High Stakes Seduction - Book 2 by Ami LeCoeur Read Free Book Online

together enough to graduate. But I had never really applied myself to anything until after Dad died.”
    He paused, a bitter chuckle on his lips. I wasn’t sure what else to do, so I reached out and put my hand on top of his on the railing. He looked down at our hands for a moment, as if they were the strangest things he’d ever seen, but then he entwined my fingers with his.
    “Let’s go check out this party,” he said, motioning for us to continue walking.
     

Chapter Fifteen
     
    The suite was beautifully decorated with dark wood furnishings contrasting the bamboo floor and wall trimmings. This was much more like what I'd imagined a ship's room to be. Mellow jazz played softly over the speakers, just loudly enough to be heard under the din of the small crowd. Antonio steered us toward the bar, pouring us each a drink.
    “Ready to mingle?” he asked with a wink as I took a sip of my wine.
    His arm slid around my waist and I stifled a cough, almost choking on my drink. We had walked hand-in-hand to the party; now his arm was around my waist? It brought back my original worries about his true intentions on this trip. Even though nothing had actually happened between us. Yet.
    I tried to relax as we followed the beckoning of a couple we’d met earlier at the captain’s table.
    “I’m glad you could make it,” said the woman. “I wanted to tell you at dinner that your dress is absolutely beautiful. Now that I see all of it, I am so very envious.”
    “She does wear it beautifully,” Antonio agreed, his smile brightening his face.
    "Antonio chose it for me,” I said, my hand resting on his chest. “He has such impeccable taste.”
    “We’re a little old fashioned here,” said an older man, holding out a wooden box in his palm towards Antonio. The man turned to me. “Would you mind if I steal him away for a few minutes so the men might have a word together?”
    I laughed. “Not at all,” I said, covering Antonio’s hand on my arm. “As long as you return him safe and sound.”
    Antonio smiled, brushing a lock of hair from my face. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I won’t be long,” Then he accepted the offered cigar and stepped out onto the balcony with the silver-haired man.
    “It’s not a bad life.”
    I turned to find the politician's wife standing at my side. “I beg your pardon?”
    “Politics,” she said, shaking her head. “If you can stand the late nights, secret meetings, photo opportunities and all the people you have to pretend to like just to get them to vote for your husband.”
    Then she laughed, a jaded expression clouding her eyes as she took a long sip from her drink. “At least the money is good, right?”
    I nodded, wondering where the conversation was headed.
    "Oh come on, Clarice. You know you love the parties and social events. Where would you be without the constant gallivanting around?" The brash, silver haired woman with sharp features asked as she walked up to us. She held her martini with perfectly manicured nails, delicately swirling the liquid in the glass.
    "No. Even the parties are boring now. I mean, you see new faces from time to time, fresh blood, if you will, but it's still always the same thing. The vultures circling, hoping for a piece of you."
    "Why Clarice, this is a side if you I haven't seen before. Come on honey, you need another drink." The two of them walked off arm in arm and I breathed a sigh of relief.
    I wandered over to the couch and sat down by myself, quietly sipping my wine and wondering what was really going on at this "party". Two men stood in the corner, heads almost touching. They seemed intent on their own conversation, isolated from what was going on in the rest of the room.
    But then I noticed one of them giving me the occasional surreptitious glance. I wasn't sure I'd seen them before, and I had no idea what interest they may have had in me.
    I used my discomfort as an excuse to go get another glass of wine. Standing near the