Finally, Beautiful Stranger
Davina's POV
"I asked you to do one thing, Davina! One thing and you couldn't even do that," Annabella muttered as we all made our way to our table.
I rolled my eyes and did my best to ignore her.
She wanted my hair bone straight, so I fit in with the rest few other ethnically ambiguous girls that milled around the Country Club's ballroom. For me it was bad enough I had to wear this super expensive dress and let a professional makeup artist cake my face in products that hid my freckles and made my skin look so much lighter than it actually was.
Rocking my natural curls was my way of shouting that I was a proud black woman and not mixed like the rest of my family.
"And I told you I didn't want my face weighed down with a thousand pounds of makeup," I whispered back, throwing fake smiles and waving to the many people she introduced us to on the way to the table.
"Oh my Davina, you look positively divine in that dress," a woman was saying, though I wasn't really paying attention.
After all, she was the fourth or fifth person to make that lame joke. Like the exact same line. The lack of originality was not really surprising, though.
"Thank you, Mrs. Dandridge," I said politely, even though I really wanted to roll my eyes.
Yes, the dress was spectacular, but it was definitely something more suited to Shy's taste in clothes than my own. I loved the gold color, high neck, and shoulder length sleeves, but the sheer parts along my chest, hips and down my legs made me very self-conscious. Plus, it was so long that I'd had to don six-inch heels just to keep it from dragging the ground, which I so wasn't comfortable in.
All the compliments did nothing to ease the nervousness that I always felt at these huge, hoity-toity events, even though we went to more than a few every year. Usually, I could get out of them by working, but Annabella wasn't going to let me miss the gala. This was her chance to make up for Shy and I embarrassing her the last time she was set to receive an award.
Not that Shy was behaving any better than she had a few years ago. We had only been at the gala for an hour and she was on her third glass of champagne.
"YoU lOoK dIvInE," she mocked under her breath. "What about my dress?"
"Oh Ashyrah, stop it. You look splendid," Annabella said, throwing an irritated look at Shy before snatching the champagne flute from her hands and setting it on the tray of the nearest server.
"I didn't ask for this dress," I hissed.
Shy rolled her eyes and gracefully took her seat next to Quincy who was dressed in a white tuxedo with a dark blue shirt to match Shy's dress and a gold tie to match mine.
Annabella had clearly coordinated all of our outfits for the evening.
Typical, I thought, rolling my eyes.
"Hello Mandela, it's good to see you, but such a shame your parents couldn't make it tonight," Annabella said as she noticed Quin's best friend sitting at the table beside him.
Mandela was handsome with amber-colored eyes, curly, jet black hair and smooth cinnamon skin. He was dressed in a black tux with a black shirt and tie. He was cute, and I'd had a crush on him when we were younger. Seeing him tonight reminded me why.
"Hi Mrs. Bella. Yeah, they're on safari in Africa right now, but I had to be here to represent the family," he explained.
"Good man," Quinton said, taking a sip of his scotch.
"Shy, Dove, you both look lovely," Del said as he looked us both over.
"Thank you," I said.
"You look good too, Del," Shy said as she snagged another glass of champagne from a passing server.
He smiled at her, but his eyes strayed back to me and I found myself blushing.
"I'm going to need more drinks if you're going to continue to get all of the attention tonight," Shy muttered just low enough so that only I heard her.
"Don't get too drunk otherwise mom is going to kill us both," I warned.
Apparently Del and Quin heard us because they both laughed, drawing confused looks from Quint and Bella. I just shook my head. It was my duty to try to keep Shy in line, and it had been ever since Annabella adopted me. Shy never made it easy that's for sure.
"If I get drunk, I'm sure no one will notice because they'll all be fawning over you."
"I know you won't believe me but I'd rather be at work so they could be fawning over you."
Shy sighed and put the glass down. Instead, she shoved a fork full of salad into her mouth.
"Fine! I'll behave, but I can't promise that I won't lose it if one more person makes that lame ass pun about your name," she said, and I totally agreed with her.
"It is really lame. Clever the first time I heard it, less so every time after that."
Shy and I giggled a little.
As dinner progressed, more families came over to our table to congratulate Annabella on her humanitarian award. Most of them were older couples with their children who were older than us. Some even had grandchildren with them. By the fifth family, I was bored, Shy was bored and we were waiting for the fun part of the evening to begin.
Finally, Annabella's friend Elena came over with three guys following her.
"Congrats Bella. No one deserves this award more than you," Elena said, kissing Bella's cheeks with a bright smile on her face.
"Thank you, Lena. I'm glad you and your family were able to come over from London to help me celebrate," Bella said, smiling back.
"Speaking of family. Bella, you remember my sons Elijah and Evan. And this is Elijah's friend Antonio," Elena introduced. "Boys, these are Annabella's daughters Ashyrah and Davina."
I looked up from my plate, breath catching in my chest. And not just because the three men behind Elena were handsome. They all were, but the one with the pale green eyes, piercings in his nose and tattoos from his skull down his neck, seemed so familiar.
