Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(66)
He'd stared at her with a pained look as if she'd slapped him, and then said quietly, his voice weary, "Fine, do whatever you like, then."
Victoria had left his house enraged, announcing that she was going to do exactly that. She hadn't seen him since.
Now standing in the guest bedroom of Gabriel's parents' opulent Upper East Side Fifth Avenue townhouse, Victoria was still shaken by the memory. Truth was, she knew that she was angrier at Christian for actually letting her leave yesterday without making contact with her, than she was that he had forbidden her to go to the party. After the wonderful few days they had spent together, she missed him.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, and Angie poked her head in.
"Hey, Tori, the limo's going to be here in about an hour, okay?"
"Thanks Angie," Victoria said. "Thanks again for letting me crash here. I was more than happy to stay in a hotel."
"It's no big deal and you know Gabe, once he makes his mind up, it's a done deal. My parents aren't even here, and they don't care who stays here anyway," she said. She smiled awkwardly. Even though things were much better between them, Angie still wasn't big on small talk.
Victoria glanced at the large box on the bed and sighed as she removed the gorgeous dress, staring at it in awe. The ball was black tie and she had walked Fifth Avenue for hours trying to find something suitable. Maybe it was the rotten timing of waiting until the last minute, but the only dress options seemed to be either huge swaths of taffeta or pearl-encrusted contraptions. Frustrated, she'd decided to take a break when she received a call from Angie saying she'd had a package delivered to the apartment.
In complete surprise, she had taken the large box to her room and opened it to find the elegant red silk dress. She didn't recognize the designer but the box said Bergdorf Goodman, an exclusive luxury department store in Midtown. There was a single rose along with a note that said "vraiment désolé" in Christian's elegant script. He was sorry—sorry enough to send her a gorgeous dress to wear to a party he didn't want her going to in the first place.
Victoria dressed slowly. The lustrous, jewel-toned crimson of the dress was the ideal complement to her olive skin and draped her long slender body perfectly. She felt beautiful wearing it knowing that Christian had selected it for her. The strapless bodice was form-fitting with a ruffled bow-tie trim under the bust before flaring out in folds toward the hem. She had chosen to wear her hair in a simple, smooth chignon with Christian's rose tucked in the fold at the top of the knot. The effect softened the severity of the sleek hairstyle.
She left her makeup simple, with dark mascara emphasizing her wide green eyes, a dusting of tawny blush on her cheeks, and barely glossed lips. The overall effect was startling. Even her amulet seemed to shine more brilliantly red because of the dress.
At the very last minute before she left the room, she turned around and slipped the ring Christian had given her for Christmas on her finger. He had surprised her with his own extravagantly heart-wrenching gift; a magnificent vintage swirl ring inset with diamonds that extended to her first knuckle. When he had said it had been his mother's, Victoria had been overwhelmed. Despite her recent vow to never wear it again, deep down she knew that there was no way she wouldn't have worn the ring.
Angie popped her head in and her eyes went wide. "Wow Tori, you look amazing!"
"Thanks. So do you."
Angie was wearing a slinky gold spaghetti strap number. Her dark hair had been blown out, and she looked glamorous. Her matching gold and black sequined mask was daring and racy, the perfect complement to the dress.
"I don't think I would have recognized you, Angie, if I'd seen you at the party. You look so different."
"Thanks! Everyone's already here, so shall we?" she said, flushing with embarrassed pleasure and moving toward the door.
Victoria picked up the reddish gold Venetian mask that had accompanied the dress. It was a lovely half mask with red and gold feathers curling up behind her right temple, and golden chains dangling below them from the back of her ear to her cheekbone.
Everyone was waiting in the foyer of the apartment when Victoria and Angie went downstairs together. Gabriel looked very rocker-glam in a luxurious velvet blazer with ruffled tuxedo shirt and lean tailored jeans, and his expression was one of frank admiration when he saw Victoria. Charla was stunning in a green Grecian-style gown. She embraced Victoria as if they hadn't seen each other in months, and was effusive in her comments about Victoria's dress.
There were four other people in the foyer; two seniors from the ski trip, Katie and Mike who were both really nice, and two other young men that Victoria didn't know. Angie introduced them as Taylor and Wyatt, both of whom she and Gabriel had grown up with. Since Angie seemed to pair up with Taylor, Victoria smiled as Wyatt extended his arm with a gallant bow.
As they headed to the waiting limo, Victoria noticed Gabriel staring at her. His expression was speculative and ... greedy. It made her feel uncomfortable. Wyatt's arm curved around her waist and Gabriel's eyes narrowed, a flash distorting his handsome face, but when he noticed Victoria watching him, he smiled and abruptly went outside.
Sometimes Victoria felt that Gabriel's moods were too erratic. She had tried to read his mind, but it was like reading the same old book with the same story. What she saw was what she got. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that he was hiding something.