FINALLY! Saturday!
The grand opening of the club had arrived!
Mere hours before, the club had been bustling with last-minute preparations. At seven p.m. sharp, Sebastien cut the ribbon, and his exclusive guests filtered into the V.I.P. section.
As an event planner, this was my first high-profile event. As much as I slammed Sebastien at the interview for being just a club owner, his guest list was pretty impressive. Besides his brothers, who were billionaires, each with their own successful business, there were other powerful attendees, the creme de la creme, so to speak—from high-profile investors and politicians to A-list celebrities, the elite of society.
After making my rounds, satisfied that everything was running smoothly, I sat at the bar and ordered sparkling water. As I sipped from the champagne flute the bartender insisted on giving to me, my eyes scanned the crowd and fell on Sebastien. Tonight, he looked like a whole meal in his black tailored tuxedo, and unconsciously, I licked my lips.
Men like Sebastien didn’t give their time and energy to women like me, but they did give it to women like famous actress Stephanie Voss. Her black minidress stretched over her slender frame, and her long legs caught the attention of men when she stepped into a room. She leaned against Sebastien as she twirled her black, curly, hair around her fingers of one hand while the other trailed Sebastien’s chest.
She looked desperate, immature and cheap standing there, hanging on to his every word. Nothing Sebastien was talking about could be interesting enough for her to act like that! And why couldn’t she keep her stupid hands to herself?
Delilah, why are you bothered by who is touching or not touching Sebastien Quantum? Do you want to be the one touching him?
I gulped down my water and ordered another one.
“Someone told me that the beautiful lady at the bar was the person who helped plan this amazing event,” a deep voice rumbled behind me, and I spun on my bar stool to face it.
The man standing there was very easy on the eyes. His black suit fitted his tall, solid build perfectly. His dark wavy hair fell onto his forehead, almost into his blue eyes, and a charming smile was plastered on his face. His hand was extended.
“The name’s Matt Hunter, CEO of …
“Hunter’s Distillery, home of the finest whiskey in the country,” I finished his sentence and smiled. Dean loved his whiskey, so by association, I knew who he was.
I placed my hand in his and he lifted it to his lips, his eyes locked with mine. His lips lingered on my hand before he released it and sat next to me.
“I didn’t catch your name, beautiful.”
His eyes roamed over me, but not in a perverted way, more in a “likes what he’s seeing” type of way, and I tried not to look uncomfortable under his gaze. My emerald cocktail dress hung loosely around my curves as its delicate thin straps framed my shoulders. His eyes lingered on my cleavage, which was framed by the V-shaped neckline of my dress, before his eyes made their way to my face. My makeup was professionally done for the event, as well as the elegant updo my hair was styled into with soft curls hanging from it. A pair of nude strappy heels completed my look.
“My name’s Delilah Malone. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Hunter.”
His eyes met mine once again and he smiled. “Please, call me Matt. I must say, I’m impressed by what I’ve seen so far at this event. Trust me, I’ve been to my share of grand openings, but none as elegant as this.”
My cheeks flushed. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. So tell me, beautiful, what epiphany did you have that made you decide that event planning was your calling?”
Before I could respond, I felt someone standing behind me. His familiar scent hit me, and I stiffened. Sebastien.
“ Ms. Malone .” His voice was low, tense and dripping with venom. “Instead of fraternizing with the guests and scouting for a potential man to warm your bed tonight, maybe you should get back to work and figure out why the caterer hasn’t arrived yet.”
What the actual fuck!
I squeezed my eyes shut, keeping my tears at bay, praying that this was just a bad dream, that the bartender had slipped me vodka instead of sparkling water. Anything was better than the embarrassment Sebastien had just dealt me. I heard the stool next to me shift and I knew Matt had left.
Enough was enough!
It was time for me to leave. Fuck Sebastien and his grand opening.
Without a word, I weaved through the crowd to the management door that Rex was standing in front of. I needed to get my clutch from Sebastien’s office where he'd insisted that I stash it when I arrived. As I began to climb the stairs, Sebastien grabbed my arm and spun me to face him. If it wasn’t for his firm grip on my arm, I would’ve lost my balance and hit my back on the stairs. His eyes were dark and intense.
“Ms. Malone. Where are you going?”
Everything in me wanted to tear him to shreds, but I bit back my anger.
“Hmmm, let me see. Since you’re hell-bent on embarrassing me every chance you get, I’m leaving! I’m not a child, Mr. Quantum, and I’ve had enough of your constant insults.”
Sebastien’s grip on my arm tightened slightly as he straightened and towered over me.
“You’re still on the clock, Ms. Malone, or have you forgotten that you’re in the middle of an event? If you leave now, you'd better believe you won’t get paid.”
Sebastien glared at me, and I glared back. There was no way I was going to let him see how much I needed that money, so I stayed silent.
“You leave when I leave. So get back to work.”
As he turned to walk away, I couldn’t help myself. “As for the caterer, maybe if you weren't so busy entertaining the women that threw themselves at you like cheap whores, you’d know that the caterer is already here and is prepping her team as we speak.”
Shit! I went too far with the whore line, didn’t I?
Sebastien paused for a brief moment, and I held my breath. But he didn’t turn around. He exited the door without a word. I sighed and made my way to his office, the only office already furnished, for a much-needed break, knowing he’d be too busy to go upstairs for the rest of the night.
