Paris Malady (#1 in The Billionaire Series)

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

It was his parent’s party, with invited guests conversing in gathered groups, some, like Adel and Liam, were forced to converse with all guests therefore weaving in and out of gatherings.

So far, by the bar that had been set up per his instructions, Daniel hadn’t spotted Mlle.Williams. He refused to use her first name, though it may slip from time to time, and that was the problem. He’d gotten used to her.

Normally he’d be weaving in and out of crowds, but today he rather preferred the company of a drink. It didn’t stab.

“Waiting for someone?” Alex stepped out from the growing crowd of guests and slid into a stool beside him. “Vodka, my good man.”

Glass in hand, Daniel glowered at him. Used to it, Alex laughed it off. “So far from the short time you’ve been here, all you’ve managed to do is piss me off. Is there more, Mon ami?”

Alex chuckled, sliding around to face the crowd. “Have I, Danny boy? Have I really?”

“Last time you tried that on me you ended up with a black eye,” Daniel warned.

Alex threw back his head with laughter, causing a few heads to turn. Adel, spotting him, waved with a smile. “The ladies find that quite attractive,” he waved back. “As I’m certain would LisaWilliams.”

Daniel’s scowl returned. “Stay away from her, Alex,” he warned. He heard the possessive quality in his voice a little too late, and his friend knew it.

“I never thought I’d live to see Daniel hang up over a girl,” Daniel glared at his smiling face. “And to see you fight it is even better.”

Daniel should have noticed his friend’s gaze flicker behind him with interest, “I mean it, Alex,” he growled. “She’s nothing but a leach; a con out to entice men with deep pockets for her own leisure.”

Alex’s cheeks paled and his eyes dimmed but widened as his gaze remained locked on someone behind him, and suddenly the scent of lilacs wafted into his senses. Daniel knew who he was about to encounter but that didn’t stop him from whirling around.

He came face to face with LisaWilliams, or a seductress.

He knew the piece, one of Jean-Pierre’s: made of black silk, the color that elicits danger, the faille gown draped beautifully from a strapless sweetheart neckline, low enough to show the tops of her breasts, but modest enough to entice feminine innocence, to a dramatic floor-sweeping hem. It curved to her body intricately, grasping her height. A signature bow effect draped artfully drew attention to the wrapped, fitted waist which brought attention to that small waist he’d seen.

Add to that a limited array of jewelry that dotted her ears, and hair braided and pinned back in a chignon that accentuated a long neck, and Daniel was reeled in.

This couldn’t be her. He tried to find pieces of the Lisa, um; Mlle.Williams, he’d known, but nothing about this seductress before him showed the Lisa, um, Mlle.Williams, from before.

No, the stubborn tilt of her chin into the air and her flashing eyes were definitely Mlle.Williams. She was angry, having probably heard his words.

Daniel winced, cursing to have had his control slip away, all because he was possessive over the woman. But he refused to show.

“Am I not right, MademoiselleWilliams?” he quirked a brow, casually regarding her with a quick dismiss as he began to ponder.

Was she angry he knew? Was she worried her plan was going down the drain?