rain down over the manor."

I shift my mind to ignore what he means by indictments. That"s not a conversation we should get into here. "I"m sorry about Carmine, too. I didn"t know. I was really mad at you that day and he used me to get to you. I see that now. I thought it was weird how he kept saying my whole name and the company I worked for."

Julian kisses my forehead briefly. However, the gesture is the last straw for Bianca as she storms toward us. Bonnie tries to intercept, but it"s a fine line handling Julian"s mother versus a stranger that poses an actual threat.

"You two are disgusting," Bianca hisses and slurs. "Just like your father. Dirty old man. Did you see him? With the two spinning tops? Bimbo and Bimbette? How dare he show up to the announcement of your political campaign, not wait for me to announce it with him. Then, he has the audacity to drag along Ram and Tam to show off his virility?"

"They"re not being dragged, Miss Marzano," I tell her with a smirk, nudging my chin toward Charleston and his dates. "They"re being twirled."

Bianca sways with anger as she lunges at me. Bonnie"s training kicks in as I slide and duck. Gravity does most of the work, causing her to collide into Julian, who props his mother up.

"Zio, take her home," Julian snarls.

Shades of scarlet wash over Bianca"s face as she causes a scene, belting her true feelings for everyone to hear. "That"s right because this place is no longer my home! That animal fucked his whores here and you"re no different. You parade this bride-child around as if she"s not holding you back from your true potential. Our lives are so far from where they"re supposed to be. You and that vile piece of scum I let come inside of me, you both ruined me."

The way she aggressively shoves Julian away from her forces him to back off. He adjusts the lapels of his jacket as his uncle grips Bianca by the shoulders.

Armande steers Bianca toward the exit, but she stops him, continuing her rant. "All I wanted was to celebrate my son"s announcement for his run, his run in the race for City Councilman. To show my face as a part of this god forsaken family and actually show we"re more than the criminals they believe us to be. This is what you do to me."

"Mother," Julian sighs, pressing his fingers into his forehead to stave off what I"m sure is an oncoming headache.

"You let these snobs whisper behind our backs, but spend our money in their faces," Bianca stammers. "The least they can do is put money into your campaign, but you and your father just had to leave me out."

"I was left out of this decision," Julian barks, but takes a deep breath and turns away. He doesn"t use the microphone but raises his hands to make sure everyone"s attention is still on him. "Thank you all for coming out tonight. Please accept my apology for this outburst. I will hold a press conference in the coming weeks to confirm or delay my candidacy. Running for office doesn"t just affect me."

He turns to me, a show that he values what a political run will do to me. Heat blooms across my cheeks and chest as Bianca snarls and storms off. Julian continues to hold the crowd"s attention masterfully.

"Now, please enjoy the rest of your night." Julian lets them get back to enjoying themselves. He returns to my side with frustration in his eyes as he whispers to me. "I"m sorry, Claire."

"Five," I tell him.

He raises an eyebrow. "Five what?"

"That"s five apologies you"ve given to me tonight. At least four of them were unnecessary," I giggle. "The last one is valid because your parents."

"Yeah." He shoves his hands into his pockets. "I"ll take care of them. In what world do they think they can force me into politics? After all the shit?—"

I touch his hand lightly, drawing his gaze toward mine. "You owe me four days."

"You"re right and after the shit show on full display tonight, I owe you so much more than that."