Chapter 3 The Mysterious Beauty (Carl's Pov)

• Cael didn't like attending the social events that members of his class kept springing up.
• They were monotonous, had the exact same faces and always ended with him parting with an outrageous sum of money for one cause or the other.
• But when you belonged to the economic class that Cael belonged to, attendance was almost mandatory.
• Tonight it was a fundraiser for cancer research. At least it was a worthy cause.
• The sounds of high-pitched giggling carried over the music to his ears. The birds were swarming.
• Cael kept his face straight and his eyes constantly moving so that an errant glance wouldn't be taken by the roosts as a signal to approach.
• His disinterest wouldn't keep them away for long though, he could tell. Already the excitement was mounting.
• The ladies in front of him were desperately trying to get his attention. There was a lot of hair twirling and so subtle sly looks thrown his way.
• "Cael!"
• He heard his name and turned to meet his friend and the host of this event.
• "Armani," he said in a deep, low voice.
• "I'm so glad you could come," Armani said pleasantly.
• She opened her arms and he stepped forward to hug her, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.
• There were several eyes on them and most of them weren't pleasant.
• Without turning around, he knew the source of the unhappy looks was 'the birds' as he liked to call them.
• They needn't bother themselves because there had never been and there would never be anything between him and Armani.
• They were childhood friends; practically brother and sister at this point. nothing else despite her exquisite, exotic beauty
• "Of course, I came. It's your party," he said.
• "Fundraiser," she corrected calmly, slipping her hand around his and gently leading him further into the room. "It's a fundraiser, not a party."
• "It's a fundraiser party," he challenged. "More emphasis on the party too."
• Armani laughed, her voice tinkering like a bell. He looked down at her by his side and took in her face.
• He felt a swelling of pride and protectiveness. Armani was a gorgeous woman and the sweetest person he knew.
• Many men would fall over for her beauty, if not her money.
• He loved her like his own sister. Which was why even though he desperately wanted to leave, he continued to wait patiently by her side.
• "Is Mr Rogers coming?" He asked about her father, his
• "No," she answered, smiling and nodding to someone off at the side.
• "He's out of the country on one of his business trips again." She sighed.
• "I'm sure he wanted to be here," he assured her.
• "Well, you're here with me so everything is fine." She smiled up at him briefly before turning her attention to the next guest.
• He greeted the guest and mentally withdrew himself from the conversation.
• Thankfully, they were too caught up in their conversation about cancer to bother with him.
• Devlin allowed his mind, and his eyes to wander around the room.
• His eyes fell on the birds who as always were circling not too far away from him.
• He let his eyes sweep over the lazily. Perhaps he should give himself a treat.
• If he was going to subject himself to more hours of this...
• (which was looking likely now that Armani had picked him as her chaperone in the absence of her father)
• ... he might as well allow himself a reward. Any one of the birds would do. They were all pretty enough.
• From the loaded looks they were giving him, they were very much interested.
• Maybe he could even spring two, instead of one?
• There were two who caught his fancy more than the others.
• One of them was a blonde, the other a brunette. Call him predictable, but they were easy enough marks.
• Having made his choice, he dismissed them from his mind and allowed his eyes to continue to scan the room casually.
• He saw a lot of familiar faces. Some of them, he had even been intimate with at one time or the other.
• If he happened to meet their eyes, he nodded briefly before continuing his scan.
• At the far end of the room, his eyes fell on a beautiful girl with long black hair.
• Oh, perhaps he would be changing his mind about the blonde and brunette after all. She would do nicely.
• His eyes moved slightly to the side and that was the moment when he finally saw her.
• Oh, she caught his attention immediately... the girl with the fiery Auburn hair.
• He'd almost missed her standing there...almost. She was trying to hide but how could you hide when you looked like that?
• Now that he'd seen her, he couldn't 'not' see her. He could only see her side profile from this angle.
• He willed her to turn around, or at least for Armani to wrap up the mind-numbing conversation and move along so he could see her from the front.
• Finally, the conversation ended. 'Thank goodness!'
• She immediately moved towards another guest but Cael steered her unyielding in the other direction.
• He didn't stop until he had a good view of the lady. Needless to say, he was not disappointed.
• Armani gave him a look but he ignored it and she was soon distracted by another guest.
• The lady was the epitome of beauty and desire. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She was gorgeous.
• Even from this distance, her hair stood out like a curtain around her face. And her eyes...she had big, grey eyes like a cat.
• As he watched, they were stopped by a woman he recognized, Mrs Smith. She was recently widowed. 'Good for her.'
• She deserved the old bastard's money after putting up with him all those years.
• His mysterious Beauty hugged and kissed Mrs Smith and sadly, turned so that her back was facing him how. He grunted impatiently and moved again, dragging Armani with him.
• "Cael!" She exclaimed. "That was rude. I was talking to him."
• "Sorry," he muttered distractedly, still watching her.
• Maybe it was because of her choice of a sparkly knee-length dress with wrist-long sleeves...
• Or the severe way she twisted her gorgeous auburn hair up...
• Or maybe it was the slightly uncomfortable look that she was trying to hide...
• But he could tell immediately tell that she didn't want to be here. He smiled to himself. That was one thing they had in common.
• Suddenly, she looked around, scanning the room almost frantically. 'What was she looking for?'
• She didn't seem to find what she was looking for. She turned around again and scanned the room.
• Her eyes suddenly met with his. Her eyes widened. Him! He was the one she'd been looking for.
• She turned away sharply and began to make her way towards the exit.
• 'Oh no, you don't get to escape,' Cael said to himself and stormed after her.