He picked her up and twirled her around, whooping loudly as they both broke into delighted laughter. Finally, he put her down. “You have truly made me the happiest man on Earth.”
“Me too. I mean, the happiest woman. I haven’t got a secret dong.” Boh was giggling now and Pilot laughed.
“You sure?”
“I am. I definitely haven’t got a wing-wang.”
Pilot threw back his head and laughed. “No, you doofus, are you sure you want to marry this old man?”
“Not so old. And yes. God,yes, just try and stop me.”
“Ha, I won’t even try. We’reengaged.”
Boh kissed him and they began to walk back to the party. “How grownup of us.”
“Isn’t it?”
Back at the party, they told Blair and Romana about their engagement and both were delighted. “Thank God,” Blair said, kissing Boh’s cheek. “I was hoping he’d lock you down.”
They all laughed, and Romana playfully punched her brother’s arm. “Hey, I forgot to give you this earlier. A little gift for your evening.” She handed him a small package and he opened it to reveal a pocket square. On the corner, stitched beautifully, was the word:Loser.
Pilot busted out laughing as Romana grinned. “Thanks, sis.” He tucked it into the pocket of his suit, making sure the embroidered word was showing. Boh grinned, shaking her head. “What kind of insane family am I marrying into?”
Blair pretended to be insulted, then smiled at Boh. “Too late now, you’ve said yes. Come on, let’s go grab some more champagne. It’s a special night.”
The party went late into the night, and Boh found herself talking to everyone who seemed to come. They congratulated her on both the pictures and her dancing and by one a.m., her head was whirling. Quilla came to find her to bid her goodbye. “I left Jakob at the hotel looking after the kids and they’ve hadwaytoo much sugar.” She hugged Boh. “Next time you get to Seattle, or we come here, promise me we’ll have dinner and catch up.”
“I promise.”
Boh wanted to find Pilot and tell him that she had a girl crush on Quilla, knowing it would make him laugh, but she couldn’t find him. She asked Grady where her lover was.
“He just had to go back to the studio and pick up some provenances the gallery asked for. No biggie. He tried to find you but asked me to tell you he’d be right back.”
“Oh, okay, thanks, Grady.”
Grady nodded to the exhibit. “This will put him over the top, you know. We’ve had calls from galleries all over the world. Maceo has already locked him down to show in Venice and Rome.”
“It’s what he deserves,” Boh said fondly and Grady clinked his glass against hers.
“Amen, sister.”
An hour later, and Boh still couldn’t find Pilot. She tried his cell phone but it went straight to voicemail. Blair and Romana came to say goodbye and found Boh frowning. “Is everything okay?”
“I can’t find Pilot.” She explained where he had gone.
Romana chewed her lip. “I’m sure he’s around so—” She trailed off and looked past Boh’s shoulder, out of the window of the gallery.
Both Blair and Boh turned to see Eugenie standing outside, staring in at them. There was a cruel twist to her smile as she gazed directly at Boh and Boh felt her pulse quicken. What the hell?
“Miss Dali? This was just sent for you.” A gallery assistant held out a padded envelope to her and Boh took it. She pulled it open and reached in, feeling something sticky. She pulled it out and gasped. Blood. A blood-soaked piece of cotton. As her heart pounded heavily against her chest, she turned it over and read the single word embroidered onto it.
Loser.
No. God, no. She looked up to see Eugenie smirk at her, then turn and disappear into the night.
“No, no, no, please, no …” Boh began to run. “Call 911,” she screamed back at a stunned Blair and Romana. “Send them to Pilot’s studio!”
Then she was out in the night, running through the city, ignoring the strange stares she was getting from passersby. She ran the few blocks to the studio and burst in. “Pilot!”
