Leilani.
Wine glasses continued to clink against each other, just as low murmurs and rich laughters floated in the air from time to time.
As everyone seemed to be busy listening to Caelum talk boastfully about how significantly their company has grown in the past year, my cold eyes remained fixated on the small family sitting at a far end of the room, watching me with eagle eyes, their expressions just as cold and dark as mine.
It was my family.
And I hate to admit but seeing them like this after so many years made me feel things I didn't know I was still capable of feeling— fear, anger… seclusion.
For several months, I'd gone into therapy, hoping to outgrow the fear planted in me by my father, and for a long time, I thought I'd finally let it go. Until now.
Until now that his deep blue eyes watched me like a prey, as if waiting for the perfect opportunity where I'd slip to feast on my fears.
I shuddered.
At the centre of their small group, Chalice sat like a regal queen. The queen bee while everyone else surrounded her like her loyal protectors. And from how hard they were glaring in my direction, one would think they were trying to protect her from me.
Laughable.
"Do you want to leave this godforsaken place now?" Jarek suddenly murmured from beside me and I turned to find him already watching me, his warm and gentle gaze watching my every move.
Something about the way Jarek watched me intently made my stomach tighten into a knot. I gulped. "Are you having fun?" I asked him and he immediately shook his head.
"I am not. However, Alpha Landry there has been following me around like a hawk. He's been talking about partnering with—"
"Do you know that Landry Corp has one of the leading programming languages here in Pennsylvania?" I cut in quickly, noticing the moment when Jarek's expression went from absolutely uninterested to amazed in a second.
But now, I do not know if it was directed at the Landrys or at me for knowing about them.
"Really?" He asked in an excited hush voice.
"Yes!" I squealed back. "They're even responsible for the development of CONNA and I know how much you've been trying to get your hands on that."
Jarek's eyes shined, he smiled so brightly all the bulbs in the room appeared dim in comparison to him.
Taking my hand, he immediately led me to Alpha Robert Landry, the young Alpha whose technological company was responsible for everything I mentioned earlier, and as soon as the latter saw Jarek approaching, he beamed.
"Alpha Frostclaw!"
"Alpha Landry!" Jarek replied with equal enthusiasm. "I see you've not met my lady yet," he drawled, causing my face to heat up when Landry cocked a stunned eyebrow at me.
Sometimes, I do not know whether to hate or love Jarek for this unusual misconception he likes to create, making people think we were together 'together', when in truth we were only as together as business partners could be.
I smiled. "He's my boss."
"Oh, so you work at Frostclaw. Inc?" He asked and I nodded, not missing the way his eyes slowly but sensuously ran up the length of my body.
Jarek probably noticed this too because he then came to stand beside me, and when Robert Landry tried to take my hand for a handshake, Jarek took his hand instead.
"Yes, she's one of our core engineers." He answered with a stiff smile, turning to smile at me before turning back to Landry and muttering; "If you don't mind, I'll like to show her around."
And with that, he led me away from a frustrated looking Robert to a secluded corner of the room.
"We're not working with him." He said flatly and my eyes nearly bulged when I heard him say that.
"What? Why?"
"Didn't you see the way he was looking at you like he wanted to eat you raw? If I wasn't there, only the heavens knew what he would've done… or said. I don't want creeps like that around you."
While he spoke on and on about the cons of having people like Robert around me, I couldn't help but smile. And then I gently slapped his arm. "If I didn't know better, I would've said you were jealous."
Jarek stopped at that. He frowned. "Me? Jealous of what?"
"I don't know, you tell me…" I teased.
"Of another man around you?" He continued, his eyes wide. An incredulous expression twisting his very perfect face. "Eww no. You're like a sister to me. My very very precious sister." He mumbled, wrapping his arm around me possessively, then he sniffed at my hair for a second and mused;
"There's only one problem… you smell so good."
I couldn't help the chuckle that slipped out of my mouth this time. However, I was just about to turn away from him when something—someone— bumped into me and in the next second, I felt something cold, like a liquid trickling down my body. I gasped.
Someone had just poured a glass of wine all over my dress!
For a moment, I stood there. In a daze. Unsure of what had just happened until Chalice in her old fashioned manner began dabbing frantically at a spot on my dress.
"I didn't notice… I don't see you there. Oh, I'm so so sorry. How… oh goddess, how can I make this up to you."
Then in feigned surprise, she looked up at me and gasped. "Leilani? Is this really you?"
The smile on her face looked so genuine, anyone who didn't know us would think she really was glad to see me; and the way her eyes instantly filled with tears felt so familiar my body instantly went rigid.
Then she beamed a smile at Jarek and whispered; "I believe we've met earlier, Alpha Frostclaw. However, I wasn't aware that you happen to know my twin sister!"
Of course, she'd come for Jarek… and embarrassing me was just icing on the cake.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed that more than a few pairs of eyes were now watching us. Strangers who looked confused at our exchange watched solemnly while my family and mates stood by the side, glaring at me, their faces scrunched up into frowns as they watched me closely as if I had been the one to stumble into Chalice and not the other way round.
That was when I noticed that she was stretching her hand towards Jarek for a handshake. He stared at it for a moment like it was vile and then flashed her a polite smile.
"Thank you, but I need to leave now with my companion since because of you, her dress and our evening are now ruined. So I hope we find another time again in the future to get acquainted."
Chalice's face fell.
"We're… we're related. I guess I was just so happy to see her and stumbled!" She cried softly, and then turning to me, she held my arm affectionately and shrieked; "Right Leilani?"
But I didn't miss the subtle gleam in her eyes, or how her lips curved into a small smile when she looked down at my wet dress.
"Miss Blackthorne…" I whispered, carefully trying to pry off her hands from my arm but she held on tighter, her eyes reddening even more with each passing second as if she was about to cry.
"Leilani…" she continued, her usual bite returning to her perfectly trembling voice and her hold on me tightening as she looked pointedly between I and Jarek. "Tell him we're sisters… twins."
"I believe that's impossible because Leilani here bears a different last name as you. You are a Blackthorne. She's Sinclair." Jarek drawled, and then turning to me, he asked; "…do you know this crazy lady?"
This time, when he asked this question, I wasn't mentally capable enough to keep my smile from forming. I shook my head slowly, feigning surprise.
"I've never seen her before."
Chalice froze.
"This party seems strange. A lot of people here have been acting really crazy around me, and I do not know why." Then with my smile widening, I asked Jarek, "…or is it a Pennsylvania thing?"
Jarek beamed. "Oh, I assure you, Sweetcakes, it isn't. There's probably something in the wine." And then with that, he carefully snatched my arm from Chalice.
A frown tugged on my face when I looked down at my now ruined expensive dress, and wanting to drive the knife deeper, I drawled; "This dress was custom made, Miss Blackthorne, so I fear you'll have to reimburse me for ruining it like this."
Her face was so red she could easily pass for a beetroot.
But I didn't pay her any heed as I stormed away with a chuckling Jarek following closely behind me like a lost pup when in truth, I was the lost pup…
—and he was the one showing me how to get right back on my feet.