At the St. Regis ballroom, I, Adrian Blackwood, shook hands and repeated the same assurances about Blackwood Group until my cheeks hurt.
I searched the crowd for Serena. Once people heard my side, they would understand what she had done.
Then I found her.
She stood beside the mayor with a silver-haired senator and Reid Hastings, the tech billionaire. She wore midnight blue and diamonds. All three men leaned in when she spoke.
"Look at her," Chloe hissed beside me. "I wonder which one of those old fossils she had to sleep with to get that dress."
I headed across the ballroom.
Two men stepped into my path.
Both wore tailored suits and earpieces. They left me no space to pass.
Before I could order them aside, gala host Marcus Thorne crossed the floor toward Serena with the mayor.
He
