Chaos stopped listening to Jaden the moment Kashi placed her hand in Dante's. Not gradually, somewhere between whatever Jaden had been saying about her father and the new manufacturing facility outside Lyon.
Immediately.
One second, he was dancing with Jaden beneath the chandeliers, following the measured sweep of the orchestra while maintaining enough awareness of her conversation to answer when necessary. The next, Kashi Saints put her hand in another man's and every useful thought in his head died.
Dante closed his fingers around hers and led her onto the dance floor. Chaos's jaw tightened. Jaden was still speaking. He knew because her lips were moving and, every so often, her voice reached him through the orchestra, but the words no longer assembled themselves into anything meaningful.
His attention had crossed the ballroom and refused to return. Kashi stepped into Dante's arms.
Chaos almost missed a step and Jaden adjusted without comment, following his hand at her waist as they turned.
Across the ballroom, Dante's hand settled against Kashi's waist. Chaos stared at it.
There. Right fucking there.
His palm rested against the narrow curve above her hip with the casual confidence of a man who had apparently touched her enough times not to consider doing so dangerous.
Chaos's grip tightened around Jaden's hand.
"—and Father thinks the expansion could be completed before spring."
"Mm."
Jaden glanced at him. Chaos missed whatever suspicion followed.
Dante said something and Kashi laughed.
Chaos's eyes narrowed.
What the fuck had he said?
He watched her tilt her face towards Dante, watched the easy familiarity between them as they moved through the crowd. There was no stiffness in her shoulders. No careful distance. None of the cool politeness she gave men who attempted to charm her and had already failed without realising it.
She was comfortable. That irritated him more. Chaos knew Dante. He knew the man had been beside her for years. Knew Kashi trusted him enough to have him in her home, her office, her car— within arm's reach whenever she moved through the world.
He knew all of that.
What he did not know was why the bastard's hand needed to be on her waist.
Dante guided her backwards. Kashi followed, then he lifted their joined hands and turned her beneath his arm. Red fabric swept around her legs. The slit in her gown opened briefly with the movement, revealing one long stretch of thigh before the material fell back into place. Her hair followed half a second later, catching gold beneath the chandeliers as she completed the turn and came back towards Dante. His hand caught her waist again.
Chaos pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek.
He could remove the hand. Quite easily, actually. The wrist first. Then perhaps the entire arm. A disproportionate response, certainly. Chaos had never claimed to be reasonable.
"Kashi looks beautiful tonight." Jaden's voice finally penetrated.
Chaos's gaze remained across the ballroom. "She does."
Jaden was watching him now rather than wherever they were supposed to be going. Across the floor, Dante leaned closer to say something near Kashi's ear.
Chaos's expression went flat.
Jaden followed his line of sight. "Oh."
Chaos's eyes cut towards her. She wisely rearranged her face.
The orchestra changed before he could decide whether that oh required investigation. A bright strike of violin cut through the ballroom, followed by a playful run from the piano. The measured waltz broke apart almost instantly. Couples separated to delighted laughter, hands slipping free as the rhythm quickened.
Chaos frowned.
Jaden was already laughing as she stepped away from him. "Try to keep up."
The ballroom shifted.
Dozens of couples opened into a loose formation, masks flashing beneath the chandeliers as partners moved apart and turned towards the next person in sequence. The music had lost the stately restraint of the earlier waltzes.
Faster, lighter and designed less for elegance than amusement.
Hands met. Bodies turned.
Partners changed.
Chaos released Jaden and caught the hand of a woman in pale blue as she spun towards him.
She laughed breathlessly. "Mr Riegrow."
Chaos inclined his head. He had absolutely no idea who she was. His attention had already moved past her shoulder.
Kashi had changed partners too.
A silver-haired man Chaos vaguely recognised from one of the banking families took her hand.
Fuck me.
Chaos guided his current partner through the turn with automatic precision while watching Kashi over the woman's shoulder.
The banker's son— or nephew, heir, whatever the fuck he was— said something to her.
Kashi smiled.
Chaos disliked him immediately. He could murder that one later as an appetiser. The music sent them apart again.
The woman in blue disappeared from his hands and somebody in green replaced her. Chaos caught her at the waist as required, turned once, released.
Across the floor, Kashi moved again. Dante had landed with another woman.
Finally.
Good for him.
Chaos would let him keep his hands when he killed him, then. His gaze shifted.
Ivar had joined the dance.
The Crown Prince swept easily into the moving formation, catching his first partner with the polished confidence of a man who had probably been forced to learn this before he could legally object. Laughter followed him through the group as the sequence accelerated.
Elsewhere, Zarri had landed opposite some young heir who looked simultaneously delighted and terrified.
Alex had noticed. Even from several metres away, Chaos recognised the expression on his brother's face. Apparently misery enjoyed company.
Alex's next partner was an older woman dripping in emeralds. She said something to him. Alex smiled automatically while looking directly over her shoulder at Zarri.
Chaos almost felt sympathy.
Another turn, another exchange, the orchestra climbed.
Chaos caught a new hand. Released it, turned and caught another.
Kashi disappeared behind two couples. His attention sharpened until she emerged again in a flash of red.
She was laughing. Actually laughing. Not the restrained little social laugh she had used throughout the evening. Her head tipped back as her current partner nearly missed the turn and scrambled to recover. Kashi caught his arm, saved the movement and apparently found his embarrassment hilarious.
Something inside Chaos twisted. Not because she was laughing. He liked her laugh. He fucking loved her laugh. That was precisely the problem. He wanted to be the reason for it.
