‘The things I’m going to do to you when you get home.’ His fingertips brush my shoulder oh so lightly. ‘You’re a fucking vision, and I’ve never been more proud of what you’ve achieved.’
‘Tell me I’m a good person and I’ll stab you with my fork,’ I say under my breath while staring straight ahead. If this award paints me as some do-gooder, I’ll be furious. Happily, the foundation’s PR agency has enough interviews lined up with the broadsheets, financial press, and glossy magazines over the next month for me to set the record straight.
‘I’m not that foolhardy. But your competence has been my kink since I met you, and I’m going to show you just how much your talents turn me on as soon as we can get out of here.’
‘It was my competence you liked in that Seraph photo, was it?’
He groans against my jaw. He still has such a boner for that photo. There’s a reason we have a random bar stool in our bedroom. ‘You’re competent ateverything.’
I turn my head and cup his face. ‘Don’t get too starstruck,’ I whisper in his ear. ‘I want you to treat me like a whore tonight and get me on my knees as soon as we get home.’
There was a time when I felt typecast by my background. Limited. I felt that the stars, in all their dazzling celestial glory, weren’t mine to reach for.
Now that I’m there, I enjoy nothing more than embracing my past. My unique, perverted, crazy past that led me to this man.
When my name is called, I find myself hoping I haven’t turned Gabe ontoomuch. Given this is his award as much as mine, I’ve insisted that he join me on stage, and no one likes a philanthropist with a boner.
His grip is firm on my hand as we weave through the tables to thunderous applause. At the next table, Anton stands and shakes Gabe’s hand before planting a kiss on my cheek.
‘That’s my girl,’ he says with a wink.
Max, Dex and their wife Darcy are applauding, too. Darcy, who’s in a gold dress that’s definitely not appropriate for an event this formal and utterly fucking fantastic, puts her fingers in her mouth and wolf-whistles at me.
‘Thanks, babe,’ I mouth with a grin.
Gen looks disapprovingly at her sister before blowing me a kiss.
The Alchemy women are the best.
I have a short, punchy speech planned. It will remind the great and good of British philanthropy that running a successful non-profit doesn’t automatically arise from a desire to do good. Success comes from running it just like a business. From adhering religiously to KPIs. From obsessing over efficiencies as aggressively as any hedge fund and being as bold with your experiments as any self-respecting laboratory. And from being as shameless as possible when it comes to harnessing the incredible expertise of people far smarter, far more knowledgeable, than you are around the world.
I will remind them, most importantly, that every commercial shark like me will benefit from having someone of vision and decency and unwavering faith standing beside them.
Someone like Gabriel Sullivan.
As I ascend the stage, my husband’s hands linger lightly on my hips.
‘Up you get, sweetheart. Show them all what you’ve got.’
THE END
