Chapter 414 He lifted me
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Chapter 414 He lifted me
Mia’s POV
The reception tent dissolved into something else entirely.
Not a tent anymore. A glass pavilion that opened onto a pool the size of a small lake.
The water glowed. Actually glowed. Underwater lights in blues and greens that shifted slowly. Like the pool was breathing.
To the left, white cabanas lined the pool’s edge. Each one draped in silk that caught the breeze and billowed like sails. The fabric was thick enough to create privacy but sheer enough to let colored light filter through. Inside each cabana, I could see low couches piled with cushions. Small tables holding champagne buckets. Some were empty. Others held couples tangled together. Or small groups laughing over drinks.
Little islands of privacy in all this public celebration.
Actual couches built into the ground, upholstered in waterproof fabric that probably cost more than my car. Fire pits scattered between them, flames dancing in glass enclosures. People draped across the furniture like cats. Shoes abandoned. Ties loosened.
The bar was made of ice. Actual ice. Carved into something that looked like waves frozen mid–crash. Bottles embedded in the ice. Vodka. Champagne. Things I didn’t recognize.
A DJ stood on a platform that seemed to float on the water. His equipment pulsed with colored lights that matched the pool. The bass vibrated through the marble tiles under my feet.
People were already in the water. Some in swimsuits that had clearly been purchased specifically for this occasion. Designer. Expensive. Others just jumped in fully clothed. Dresses. Suits. Not caring.
Because when you had this much money, ruining a five–thousand–dollar dress was just entertainment.
A woman in a silver gown shrieked as she went down the slide, her dress billowing around her. She hit the water and came up laughing, mascara running down her face, her hair plastered to her head. She looked happier than anyone wearing a silver gown had a right to be.
“Holy shit,” Scarlett breathed beside me.
“That’s one way to put it.”
Morton appeared with champagne. Three glasses balanced between his hands. He passed them out without
comment.
“Again. Your family doesn’t mess around,” I said.
He smiled and took a sip of his own champagne. “Including excess.”
Alexander’s voice cut through the bass. High. Excited. “MAMA! THERE’S A SLIDE!”
I turned.
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He was right. There was a slide.
A massive water slide that started at the second–floor terrace and spiraled down into the deep end of the pool. Clear acrylic. So you could see the water rushing through it.
Alexander was already running toward it. Ethan following more slowly. Madison holding back near the stairs.
“No,” I said. Automatic. “Absolutely not.”
“Why not?” Alexander had stopped. His face falling. “It’s right there!”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
“There’s a lifeguard!” He pointed. And yes. There was a lifeguard. A very fit man in red swim trunks sitting on a high chair. Looking bored but alert.
“Alexander-”
“Please? Just once? I promise I’ll be careful!”
“You don’t even have a swimsuit.”
“I’ll go in my clothes!”
“Your nice clothes that we just spent an hour getting you into?”
His face did something complicated. Like he was trying to decide if the slide was worth ruining his outfit.
Apparently it was.
“Yes,” he said. Firm. “It’s worth it.”
I opened my mouth to argue. To be the responsible adult. To say no.
“Let them.”
Kyle’s voice came from behind me.
I turned. He was standing there. Hands in his pockets. Face calm.
“Kyle-”
“There’s a lifeguard. The water’s not that deep in that section. Let them have fun.”
“They’ll ruin their clothes.”
“I’ll buy them new ones.”
Of course he would.
“That’s not the point,” I started.
But Alexander was already running again. Ethan close behind. Even Madison had started moving toward the slide with more confidence.
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“They’re kids,” Kyle said quietly. “At a wedding. Let them be kids.”
He was right. I hated that he was right.
But he was right.
I watched them climb the stairs. Alexander taking them two at a time. Ethan more carefully. Madison gripping the railing.
They reached the top. Alexander went first. Of course he went first.
His shriek of joy echoed across the entire pavilion as he shot down the slide. His arms up. His face pure happiness.
He hit the water with a splash that sent waves across half the pool.
Came up laughing. Gasping. “THAT WAS AMAZING!”
Ethan went next. His descent more controlled. But when he surfaced, he was grinning. Actually grinning.
Madison stood at the top for a long moment. Looking down.
Then she sat. Pushed off.
Her scream was different from Alexander’s. Higher. More surprised.
When she came up, her face was split by the biggest smile I’d seen from her in weeks.
