I stood up straight, away from the mirror, as I finished fastening my earring and touching up my hair. With only a few minutes before we had to leave to get to Alex's dad's ceremony, I could feel nerves fluttering around in my stomach, but I forced them down. I wanted this night to go well.

I left the bathroom to find the bedroom empty, so I headed out to the living room to find Alex. And then I stopped dead.

Alex, quite literally, took my breath away. Like, I'm pretty sure I actually stopped breathing for a moment. He stood in the center of the room, focusing on fastening his cufflink, and while I always found Alex to be incredibly attractive, him in a tuxedo was putting him on an entirely different level.

"I don't say this enough, but you are literally the most attractive person I have ever met."

Alex turned to me, a grin growing on his face, but then he did a doubletake and his jaw dropped. "Holy shit, Ana," he breathed. "You're gorgeous."

I came to stand in front of him, flipping a strand of my curled hair over my shoulder. I smoothed out my skirt, feeling the slippery, red satin that fell to the floor in soft waves, a slit running up to mid-thigh. Alex ran his hands up my arms, grazing the off-the-shoulder sleeves, and then he grabbed my waist, his eyes scanning the fitted bodice.

"I thought you'd like the color," I teased.

Alex chuckled. "Oh, and why is that?"

Neither of us needed to answer that question. Emilia and I had gone thrifting in the weeks leading up to New York, and when I found this dress, in the exact shade of dark red of the dress I wore when Alex and I went out for the first time to the club, I knew I had to get it.

I pulled Alex down toward me and far too quickly, Alex teased my lips open and slipped his tongue into my mouth. And as much as I could let things escalate and have my dress end up discarded on the floor, I pushed him away before we could go much further. "If we keep going, there is no way we're getting there anywhere near on time." I reach up and wiped my lipstick off of Alex's mouth. "And you probably shouldn't show up with that all over you."

"Or." Alex's hands drew me closer to him, "we could just stay here. See where this goes."

I wiggled out of his grip before he could kiss me again and only knock down more of my self-control. "Alex, you said you were okay with going tonight," I reminded him.

"That doesn't mean there aren't other things I would rather be doing with the time," he replied, eyeing me.

I rolled my eyes. "Alex, you can do me later tonight, this thing is only a couple of hours, and we have all night. But right now, we really should go."

Alex's eyes darkened. "Is that a promise?"

I sighed. "I wasn't going to suggest this until after," I told him, "but clearly, you need an incentive. Stay here." I turned around and headed back into the bedroom, praying that Alex wasn't following me. If he got me horizontal, we definitely would not be making it to the ceremony.

Fortunately, he stayed where I left him, and I quickly dug through my suitcase, pulling out a small bag. I handed it to Alex as I came back into the living room. Let's just say, thrift stores were not the only places Emilia and I visited as I went shopping to prepare for this trip.

"If you need a little extra incentive to get through the night, there it is," I told him as he peered inside.

I watched his expression change from curiosity to shock to confusion and then to excitement in about a second. He looked up at me sharply.

"I know you like to take control in bed," I said, my voice a bit lower than usual. "And you know I have no problem with that."

Silently, Alex lifted the handcuffs out of the bag and then stared at me, his eyes even darker.

"To be used, after, the ceremony," I said, finality in my tone.

Alex let the handcuffs fall back into the bag, and then he threw it down on the couch. "Damn you," he muttered, and he grabbed my hand. "Damn you, Ana," he repeated, and he led me out of the apartment.

I had to bite back my laughter and ignore the excitement I felt in my lower body.

"You know, I really haven't ever met anyone like you," Alex said as we got in the elevator.

"Oh, trust me, I know."

Half an hour later, Alex and I stepped out onto the Tribeca Rooftop and into a crowd of New York City upper class. Men and women dressed in clothing and jewelry that cost more than what I made in a year stood together with champagne glasses in hand.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I looked up at Alex and realized we had been loitering in the entryway as I took in the scene. His lips were pursed and he had a frown across his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Because I've seen that look on your face before and it was when I took you to that Italian place where you said that you felt like you didn't belong." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You're my guest, Ana. And given that this event is for my father, that means you belong here more than anyone."

"I know, I know," I sighed, wishing he didn't have to deal with my insecurities at this particular moment. "It's just, I'm wearing a dress from a thrift store, Alex. And in case you haven't noticed, people are starting to stare."

Alex glanced around. "I hadn't noticed," he told me. Grabbing my hand, he took me to a more secluded corner of the event space and turned to face me.

"They're not staring at you, Ana," Alex told me. "Trust me, they're staring at me. I'm willing to bet that most people didn't think I was going to show up tonight, so they're shocked to see me. And they want to know where I've been and what I've been doing and I'm probably going to be dodging questions all night because none of these people deserve to know anything about me."

"And if they want to know all of that, then I'm willing to bet they're going to be wondering who the random girl is who you're with," I pointed out.

Alex's eyes flared. "They're going to be wondering how on earth they don't know anything about the fucking gorgeous woman I'm with," he said in a half-growl. "Trust me, when someone new comes in looking like you do right now, yeah, people are going to wonder where you came from, because if you were from Manhattan, they would already know you. But it's not because they're looking down on you, it's probably because they're jealous of you."

"Jealous?" I scoffed.

"Yeah." Alex's eyes roamed my face, and I could see how much he wanted me to believe him. "Because you're gorgeous and with the son of the guest of honor and you have what everyone in here wants for themselves but not for anyone else: anonymity."

I digested his words for a minute, feeling some of the tension fall out of my shoulders. "So, you're saying one of the reasons why people are jealous is because I'm with you," I teased.

Alex groaned. "I know, I know it sounds like something an asshole would say."

"But you're not," I reminded him softly. "And besides, I'd be jealous of whoever got to me on your arm tonight if it wasn't me."