As I opened the office door and froze. Sitting behind the desk was a brown-haired girl dressed in a yellow, frilled dress. She had taken the bobblehead collection from the shelf and lined them up neatly in front of her. She gently tapped their heads and giggled as the heads bobbed up and down.
I closed the door behind me and the girl looked up at me.
“Hi, my name’s Delilah Malone, and I’m the person who planned the event,” I said gently as I stood rooted in place. I didn’t want to scare the child, especially since I didn’t know who she was and how she gained access to Sebastien’s office with Rex standing guard downstairs.
Her eyes brightened. “You’re Uncle Seb’s friend?”
I didn’t want to tell the girl that Uncle Seb and I weren’t really friends, so I nodded. “Yes, you could say that.”
“My name’s Lucy.” She smiled broadly. “Dominic Quantum is my daddy. He and my uncles talk about you a lot at home.”
My chest tightened. Why was I a topic of discussion among the Quantum men?
Curious, I took a seat on the sofa and asked, “What do they say about me?”
“That you used to follow Uncle Seb and his friend, Dean, around when you were kids.”
I laughed. “Well, Uncle Seb is my brother’s best friend, so that’s true.”
I was still a bit worried about what else they said, but I tried not to focus on it. Instead, I focused on Lucy and what she was saying.
“I’m sure Uncle Seb is a great best friend, because he’s an amazing uncle. He takes me out, and said that when I turned eighteen that he’d take me to get my first tattoo…” The man Lucy was describing could never be the same grumpy, control freak that I knew. “And he buys chocolate for me and my friends…”
Chocolate. The word triggered the memory from Sebastien’s office a few weeks ago when I overheard him on the phone. This was the Lucy. An embarrassed flush brushed over my cheeks.
Gosh, I felt like such an idiot.
“... do you have any sisters?” Lucy’s question jolted me back to reality. “I have a baby sister, her name is Lillian.”
“No, but I’ve always wanted a sister.”
Honestly, I really did. Having a protective brother was cool and all, but I never had someone I could share my secrets with, stay up all night talking about boys or do girly things with.
Then she tilted her head thoughtfully before she hopped off the chair behind the desk and sat next to me.
“If you marry Uncle Seb, that’ll make you and Dad’s wife sisters, right?”
I choked on my saliva and began to cough uncontrollably.
Did she just say marry Sebastien?
I scrambled to my feet, retrieved a bottle of water from the small fridge in the corner of the office and gulped it down.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked, her big brown eyes filled with concern.
“I’m okay,” I croaked, tossing the empty bottle into the waste bin.
I returned to the sofa and forced a smile. I cleared my throat. “And to answer your question, it would kinda make us sisters.”
Lucy grinned, “Cool!”
I needed to steer the girl’s thoughts in another direction. “So, how are you enjoying the event?”
“I begged Dad to bring me, thinking it would be fun, but this event is boring me to death,” Lucy groaned as she fell back onto the side of the sofa dramatically. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I have an idea of something fun we can do, if you’re interested.” I wiggled my eyebrows teasingly at her.
“I’m interested! I’m interested!” Lucy jumped off the sofa excitedly.
“Okay, come with me to the next room and we’ll get the supplies.”
I led Lucy to supply room, where I gathered a huge roll of paper, scissors, extra flowers, sequins, markers and glue. Then we made our way back to Sebastien’s office.
“Okay, Lucy, we’re going to make life-sized dolls out of paper. My mom and I used to do this when I was younger. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’ll each lie on the paper and the other will trace the outline. After that, I’ll cut them out and we’ll decorate them with all these pretty things we have here. Sounds good?”
“Yes!”
We sat on the floor and got to work, and it wasn’t long before we were both laughing and decorating our dolls. My doll had flowers for hair, while Lucy chose colorful sequins.
As we decorated the body, the door suddenly opened, and Sebastien walked in. He looked at the mess on the floor and then at me, and felt myself shrink under his gaze.
“Uncle Seb!” Lucy jumped up and grabbed Sebastien’s hand, pulling him into the room. “Look at the amazing dolls Aunty Delilah and I are making.”
Seb stooped to Lucy’s level and held her hands. “I see them, princess. Your dad sent me to get you, Emily is ready to leave.”
“Oh man,” Lucy pouted. “Can I take my doll with me?”
“Sure.”
“Yay! Let me help Aunty Delilah clean up before I leave,” she insisted.
As she began to pack away the things in the box, I rose to my feet and dusted the sequins from my dress.
“It’s okay, Lucy. I’ll take care of it. Go show your parents the amazing doll you made.” I smiled at her.
Lucy ran up to me and wrapped her hands around me.
“Thanks for the fun time. See you soon!” Her eyes twinkled.
“You’re welcome. Bye, Lucy.”
Lucy pulled away from me, picked up her doll, and Sebastien scooped her into his arms before he turned to me. I expected to see anger, but instead, there was something else I couldn’t quite place.
“When you’re finished cleaning up, you’re needed downstairs.” His voice was husky, and it sent a flutter straight to my core.
With that, Sebastien turned and left as Lucy chatted excitedly about her doll. It left me wondering, if Sebastien was as nice as Lucy said and as caring as he acted towards her, why was he treating me this way?