Selfish.
He kept the thought anyway.
The dance spun them apart once more. Chaos caught sight of Dante again.
The man had changed partners twice since Kashi. First the woman in silver, then somebody Chaos didn't recognise. He danced well. Why wouldn't the bastard dance?
Why wouldn't he have excellent posture and irritatingly competent hands and whatever other unnecessary qualities apparently came included with being close to Kashi Saints?
Chaos had spent months believing Dante's greatest offence was existing permanently within five feet of her. Tonight had revealed new charges.
He filed them accordingly.
Jaden flashed past with another partner, silver gown sweeping behind her. Their eyes met.
She was grinning.
Chaos glared and her grin widened before the dance carried her away.
Fucking woman.
The music changed again. A sharper rhythm now. The final movement. Around the ballroom, recognition passed through the dancers. Laughter rose as everyone began reaching for their masks.
Chaos's fingers touched his. The sequence tightened. One step. Turn. Two backwards. Partners separated. Across from him, a woman in black raised her mask above her head as the rest of the dancers did the same.
Chaos lifted his own.
For a moment, the ballroom became a strange sea of uncovered faces beneath raised hands, masks suspended overhead in black, gold, silver, feathers and jewels.
Kashi stood several positions away. Her purple mask was held above her head. Her eyes found his. Something inside Chaos went still.
There you are.
The orchestra struck.
Everyone brought their masks down at once. Purple covered Kashi's face. Black covered his.
The dancers turned.
Chaos moved. Not where the sequence would naturally have taken him. Half a step wider. A slight adjustment through the turn. Nothing obvious enough to break formation. Nothing anyone watching from outside the dance would notice.
But Chaos Riegrow had not built half his life by leaving outcomes to chance. If the dance wanted to choose his next partner, the dance could go fuck itself.
He tracked Kashi through the rotation.
One couple crossed, then another. She spun away from a man in white.
Chaos released his current partner exactly half a beat early, stepped, turned and reached.
Kashi's hand landed in his. Her body followed.
Chaos caught her at the waist and for the first time in what felt like an offensively long evening, the world returned to its proper alignment.
Kashi's eyes lifted behind the purple mask. They narrowed slightly as the movement brought them closer. "You cheated."
Chaos settled his hand more securely against her waist. "Prove it."
Her lips twitched.
Across the floor, the rest of the final pairings settled around them.
Alex turned out of the rotation— and Zarri landed directly in front of him. His entire face lit up. "Oh, thank God."
Zarri laughed as his hand found her waist. "Were you suffering?"
Several couples away, Dante completed his turn— and stopped.
Ivar stood opposite him. For the smallest fraction of a second, neither moved.
Dante's face softened. "Hi."
The Crown Prince's expression remained composed, but his fingers closed around Dante's hand with a familiarity that would have meant something to anyone paying enough attention. Chaos was not. "Hey."
And Jaden—
Jaden turned elegantly through the final exchange, silver skirts sweeping around her ankles, one hand extended towards the partner waiting to catch her.
Xavier caught it.
She looked up. Neither appeared particularly thrilled by what fate— or Chaos's strategic interference— had arranged.
Xavier's expression remained professionally neutral. "Miss Laurent."
"Oh, don't sound so excited." Jaden's mouth curved.
The music carried them onwards. Chaos heard none of it. Kashi was in his arms. That was the only relevant development in the room.
The dance slowed for its final sequence, its playful momentum smoothing into something more controlled. Around them, couples moved into the closing pattern.
Chaos guided Kashi backwards. She followed, red gown brushing his trousers.
"You've been staring at me," she said.
His eyes stayed on hers. "Have I?"
Kashi tilted her head. "Was Miss Laurent boring you?"
Chaos almost smiled. So she had been watching him too. "No." Kashi's face cooled and Chaos continued before she could retreat behind it. "I stopped listening to her."
Her eyes sharpened. "When?"
He could have lied. He didn't. "When you took Dante's hand."
Kashi blinked, her mouth began to curve. Chaos immediately disliked that smile. Not because it wasn't beautiful. Because it suggested she knew something he didn't.
Kashi's smile widened. Chaos drew her through another turn, his palm returning to her waist as she came back to him.
"What exactly," she asked sweetly, "were you thinking while Dante and I danced?"
Murder, amputation.
Several crimes that would have inconvenienced the Saints security department.
Chaos looked down at her. "Nothing worth saying in polite company." A laugh escaped her.
There it was again. That fucking laugh. Except this time, he was the reason for it. Something primitive inside him settled.
Kashi's hand rested against his shoulder as the final notes approached. "Were you jealous, Riegrow?"
"No." Chaos reconsidered. "Yes." He bent slightly, enough that the next words belonged only to the space between them. "I've spent half this evening watching his hands on you." Kashi's lips parted. Chaos's gaze dropped briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes. "I didn't enjoy it."
The orchestra climbed. Around them, dancers began the final turn.
Kashi recovered first. "I will step on your foot."
Chaos laughed, low enough to disappear beneath the orchestra. "Wildflower." Her glare sharpened. The final movement arrived and he lifted their joined hands and turned her beneath his arm.
Red fabric swept around her.
She came back to him on the last measure, and his hand found her waist again as naturally as breathing.
The orchestra struck its final note. Applause erupted around them.
Chaos barely heard it.
Kashi remained in front of him, cheeks faintly warm beneath the purple mask, one hand still caught in his and for the moment, Chaos no longer cared where Dante was.
Forgiveness was a virtue.
He would still be investigating the bastard.
Thoroughly.