"So are you okay?" Alex asked me.

I nodded. "But we should probably stop hiding in a corner and go say hello to your parents," I said.

"Ana." Alex stepped in front of me to stop me from our secluded area. He ran his hands down my sides and then gripped my hips, pulling me sharply against him. "I don't care where it's from," his voice had dropped to a low whisper, "I don't want to hear you say anything disparaging about this dress again, okay? Because if you do, we're going to have to leave so I can take you home and show you just how much I worship you in it."

I stared at him with wide eyes, my lips slightly parted. The look in his eye told me that he was deadly serious, and part of me wanted to insult the dress right then and there just so he could make good on that promise. But instead, I swallowed hard, ignoring the pressure between my legs, and brushed my lips against his. I nodded.

With what I could tell was great effort, Alex tore himself away from me and then laced his fingers with mine. "We probably should go find my parents."

We wound our way through the room, and while I noticed that people were staring, I did realize that most of the attention was directed toward Alex. And he handled it like a champ, holding his head high and not bothering to make eye contact with anyone, intent on his search for his parents.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad." We had reached the center of the most densely populated group of people where Alex's parents stood greeting people.

"Alexander, I'm so glad you're here," Mr. Castellan said.

Alex hugged both of his parents, and they both gave me nods.

"Ana, good to see you here," Mrs. Castellan said. "You look lovely."

"Thank you, Mrs. Castellan," I replied. "And Mr. Castellan, congratulations on everything. This is quite something."

"Thank you, Ana," Mr. Castellan said. "I hope you enjoy yourself tonight."

Just as Alex suspected, neither of them showed any signs of the tense brunch earlier in the day. I sneaked a look at Alex and saw his jawline tense, but other than that, he was keeping his emotions well hidden.

"Oh, Alexander, dear," Mrs. Castellan said, "there really are a few people here you should meet. Look, there's Jaxon Hart over there, you know how close he and your father work together."

Alex looked over at the man his mom pointed out, looking altogether unenthusiastic.

"Alexander, your mother is right," Mr. Castellan said. "It's important for you to maintain these connections."

"I thought this was a party, Dad," Alex said. "Not a networking event."

Something told me that to the Castellans, the two were one and the same.

"And I have a guest with me," Alex pointed out.

"I'm sure Ana will be fine on her own for a little while," Mrs. Castellan said.

Three sets of eyes went on me. Not wanting to cause a scene, I turned toward Alex and squeezed his hand. "I'm going to go find some champagne," I told him quietly. "Don't worry about me, I'm good."

Alex gave me a small nod. I gave him a soft kiss, a small wink, and then headed in search of the bar.

Servers crisscrossed the room with trays of champagne, but I wanted an actual location where Alex could find me so I headed toward the bar where champagne glasses stood waiting for passersby to grab them. I stood off to the side, glass in hand, as I observed the room. I didn't want to make things difficult for Alex so I was happy to go off on my own for a little bit. But that didn't mean that I wasn't feeling increasingly awkward as I stood by myself in the middle of the apparently incredibly social crowd.

"You came in just now with Zander, didn't you?"

I changed my mind. I would rather stand awkwardly on my own than engage in conversation. But in an effort to be polite, I turned toward the newcomer to find a woman about my age staring at me expectantly.

"I don't call him that, but yes," I told her.

"So, you know what's been going on with him these past few months?" she asked me eagerly, taking a step closer.

"Er, I guess," I said, now very weirded out by how this woman was approaching the conversation. "I'm Ana, by the way," I introduced myself, since as far as I was aware, that's how people were supposed to greet each other.

"Kiera," she replied. "Oh, sorry, I've known Zander forever. We dated for like, three years in high school, but we're still friends." She looked at me expectantly.

I didn't really know what to say to that, and anyway, I was busy beating back an Empire State Building-sized jealousy monster that had suddenly appeared in my stomach with a crowbar. Kiera was pretty. Really pretty.

"So," Kiera urged when I didn't say anything. "What's been going on with him? I mean, disappearing like that? Not like him at all."

Was everyone here so obtuse? Suddenly, that jealousy monster up and disappeared. Kiera sucked. "I mean, his sister died," I said slowly, and Kiera's smile faltered. "So him doing things that aren't 'like him at all' isn't exactly unexpected."

"No, no, of course not," Kiera backtracked. "Which is why I'm so curious about where he's been, is all."

"Then you should probably ask him," I told her. "It's not really my place."

Kiera observed me for a moment without responding. "Of course," she relented. "I'm sorry, it's just that Zander isn't always super open. I'm sure you know how that is."

"Not really, no."

"And of course, when everyone saw him come in with you, questions and rumors started to fly." Kiera kept going like I hadn't spoken. "Everyone is talking about you, wondering who you are."

"Well, it's a good thing I came," I said, "or else it would be quite a quiet party, wouldn't it?"

Keira let out a small, rather fake, laugh. "See, Zander just usually comes to these things on his own and then leaves with someone," she told me.

I drained my champagne glass, wanting nothing more than to make an escape.

"But I guess if he's already sleeping with you, he doesn't have to waste his energy picking up someone new every night."

Lord, give me strength. "Yeah, I guess you'd be right about that." Whatever game she was playing, I really didn't have the energy or desire to compete.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to assume anything," Kiera said hurriedly. "Just the Zander I know doesn't keep girls around for that long. He dates, he just doesn't do relationships. I think his last actual girlfriend was, well," she pretended to think about it, "me, I guess."

"Well, thank you for the warning, Kiera," I said, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. I had just spotted Alex across the room, apparently free from his social obligations. "But my boyfriend is over there, so I'm going to go. Nice chatting with you." I grabbed another glass of champagne and with a final nod, headed over to Alex.