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“Make sure you keep your eyes on this one. She’s slippery.”

“Nah, she just don’t fuck with corny niggas for long. I’m good,” Dez said, smirking.

Gideon smiled tightly and raised his glass to me. “Good seeing you, Nadia.” He turned to Cardez. “Nice meeting you, man. I’ll be sure to tell my father I ran into you.”

“You do that,” Cardez said, watching him walk away.

The jazz band had started playing something slower.

“Nadia, huh?” Cardez asked.

I managed to keep a straight face despite my stomach dropping. “All the girls at Luxe use fake names. It keeps us safe. Do you know how many times niggas have shown up at the club looking for someone because he was in his feelings?”

He watched me down the rest of my champagne.

“Look, ask Siani,” I added, knowing she’d vouch for me. “I promise it’s not that deep.”

“You know how this looks, right?”

“No, because I’m a woman. This is a thing that we do. I’m just discerning about who gets access to me.”

“Aight,” he said, taking my hand. “Let’s go sit.”

The look on his face said he didn’t believe me, but he wasn’t going to press me about it here.

I was relieved to see we’d be seated with Siani and Tariq at a table near the front of the room. Everyone else at the table were strangers, including a Black couple who was talking to a woman with a sleek bob and diamond studs.

Cardez directed me to two empty seats next to a man I assumed was his father. He looked like an older, more seasoned version of his son, with the same broad shoulders, but his hair had gone gray. He was impeccably dressed in a bespoke suit.

“Pop,” Cardez said as he pulled out my chair. “This is Belle. Belle, this is my father, Orlando.”

I reached across to shake his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Montague.”

“Orlando is fine,” he said coolly, shaking my hand with a firm grip.

I’d been assessed by men my whole life. Orlando wasn’t about to shake me up with his icy demeanor.

He turned to Cardez as we sat. “So, how long has this been going on?”

“How long has what been going on?”

Siani caught my eye from across the table. Tariq’s gaze bounced between his cousin and uncle.

“You’ve never brought anyone to this before,” Orlando commented.

“She’s my guest.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

The silence that followed was deafening despite the jazz band playing and glasses clinking.

I wasn’t going to sit here and let them talk about me like I wasn’t sitting right fucking here.

“Mr. Montague⁠—”

“Orlando.”

“Orlando.” I smiled. “I can see how this is unusual, but I don’t think you should read into anything. Cardez asked me to come and I said yes. Simple as that.”