“Again!” Alexander was already swimming toward the stairs. “We have to go again!”
I felt something in my chest loosen.
Just a little.
“See?” Kyle said beside me. “Kids.”
I didn’t answer. Just took another sip of champagne.
The bubbles felt sharp against my tongue.
Sophie found us twenty minutes later.
She moved through the crowd like a ship cutting through water. Her red dress catching every possible ray of light. People literally stepped aside to let her pass.
“There you are!” She grabbed my arm. Her grip strong. “I’ve been looking everywhere!”
“We’ve been right here.”
“No, you’ve been hiding. There’s a difference.” She looked at Kyle. Then back at me. “Why are you hiding?”
“We’re not hiding. We’re watching the children.”
“The children are fine. Look at them.” She gestured toward the pool where all three kids were now engaged in
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some kind of elaborate water game with other children. “They’re having the time of their lives.”
She was right. They were.
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“And you,” Sophie continued, turning her full attention to me, “need to stop hovering and have fun.”
“I’m having fun.”
“You’re drinking champagne and standing in a corner. That’s not fun. That’s anxious observation.”
“Sophie-”
“No arguments.” She plucked the champagne glass from my hand. Drained it in one gulp. Set the empty glass on a passing waiter’s tray. “Nate and I will watch the children. You go. Enjoy yourself.”
She looked at Kyle. “You. Keep her company. Make sure she actually relaxes.”
Kyle’s eyebrows went up. “I’m not sure I have that kind of authority.”
“You’re their father. Figure it out.” She turned back to me. “Go. Walk. Drink. Dance. Do something that doesn’t involve watching your children like a hawk.”
Before I could protest, she was gone. Moving toward the pool where Nate had somehow manifested. He was already crouched at the water’s edge, talking to Alexander about something that required elaborate hand gestures.
“She’s very bossy,” I observed.
“She’s very French,” Kyle corrected.
We stood there. The music pulsed around us. Conversations layered over each other until individual words disappeared into noise.
“Want to walk?” Kyle asked.
I looked at him. At his face in the colored lights from the pool.
“Okay.”
The grounds beyond the pavilion were massive.
Gardens that probably had Latin names. Paths made of crushed white marble that glowed in the dark. Sculptures that were either very modern or very ancient. I couldn’t tell.
The music from the pool faded as we walked. Not gone. Just muted. Background.
My feet hurt. These heels were punishment. But I didn’t say anything. Just kept walking.
Kyle stayed beside me. Not close. Just… there.
A waiter appeared as if summoned. Carrying a tray of drinks. Not champagne this time. Something else. Dark liquid in crystal glasses.
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I took one. So did Kyle.
I sipped. Whiskey. Good whiskey. The kind that burned going down but warmed everything after.
“You’ve been working a lot,” Kyle said.
“I’m fine.”
“The house,” he said. “The blueprints. You’re rebuilding it.”
“Yes.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Can I see the plans?”
“Why?”
“Because I want to know what you’re building.”
I took another sip of whiskey. Longer this time. Letting it burn.
“Maybe,” I said finally.
We started walking again. Slower now.
The path curved around a fountain. More Italian marble. More water features that probably cost someone’s annual salary.
The whiskey was working. Making everything feel softer. Less sharp.
My feet still hurt though.
I stopped. My feet were killing me. These heels were torture.
I bent down to take them off.
Before my fingers could reach the straps, Kyle’s hands were on my waist.
He lifted me.
My hands grabbed his shoulders.
“Kyle-”
“Hold still.”
He set me down on the low wall beside the path. Stone. Cool under my thighs even through my dress.
His hands found my ankle. Left foot first.
His fingers worked the tiny buckle. The one I’d struggled with for five minutes this morning. He had it undone in seconds.
The shoe slipped off. He set it down beside me. Careful. Like it mattered.
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Then his hand moved to my right ankle.
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I should tell him to stop. But I didn’t say anything. Just watched his face as he unbuckled the second strap. His fingers were steady. Sure. Like this was something he’d done a thousand times before.
Maybe he had. In another life. When we were still pretending to be married.
The second shoe came off.
He stood. Slowly. His breathing heavier than it should be from such a small thing.
Then his hands found my waist again.
He lifted me down from the wall. Set me on my feet on the path.
The cold marble felt like heaven under my bare feet.
“Better?” he asked.
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