Harlequin Presents: November 2022 Box Set 2 of 2 by Cathy Williams

Author:Cathy Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ONE

Sorry, Alex, gonna miss the party. I got a better offer. Have a good one. And don’t hit on anyone I wouldn’t hit on.

‘THAT LEAVES ME a lot of leeway,’ Alex Costa muttered as he glared at the text from his best buddy, Roman Fraser—who had bailed on him. Again.

Roman’s ‘better offer’ probably had a cute face and an even cuter figure. He didn’t blame the guy for bailing though. Parties weren’t Roman’s thing, especially parties that involved dress-up. Truth be told, they weren’t Alex’s thing much either. He’d started the Halloween bash seven years ago when Costa Tech had hit the Forbes Global 2000 list for the first time and he’d officially become a billionaire at the ripe old age of twenty-three. The themed ball had been a classy way to announce himself on the world stage. He didn’t need the publicity now, but the party had become a staple of Manhattan’s social calendar.

He really wasn’t feeling it tonight though as he stood on the balcony of his top-floor suite and watched the festivities below. A ton of people he didn’t really know and cared even less about partied in an array of pricey designer costumes while oohing and ahhing at the outdoor space, which had been transformed into a haunted house and graveyard by an A-list Broadway set designer and her crew.

He should go check it out himself—but first he’d have to put himself at the mercy of the hair and make-up team who’d been waiting for over an hour to deck him out in whatever outfit his executive assistant had ordered.

He swallowed a mouthful of the expensive Scotch he’d poured himself when he’d arrived from his downtown office ten minutes ago. This evening would have been a whole lot more bearable if his ride-or-die pal, Roman, were here to make a dumbass of himself too. He’d also hoped to hang with Roman tonight because he knew his pal was heading off on business until Thanksgiving. And Roman always went to ground in the run-up to Christmas too, because it was a tough time of year for him. Alex shivered. He’d never liked Christmas much himself, not since he was a little kid.

Thanks, Pop.

He shook off the unbidden reminder of his father, Carmine Da Costa. A man who everyone had adored, except for Alex. Because Alex knew the truth of his father’s lies and half-truths. The evasion and the subterfuge. The ‘other women’ Carmine had kept all over the Bronx, while pretending to be a great husband. And a devoted father.

His mom had figured it out eventually, but his siblings not so much.

He squinted down at the party guests, surprised by the feeling of aching loneliness that he hadn’t felt in a long time. Why the heck was he thinking of his old man? The family he never saw any more?

Time to get over yourself, Costa.

But just as he was about to head inside, his eye caught a waitress winding her way through the guests—in a costume the size of a place mat.

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