The Professional

“I’d like an answer to my question.”

“What question is that? Why I’m so naive or why I keep ignoring you?”

“Neither. I’d like to know what you have against this.” He flung a hand out in the direction of the merry revelers. “Forever.”

The green eyes that usually glittered at him like hard emeralds softened for the briefest moment as she shifted her gaze toward the ballroom. But it was the light, wistful whisper that gripped him by the throat and hung on. Hard.

“You know, Max, I try to be hopeful. But most days I just think happy-ever-afters are for suckers.”

* * *

Violet fought the shaking of her limbs as she strode across the ballroom. Damn Max Baldwin and his all-seeing blue eyes and his freaking questions that cut far too close.

Damn him.

A hard knot of tears thickened her throat, and she swallowed around it. She would not cry here. Goodness, what had happened to her? She was a professional. She owned a business and she was responsible for the event going on around her.

She could cry later.

On a hard breath, she gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts. She’d been doing it for years. Pressing down on the hurt and pain to ensure no one saw the wreck that lived inside. And she’d be damned if she showed that sorry face to the assembled crowd at the Kelley-Gardner nuptials. Over four hundred of Dallas’s elite and she was considering a breakdown.

No freaking way.

Instead, she’d use the anger and the frustration and just work that much harder. Max Baldwin didn’t know anything, and his leading questions were designed to throw her off guard.

“Violet!”

Kimberly Kelley, now Kimberly Gardner, bounced over to her on light feet. The silk creation that wrapped her tall, slender body was as traditional as it was modern. Another Cassidy Tate creation.

Her friend had managed to capture all the gravitas and elegance of a wedding while ensuring the bride still looked fully twenty-first century. Violet made a mental note to have the photographer snap some extra photos for their portfolio with the bride in motion.

“Kimberly. It’s a beautiful day.”

“It’s wonderful and amazing, just like you promised. Jordan and I truly can’t thank you and Cassidy and Lilah enough. It’s the perfect day.” Kimberly smiled as she took in the assembled crowd. “Perfect.”

Although she only had a few years in age on the bride, Violet couldn’t help thinking that bright-eyed, wondrous smile had never been hers. She’d never looked that young. And she’d certainly never been that carefree.

But she’d given that gift to another, and that had to be enough. It had to mean something. Didn’t it?

“I’m so glad you’re enjoying the day. You look amazing.”

“I did want to thank you, and we will be going out to lunch, my treat, after Jordan and I are back from Aruba. But I also stopped you for another reason. The security team wanted to talk to you.”

“Of course.” Violet had already begun moving when a slender hand gripped her wrist. “They can wait a minute. Come here.”

Before she could take another step, Violet was wrapped in a tight hug. “Thank you.”

Those damnable tears threatened again, and Violet held them back. Instead, she hung on an extra moment before stepping away. “Go enjoy the day. Find Jordan and dance until dawn. That’s all the thanks I need.”

Kimberly nodded before rushing toward her new husband. Violet watched for a moment before she turned on her heel and headed for the lobby area outside the ballroom.

What could security possibly need?

* * *

The chaos that greeted her had Violet reconsidering a four-hundred-person guest list.

Individuals in various states of drunken enjoyment littered the reception area outside the ballroom. Two men—obviously some of the more heavily intoxicated of the bunch—had stripped out of their tuxedo jackets and bow ties and were circling each other like prize fighters.

“What is this?” Violet deliberately kept her voice calm, pushing as much authority as she could into her words, and used their quiet force to gain everyone’s attention.

She should have used a roar.

The two men leaped on each other. She barely missed being a part of the fray as the hard smack of fists on flesh echoed off the two men, who grunted and groaned as they locked into battle.

“Stop it!” The words were as ineffective as she knew they’d be, but it was the cheering of the crowd that had her seeing red. “Stop it now!”

The Kelley and Gardner families came from money, including a political dynasty on the groom’s side. The added security was meant to ensure the family was safe. Instead, they were out here dealing with a group of guests acting like ill-behaved gorillas.

On a hard exhalation, Violet had to admit that was an insult to gorillas.

Two of the security team members she’d met earlier were on opposite sides of the brawl, trying to find ways to pull the two grappling guests apart, but neither seemed to get a good grip on the duo. If she was honest, she suspected they were ill prepared for dealing with a scuffle between two wealthy guests.

Which was still no excuse for inaction.

“Gentlemen!” She pushed another layer of authority into her tone and added a nice veneer of bitchiness as she eyed where she could get a good foot into the middle, toppling the two men. Before she could strike a handy shin, the two men were suddenly pushed apart.

“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Max stood between them, holding each at arm’s length, his gaze dark and his shoulders straining hard against the thick material of his suit jacket.

Blood dripped from one of the men and the other spit a mouthful onto the carpet, nearly wrenching a scream from Violet that even their fight hadn’t managed to do. This was a nice venue. One of the most prime venues in the city, truth be told, and they’d behaved like this?

She moved up close to the hard body of the one who’d spat his displeasure, her finger already drilling a hole in his chest. “What’s the matter with you? This is Kimberly and Jordan’s special day—”

“Get out of my face, lady.” The man nearly shoved her, and it was only Max’s hard press on the guy’s chest that held him still.

“What’s your—” Violet broke off as she caught the hazy dimness in the man’s gaze, his pupils blown wide even in the bright light of the room. “This man needs help.”

“Violet.” Max’s voice was urgent even as he maintained a firm, restraining hold.

Violet laid a hand on Max’s arm to steady him before she turned to one of the security guards. “Go get John. He’s on detail in the ballroom. Tell him we have someone out here who needs help.”

Her words were still echoing off the now-quiet crowd when the tuxedo-clad fighter fell flat on his back.

Chapter 2 (#ulink_152b741c-dafd-580f-8ecd-704422f963ef)

Max had watched the man fall as if in slow motion. He’d fumbled to get a firm grip, but the guy was already laid out cold before he could get any sort of hold.

What the hell?