Page 107 of A Lethal Game of Trust

Leonie would never be far behind.

But with Sam Yun on her arm this year.

The foyer was filled with people in black ties and cocktail dresses. Every year, this was the worst of the events. My sister was busy working the room, my parents would catch up with their overseas friends, Anton would only spend his time complaining and my mates from school were still pricks. Usually, I ended up hammered in my room with a brunette.

There was only one brunette I needed to see tonight.

Anton’s daughter played the saxophone, a rendition of Ariana Grande’sThank You, Nextas a dark hand gripped my shoulder. Derek asked Anton and I, voice low, “You seen Leonie?”

I turned to my godfather and we clasped hands, lightly slapping each other’s backs. “Derek.”

“Dom, Anton,” he said and repeated his question.

Anton only shrugged, his skin far darker than ours from the Asian sun. Though he had met his wife there, she and their daughter lived here permanently, but a county over.

Julia, Derek’s wife, was then at his side and I took her hand and kissed it. “Aunty Julia.”

“Dominic, don’t you look dapper,” she complimented, gesturing down at me, then peering around my shoulders. “Where’s your date?”

“Dom,” Derek said with more force.

“I haven’t seen her, D,” I told him. “She’ll be here any second, though. Probably the car before Issy’s. You know how it is.”

He hmphed and Julia straightened my already perfect lapels. “Dominic, when are we going to have a wedding? We need a happy occasion. We need to expand the family—”

“Jesus, Julia,” Derek groaned as I smiled down at his wife. “How many have you had?”

“Soon, Aunty Julia, soon.”

“Soon?” she gasped, her dark eyes bright in excitement as she elbowed Derek. “The girlfriend we met last year? Tell me—”

But then the door opened again and my father reached forward to take a tanned hand.

Leonie looked down at her footing as she stepped up into thefoyer. She wore the dress I had put on her bed, a near replica of one she had worn to my mum’s art gallery months ago, but with a slightly higher slit and instead of navy, it was a dark burgundy.

It clung to her figure, her tiny waist, those large breasts, showing just enough cleavage. I would have been hard no matter how much skin she showed.

She smiled up at my dad as he kissed her knuckles and then Sam came to her other side. She hooked her arm through his and he led her further into the building.

Leonie didn’t look at me once. She didn’t even look around for me. She smiled sheepishly, her little cheeks dimpling.

Damn, she was good.

My father’s threat of killing him came to mind as he bent to kiss her bare shoulder.

Sam Fucking Yun had always been trying to oust me. He’d always known Leonie was the way to do it.

“Dom? You listening?” Anton asked and, looking back up, Issy had entered and the rest of us were walking into the hall where a bar had been set up on the outer rim of the entire room.

“Yeah,” I said as Leonie was swept away into the crowd. I followed Anton on autopilot and, in seconds, had a second glass of whiskey in my hand.

“The fuck is he doing here?” Anton said, looking after her over his glass before glancing at me and blinking slowly as he realised. “You still love her even after all this time.”

I shrugged.

“And you’re letting her spend her time with that lowlife?”

“For now,” I muttered. She was being swept further onto the dance floor with Sam.