Shy looked from me to the guy, and a smile crept onto her face.
Not that I noticed. I was too busy looking Elijah up and down. He looked good in a punk rock kind of way and was as out of place in the midst of the rich and classy in his leather suit jacket that was covered in spikes, skull trim under cut and tattoos on his hands as I felt.
I wonder how far they go down his neck and up his arms, I thought.
Elijah caught me staring at him.
I blushed, a smile coming to my lips. I tore my gaze away to look at his younger brother Evan and the guy called Antonio. Antonio looked closer to the rest of the men at the gala in a black tux, white shirt, and black tie but his auburn hair was messy, his clear green eyes, and unshaved face helped him stand out.
"You know him," Shy asked as Annabella and Elena went on talking.
"That's the guy who saved me the other night," I said, and even though I was whispering, Elijah seemed to know exactly what I was telling Shy about.
"Saved you?" Quincy asked loudly from the other side of Shy, drawing the attention of everyone around the table.
My shoulders slumped. I hadn't told anyone about that night, well no one but Shy, and now I was going to have to tell my adoptive family and Elijah's family what had almost happened to me.
"Uh yeah, we met the other night when I was walking home from work," I started.
As I talked, Elijah stared silently and let me tell the story. I didn't mind because it allowed me to skip the part where I offered him a drink and he refused. I didn't miss the irritated look that had etched itself into Quincy's features as I kind of gushed about the tall guy standing a few feet away from me.
"Well Ink, you didn't tell me you were a superhero," Antonio teased with an easy smile on his face.
"Shut up, Toni. It wasn't my story to tell," Elijah, aka Ink apparently, said in that same deep voice that sent a shiver down my spine. "Don't look at me like that mum," he said as Elena smiled up at him.
"Why not? You did a good deed and didn't even tell anyone." Elena's proud parent routine tugged at my heartstrings and I found myself a little jealous of the relationship the two seemed to have.
"Thank you, Elijah. Truly. I can't imagine what we would do if something would have happened to Dove," Annabella declared. She reached over the table and squeezed my hand before asking, "Why didn't you tell anyone about this?"
"I didn't want to worry anyone, especially since it all worked out." I shrugged and felt his eyes on me.
My body heated up as the four of them took a seat at our table. I was surprised when Elijah took a seat next to me. Quincy took up talking with Evan, while Elena, Bella and Quint started talking about way back when we were all kids, and Shy began flirting with Toni. Leaving me with no one to talk to but him.
"So, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again," Elijah cooed, leaning in so that I could smell his cologne.
"Me either, I guess."
#
Elijah's POV
My fingers drummed on the table, but only when I was picking at the holes of the fancy lace tablecloth. I hated these events. I always felt out of place and my fashion sense plus the tattoos and piercings made the uppity members of the club look down their powder covered noses at me. Not that I cared. I was used to it.
Keep telling yourself that, I thought.
"Elijah, could you at least take that trash out of your mouth," Pop said, indicating the jeweled fangs of the upper grill and the platinum bottom set that had completed my 'fuck you' outfit.
"Should I wrap them up in one of these fancy linen napkins?"
Evan and Toni covered their laughter with coughs. To my left Elizabeth and her family shot me disapproving looks which I couldn't give two shits about. My mother had purposefully sat us at the same table as the Prestons, and I was more than a little pissed about it.
"Eli," Pen hissed at me.
I looked over at her and recoiled as the anger in my older sister's eyes hit me like a cold gust of wind. I shrugged and leaned back in my chair. If they were going to make me sit here and endure being around my ex, they could deal with my grill and my leather tux jacket.
"I don't mind the grill, Eli," Ellie said, leaning over to touch my hand.
I wanted to snatch my hand away, but both sets of parents were staring at me like it was everything they'd ever dreamed of. I wanted to be sick all over the table and Ellie in her expensive red dress.
How the fuck did I end up here, I wondered.
I waved over a server and ordered a whiskey. I was super grateful when it came and downed it in one swallow before ordering another.
"So, Mary what would you say to a summer wedding in London," mum asked, causing me to spew whiskey all over the table in front of me.
"The fuck," I swore.
"Elijah, language," Pop exclaimed.
"Sorry, I just... What wedding? Who's getting married?" I asked and looked around the table. "Cause it sure as hell ain't us." I indicated between Ellie and me.
Ellie put on her signature pout but smirked at me as our mothers frowned at me.
"This break up is just a phase, Elijah. You two will be back together before you know it," Mary told me like I didn't know how I felt about her daughter.
I opened my mouth to argue but Pen and mum pinned me with hard looks. I looked to Pop for support but he was in deep conversation with Ellie's father Donovan. With a sigh, I drained the rest of my drink.
This night just couldn't get any worse.
Then dinner was over and mum wanted Ev, Toni and I to come with her as she congratulated her friend on the award she would be receiving tonight. Which was the last thing I wanted to be doing. I wanted to get the hell out of here, maybe head to the Bats and get shit faced with Cole or head to the gym and run until my whole body ached.
