Dark Affections by Naomi Night & Kelani Knox

Author:Naomi Night & Kelani Knox [Night, Naomi & Knox, Kelani]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2025-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

20

XANDER

Julian's penthouse glitters with candlelight, the space transformed for Valentine's Day. Crystal champagne flutes catch the light, sending prisms dancing across the exposed brick walls. The usual crowd mills about - business associates in thousand-dollar suits, society women dripping diamonds, the regular party crowd Sophie and I run with. That Ivy would invite.

I take another sip of bourbon, scanning the room. And then she walks in.

The red dress hugs every curve, the silk falling like liquid fire against her skin. Sophie's honey blonde hair cascades over bare shoulders, and those endless legs... My grip tightens on the glass.

"Quite a turnout." Julian appears beside me, ice blue eyes assessing the crowd.

I barely hear him. Some fucker from the Martinez crew is already making his way to Sophie, drink in hand. A growl builds in my throat.

"Down boy." Julian's lips quirk. "Your girl can handle herself."

"I know exactly what that prick handles." I set my glass down before I shatter it. "And it won't be her."

Sophie laughs at something Martinez says, the sound carrying across the room. She hasn't looked my way once, but I see the tension in her shoulders. She knows I'm watching.

"Hey stranger." Ivy appears at Julian's side in an emerald dress. "Sophie looks amazing tonight."

"She always does." The words come out rougher than intended.

I pretend I don't see the look they exchange before Ivy saunters off into the crowds.

I lean against the bar, tracking Sophie's movements through the crowd. She's in her element, phone in one perfectly manicured hand as she documents the party for her followers. The other hand gestures animatedly while she chats with a group of socialites, her laughter genuine but calculated. Everything about her is a performance tonight.

But I see the cracks in her facade. The way she shifts her weight when she feels my gaze. How her fingers tighten on her champagne glass. The slight pause before each laugh.

She moves to another group, and my jaw clenches as Davis reaches for her waist. Sophie sidesteps smoothly, turning it into a casual spin that puts distance between them. Smart girl.

"You're burning holes through half my guests." Julian's voice cuts through my thoughts.

"Just making sure everyone behaves themselves." I knock back the rest of my bourbon. The burn does nothing to ease the tension coiling in my chest.

Sophie pulls out her phone again, angling for the perfect shot of the Chicago skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The dress rides up as she stretches, revealing another inch of thigh. My fingers itch to trace that silk hem, to find out if her skin is as soft as I remember.

She knows exactly what she's doing. We both know that tonight things are changing. And it looks like Sophie was more than ready to come armed to teeth with everything she's got.

It'll make her surrender so much sweeter.

The party flows around us like a tide, but we're locked in our own orbit. Every move she makes draws me in - the tilt of her head, the curve of her smile, the deliberate way she never quite comes close enough to touch.

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