With Love

Chapter Ten

Hello Everyone!!

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The face in the mirror scowled back at me as I did my last-minute appearance check. "As much as I love dressing up, I hate these kinds of functions," I muttered, leaning so close to the mirror my breath fogged the glass.

Corinne lounged on my bed wearing her tailored black suit with a matching waistcoat instead of a shirt underneath, her platinum blond hair pulled into a tight bun on top of her head with minimum makeup aside from the smoky eyeshadow.

"Nobody likes to attend these things but reputation matters more than your feelings," she stated, twirling her favorite knife between her fingers.

My lips pulled into a scowl, annoyed at the words that definitely came from my father's mouth.

My gaze ran over my reflection one last time, spying for any sorts of stray hairs sticking up from the smoothed back style or lipstick stains anywhere besides my lips before turning around.

The silk satin midnight blue dress swished with my movements, the slit that went up to my hip leaving showing off the freshly waxed skin. Corinne bolted into a sitting position, her gaze on my leg. "Are you wearing underwear?" She demanded.

I waved a hand dismissively. "I would never do that to silk, panty lines would ruin the entire look," I replied, strutting to my bedroom. I flashed her a cheeky smile over my shoulder. "Why? Getting worked up at the sight of my bare leg?" I teased, chuckling on our way to the stairs.

A smirk tipped Corinne's lips. "We both know what parts of your body get me worked up."

A louder laugh left my lips as we walked down the stairs, a subtle flush creeping up my neck. My brothers stood in the foyer, talking to the security detail that would accompany us this evening. Harvey and Lorenzo stood out with their tall built frames. Franco leaned against the wall, arms folded and staring at the floor while Santiago and Aaron stood in front of him.

Matt and Hugo, the youngest of the bunch at twenty-four, listened intently to whatever Jasper said. I wouldn't be surprised if they took out notepads and wrote down everything said.

All of them filled out a suit spectacularly and I was not about to complain about the eye candy I got to experience tonight, at least that would keep me entertained.

Finn, however, stood out among them all in his newly tailored suit. He didn't gel his white hair back but instead swept it to the side slightly. Instead of a traditional tuxedo with a white undershirt and black bowtie, he wore a black undershirt with his black suit, making the white in his hair and the blue in his eyes the only pop of color on him.

He clasped his briefcase-sized medical bag in one hand and stood off to the side by himself, scanning through his phone. It hit me then, Finn spoke to no one other than the nurses and myself. Talking to my brothers yesterday felt forced and it was clear that he felt like the odd one out because all these men knew each other well, most had grown up on this very property with my siblings and myself.

Corinne and I descended the staircase together and I kept my eyes on the door leading outside that showed the SUVs we would take to the event. The general chatter quietened as I stepped onto the foyer marble floor.

My eyes slowly flicked across each face around me until they stopped on Finn. Contrary to his whole 'no wandering eyes' comment, they now racked along my entire body and I couldn't help but move my leg slightly, letting the slit to my hip more noticeable.