The four of us wove our way through the crowd until we got to a table occupied by six people. As mum reintroduced us to Quinton and Quincy's family, I glanced down at my watch and tried to guess how long I would have to play nice with these people.
"Speaking of family. Bella, you remember my sons Elijah and Evan. And this is Elijah's friend Antonio," mum introduced. "Boys, these are Annabella's daughters Ashyrah and Davina."
Davina? Why does that name sound so familiar, I thought as I looked up.
It was her! The girl from the other night. She wasn't soaked from the rain and her face was covered in makeup, but there was no mistaking those gray eyes and full lips.
I looked around the table, noting that she shared none of the features of the people she called family. I wondered if she was a love child of Quinton's, but there was no similarity between the two. She must have been adopted.
When my eyes returned to hers, she was staring at me. There was heat in her eyes and when she realized that I had caught her staring, she blushed a little. A small, embarrassed smile pulled at her lips. I smiled back, crossing my arms over my chest, flexing just a bit as the alcohol I'd consumed made me feel like showing off for her.
I was surprised that she hadn't told her family about the night that we had met and listened without comment as she recalled that night. The praise that came from her family and mine made me a bit uncomfortable.
With that we joined the family at the table, and conversations were struck up all over. I sat right next to Davina, thinking that I would rather be here with her than go back to that table with Ellie.
"So, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again," I told her, leaning in so that I could smell her sweet scent.
"Me either, I guess." Her voice shook a little, and I got the sense that I made her nervous.
I looked her over. She looked damn good in that gold dress, but the fact that it left so much of her smooth caramel skin bare kinda made me want to throw my jacket around her so that no one, including Quincy and his buddy, could stare at her body.
"Who would have thought a charity event would give me an excuse to spend time with you," I laughed a little. "You know, after you went in the house, I immediately regretted not taking you up on your offer."
The surprise was clear in her beautiful eyes, "Really?"
"Yeah, I mean, I should have at least asked for your number."
She looked away shyly as I tossed another smile her way. Under the table, her legs crossed and then uncrossed. I reached over and touched her arm drawing her eyes back to mine.
"Well, since our mothers seem to be such good friends, you probably could have gotten it easily," she shrugged but slipped her phone out of her small gold purse and handed it to me.
My eyebrows lifted as I took the slim piece of technology from her and entered my digits. I honestly hadn't expected it to be so easy, not that I ever really had trouble getting girls. It's just that Davina wasn't like any of the girls I'd gone for in the past.
I pressed call, and soon my phone rang displaying her number, which I quickly saved.
A throat was cleared, pulling my eyes to Quin, who was frowning at the two of us. My eyes narrowed at him. Was he really going to cockblock me from talking to his sister?
"So, Elijah, what are you up to these days," he asked.
"I own and run the day-to-day operations of the tattoo and piercing shop Finishing Touch. My business partner runs the Vulgar Bats," I told him.
"I've heard of Finishing Touch, I think," Davina threw in as she took a sip of champagne.
"Really? You have any tattoos?"
Quin laughed. "Not our Dove. Needles freak her out too much."
"I've been trying to get her to get a tattoo since we were 18," Shy added.
"I do not have a problem with needles," Davina pushed her curls back to reveal the piercings in her ears.
I had to fight the urge to reach out and run my fingers over them. "How many piercings do you have?"
"8 in this ear and 3 in the other." She seemed to think for a moment. "Oh, and my belly button," she said, shifting the material of the dress so that I could see the charm dangling from the top of her belly button.
My breath hitched for a moment.
"Well, you've got me beat," I said after a moment. "I only have 11."
Her eyes scanned over my face and then trailed down my body, trying to guess what else I had pierced besides the piercings and gages in my ears and studs through my nose.
"I count 8. What else do you have pierced," Ashyrah asked in a low, sultry voice.
Davina rolled her eyes, but I didn't even look Shy's way. I wasn't interested in Shy. I knew what kind of girl she was and if I wanted someone like that, I'd just get back with Ellie.
"Tongue and my nipples," I answered while still watching Davina.
"Is this really appropriate dinner conversation?" Mum asked.
"We're just discussing my business, mum. It's all relevant."
The side eye she threw me would have made me cower when I was a kid. Now I just laughed a little and shrugged. No one was paying any attention to us anyway. We could have been talking about murder and no one would have batted an eye.
"So how did you get into the tattoo business, Elijah," Davina asked.
I thought about it for a moment. "Well, I got my first tattoo at 17 and it kinda became an addiction after that, yeah. Plus I've always loved to draw."
Davina listened intently as I talked about getting my first job in a tattoo parlor here in New York. Which led to Cole and I buying the land where we eventually built Finishing Touch Tattoo and Body Piercing. As someone with no tattoos I didn't expect her to be as interested as she was but I guess she too wanted to open her own business without her family's help. Which just made me like her even more.