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It’s more fun than I expected it to be, and if this is the sort of thing that I have to go to as the wife of three powerful Alphas, I think I could get used to it.
The food is good, the champagne is classy, and I can learn to dance better.
Xavier leads me out onto the floor after a while, spinning me around to a faster song. I’m laughing, trying not to get dizzy as he twirls me, ending up close to his body when he spins me back in.
I really do feel like a queen, all dressed up, twirling under the glittering lights with three strong, powerful men who want to be close to me at all times. It’s more than I ever could have expected just a few months ago.
The evening goes on, and I stand at the side of my Alphas while they mingle and handle the necessary networking that these sorts of events apparently require.
I’m just considering finding somewhere to sit to give my tired feet a break, when I catch sight of someone familiar, and my stomach tightens unpleasantly.
I haven’t seen my ex Wesley in a while.
He looks pretty much the same as he did the last time too. Tall, with his chestnut colored hair all tousled. Somehow he manages to make it look good with his suit and everything. There’s a boyish charm about him, almost like Xavier, only I know that it’s mostly just an act. Xavier is actually charming and caring, and Wesley is deeply self-centered. He’s just good at hiding it.
There’s a woman on his arms who is leggy and slender, and the black dress she’s wearing looks practically painted onto her, but she looks amazing in it. She’s dripping with jewelry from her earrings to her wrists, and she carries herself the way the rich and powerful do. Like everyone else is beneath her and should be lucky to bask in her presence.
She’s definitely not an Alpha or an Omega, and it makes sense for Wesley to take up with a Beta. Either she’s his new girlfriend or just someone he’s managed to charm into thinking he’s worth her time.
As I watch them, he notices me, and surprise flashes across his face before he schools it out of his expression. He bends down to whisper something in his date’s ear, and she looks over as well. One expertly manicured eyebrow raises as she flicks her gaze between me and my men, and then two of them make their way over to us.
“Penelope,” Wesley says, giving me that smile that I know has nothing behind it. “Of all the places to run into you, I didn’t think it would be here.”
“Wesley,” I reply, trying to keep my tone even. “Yeah, surprising to see you.”
“I was invited, of course,” he says. “This is Genevieve.” He introduces his date. “Her family has a standing invitation.”
I bite back the urge to ask if he’s just there as a plus one for her, and smile thinly. “Nice to meet you. This is?—”
He cuts me off. “Oh, everyone knows who these men are. The CEOs of Vantage Digital Systems. I’ll admit I was surprised when I heard about your marriage to them, Penny. I didn’t think you traveled in those kinds of circles.”
His tone is perfectly pleasant on the outside, but I can hear the condescension dripping from every word. Judging by the way Xavier, Tristan, and Dominic close in around me, they can too.
“She travels in any circle she likes,” Xavier says, his tone just as outwardly pleasant as Wesley’s, although there’s an edge just beneath the surface. “We’re lucky she chose us.”
Wesley’s smile cranks up a notch, getting faker by the minute. His eyes sweep over my outfit, and where I was feeling so beautiful before, I wish I could hide now.
“And dress her up, I see,” he says. “You look good, Penny. Definitely different from how you looked when we were together. But I guess having access to your husbands’ money makes that easier for you, right?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I mumble.
“The dress and our money have nothing to do with it,” Dominic snaps lowly.
“Sure,” Wesley replies. “But you have to admit they help, right? The Penny I knew would never have fit in somewhere like this.”
And the thing that hurts the most is that he’s right. The person I was before, the person I probably still am under the jewelry and fancy dress, doesn’t belong in a place like this. As much as I don’t want to let Wesley get to me, it’s hard to block out the voice in my head that’s agreeing with him.
Dominic takes a step forward, like he’s going to press the issue, but I put a hand on his arm.
Wesley’s date does the same to him, and either she’s tired of the conversation, or she has enough sense to back down when an Alpha is pissed off.
Self-preservation kicks in for Wesley eventually, and he backs off. “To each their own,” he says, turning the grin up a notch.
“Don’t you need to talk to someone over there?” I ask my husbands, nodding in a random direction. I just want this conversation to be over now, and I don’t want there to be a confrontation. That would just mean more people looking at us.
“She’s right,” Xavier says smoothly. “We did need to talk to Ambrose about the launch next week.”
We move away as a unit, and I keep myself facing forward, not wanting to look back and see if Wesley and his date are watching us.