Page 65 of Karma

He laughs, brushing that part off. “It was worth the wait, I assure you. Right, girls?”

Alexandre is laughing, I’m smiling a prim smile, but the two Used… oh, they lookpissed.

Worse, they size me up with open disdain. I guess I should’ve expected that. Neither one is the woman that I ended up in a slap fight with at the King’s Court, but the Order’s club is as ripe for gossip as Miranda’s school. They would’ve all heard about it.

Good. Maybe then the rest of the Used will know better than to flirt withmyhusband.

Fake husband.

My smile wavers.

Whatever.

“Anyway, Anna, I just wanted to stop by and thank you. Maman is having a wonderful time. Dad wants to hire you for every family event for the next decade. With a discount, of course, since you’re family.”

I’m ‘family’ now. I won’t be in a year, but there’s no way in hell I’m admitting that with those two shooting daggers at me with their gazes.

So, instead, I murmur, “Of course. I’d be happy to.”

Alexandre is Sebastien’s older brother by fourteen months. They have the same pretty features, dark blond hair, brown eyes… and, yet, watching him schmooze, all I can think is that I got the sexier brother.

I don’t know if it was the way I answered him or if he could see my judgment on my face, but Alexandre decides to cut the conversation short. “I’m glad. Oh. Sorry. Looks like we have a line forming to thank our gracious hostess. So now I’ll bid you adieu… come on, girls… and you can come over here and say ‘hello’ to our Anna.”

I try to rearrange my features into a pleasant grin, prepared to greet another of Alexandre’s guests. “Hello?—”

“Anna, is it? Since when?”

My heart fucking drops. So does my stomach. That voice… that fuckingvoice.

I know it intimately. Just like I know those icy blue eyes.

Eric.

It’s Eric.

And he’shere.

My ex looks immaculate. Of course he does. Tailored suit, model smile, the picture of Order perfection.

But those eyes… in those eyes, I see promise. I see fury. I see lust.

I seetrouble.

I gulp, trying to hide it. “Annaliese. You know that.”

“Oh, sweetheart. I do. But you’ve obviously changed so much since you left me… I just wanted to make sure that wasn’t something else.”

I don’t know what he’s talking about—and then he backs me up against the wall, cornering me before I can make my excuses and make my escape. His eyes flash, his deceptively broad build suddenly looming as he lashes out, grabbing my wrist.

“Eric—”

He lifts my hand, thumb tapping the underside of my Order band. “I know you’re joking. Tell me this is a joke. You’re not married. Youcan’tbe.”

I jerk my hand out of his reach. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s the event of the year, according to my sources. Soscandalous. An Owed celebrating his thirtieth birthday without a ring on his finger instead of being ashamed that he’s alone… when I heard that a premier event planner would be hosting it, I knew I had to come.”

A premier event planner… that’s how I used to teasingly refer to myself when I was working with Mom. It was my dream. It took creativity and organizational skills, and I was so good at it when Mom finally let me join her team. But then I met Eric and he wanted me to join him at his firm and… and…