Of all the people to witness his stupidity, it just had to be Dane.
Since childhood, Dane had been the gold standard-the prodigy every parent used as a weapon to discipline their own kids.
Xavier was no exception to that trauma.
The last thing he wanted was for Dane to think he was a complete moron.
Well, at least Xavier had finally achieved a shred of self-awareness.
"We've been sitting here the whole time. If we're keeping track, we definitely got here first," Claire said dryly.
Did these people seriously not check their surroundings before screaming at each other?
"Really?" Xavier looked momentarily confused.
He genuinely hadn't expected anyone else to be out in the gardens.
After all, the ballroom was packed with the city's most powerful titans. His own parents hadn't even checked on him; they'd simply warned him not to cause trouble before diving into the crowd with their champagne glasses.
Padgett's birthday gala wasn't just a celebration—it was the ultimate battleground for networking and securing lucrative deals.
"Didn't you notice your sister out here alone with a guy?" Xavier shot back at Owen, desperately trying to shift the heat off himself.
Owen scoffed. "My sister is ten times smarter than you."
Claire could hold her own perfectly fine against Dane. Xavier, on the other hand,
had let Jocelyn play him like a fiddle until he had nothing left.
"I'm not comparing brains, I'm just looking out for her. Your sister is young, and Dane isn't exactly a kid anymore."
Dane, who hadn't even turned twenty-four yet, raised an eyebrow.
Just how old did they think he was?
Owen wasn't having it. "Stop deflecting and worry about your own mess."
Still, Owen did wonder why his sister had slipped outside with Dane in the first place.
"Why did you guys come out here anyway?" Owen asked bluntly.
"It was getting suffocating in there, so we came out for some fresh air."
Claire didn't even wait for Dane to answer. "Besides, I don't know anyone in that room. It's boring."
The adult world of corporate politics was exhausting, and Claire had zero interest in navigating it.
She had no intention of going into business anyway.
Owen nodded in understanding. It
was true that his sister didn't know
the socialites inside, and a lot
of
them were probably only sucking up to her because she held shares in
The Churchill Group.
It was all incredibly tedious. If she didn't want to deal with it, she didn't have to.
But why hadn't she asked Yolande to keep her company? Bringing Dane outside alone was practically handing the man an opportunity on
a silver platter.
Obviously, Owen kept that thought to himself.
"Fair enough. Hanging out out here is fine. Just go grab some more food if you get hungry."
The group fell into a natural rhythm, with even Xavier chiming in every so often.
The only person being completely and utterly ignored was Jocelyn!
Jocelyn was practically vibrating with desperation, praying someone would remember her existence and introduce her so she would have an excuse to speak to Dane.
She kept shooting pointed looks at Xavier, but he remained completely oblivious.
As for everyone else, whether they noticed her pathetic little signals or not, they treated her like she was entirely invisible.
The suffocating weight of being ignored was agonizing.
Claire noticed Jocelyn's eyes darting frantically and easily read her mind.
Trying to sink her claws into Dane?
Plenty of women threw themselves at him, but very few ever earned even a second of his attention.
The reason Xavier hadn't introduced her was simple: it hadn't even crossed his
mind.
To him, Jocelyn was just the plus-one he had brought along for the night.
There was zero reason she needed an introduction to someone like Dane.
Dane operated on an entirely different stratosphere than they did. Subconsciously, Xavier had clearly stopped viewing Jocelyn as an equal.
While he still considered her a friend, she was permanently disqualified as someone he would ever marry.
If Jocelyn knew what Xavier was actually thinking, the devastation would likely ruin
her.
After hesitating for what felt like an eternity, Jocelyn finally forced herself to speak.