Sins, Lies & Spies (Black Brothers #2)(26)
“He donated to my campaign in the past. My staff sent him an invite without consulting me.” He rocked back on his heels. “Do us both a favor and don’t get involved with Knox.”
I froze with my hand in the middle of turning the delicate glass doorknob. “Is there something I should know about him?”
“Nothing in particular.” He picked at the lint on his charcoal jacket. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to get close to anyone right now given what’s going on.”
I studied him for a moment, trying to determine his motives, but his face was perfectly blank. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” I opened the door. “Stay here for a few minutes before you join the party again.”
He nodded, and I closed the door softly behind me. I sucked in a deep breath through my nose, struggling to calm my frayed nerves.
“Did you find the bathroom?” Knox said, leaning against the wall just outside Derrick’s study, his arms folded across his chest.
The fabric of his navy suit jacket pulled across his arms. His blond hair kissed the collar of his crisp white shirt. A lopsided smile inched across his face. His attempt to disarm me didn’t work. Beneath his fa?ade of relaxed charm, anger seeped from his pores, and his icy eyes contradicted his phony smile.
My gaze fell away, and I twisted the bracelets on my wrist around and around. I contemplated how to sidestep his question, but in the end, I decided to tell him the truth. I needed his help, and I wouldn’t get it if he didn’t trust me.
“I never made it to the bathroom. I ran into Derrick Benton, and he wanted to talk to me.”
He shot me a damning look. “I thought you didn’t know him,” he said, enunciating every word with meticulous detail.
“That isn’t entirely true, but we don’t talk often.” He held up his hand to interrupt me, but I ignored him. “Can we save this conversation for the car ride to my place?”
I held my breath, my eyes wide and pleading as I begged him without words to accept my explanation. For now, anyway. I didn’t know what I planned to tell him, but it couldn’t be the entire truth. My relationship with Miles taught me not to trust easily, and I needed to keep that in the forefront of my mind with Knox unless and until I understood exactly what he wanted from Derrick and me.
Knox shoved his hands through his hair repeatedly. His previously tamed locks stuck out in every direction, and I buried my hands in the folds of my dress to stop myself from smoothing them back in place.
“Fine, but no more lies.” Knox’s eyes held mine for a beat, and when I couldn’t take it any longer, I turned and moved toward the party. Still behind me, Knox cleared his throat pointedly and I glared at him over my shoulder. He held out his hand, wiggling his fingers, a smirk on this face. “Don’t you want to hold my hand, sweetheart?”
Right. I’d forgotten about our arrangement. He shoved away from the wall, and I laced my fingers through his. The self-satisfied look on his face didn’t escape my attention. “You’re enjoying this whole charade quite a bit, aren’t you?”
“I am, actually. Miles is playing right into our hands. Have you seen the way he’s been looking at you?”
“No.” I shivered. “I’ve been ignoring him.”
“Good.” He squeezed my hand tighter. “Whatever you’re doing is driving him crazy, but I think we can go. I’m done bullshitting for the night.”
I smiled at him. “I know what you mean. If I hadn’t bumped into Derrick, I would’ve barricaded myself in the bathroom for twenty minutes to recuperate for round two.”
With his hand burning a hole in mine, Knox guided us out of the house and to the front sidewalk. He handed our ticket to the valet.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The sky was a gloomy blue-gray. I stared into evening light, taking in the decadent expanse of Derrick’s brick-paved driveway. It stretched the length of at least three football fields, looping underneath the white-columned portico of the house and returning to the serene tree-lined street. Flickering gas lit lamps cast a warm glow over the double door entrance. The opulent two-story foyer and the oversized ballroom resembled a hotel more than a private residence. For all its grandeur, something about it unsettled me. Maybe it was the ivy that curled up the side or the twin rows of pines that cast shadows on the driveway like guards ready to pounce on unwilling victims.
A tremor rippled down my spine. Not for the first time since Derrick walked into my life, I noted the disparity between his life and mine. We had the same father, but he had everything handed to him whereas I had to claw my way through life. I didn’t resent him for his inherited wealth, his success, or the relative ease of his life, but I couldn’t lie. My life would’ve been so much easier if my father had sprinkled a little fairy dust in my direction. I could’ve gone to college. My mom might’ve stuck around to raise Faith and me. I wouldn’t have worried when my uncle lost his job. I could’ve taken all the ballet lessons I wanted.
Sometimes, I wondered why my mom never pressed him for money. But more often, I wondered why he never offered. Unfortunately, I didn’t think I’d ever get the answers to those questions. Richard Benton died almost six months ago, and my mom had been gone so long she might as well have been dead too.