Bait for a Gentleman novel Chapter 125

The moment those words dropped, the air instantly crystallized. The entire scene seemed to freeze frame.

The chatter and laughter of the ballroom were suddenly walled off by an invisible barrier.

Sebastian's arm went rigid. He turned his head slightly, his gaze sliding down to Audrina's profile.

For a split second, she didn't look up, her long lashes veiling the expression in her eyes.

Who was she calling?

Zachary's eyes turned to absolute ice.

He stared as Audrina leaned affectionately against Sebastian's shoulder, smiling with a soft, radiant warmth she had never directed at him, her arm hooked securely through his.

It was a smile he had never seen before.

Zachary's knuckles turned white around his glass. "Audrina. I'm right here," he said, his voice deadly low.

Those five words shattered the silence. The entire circle stared at Audrina with identical looks of sheer shock.

Audrina's hand was still looped through Sebastian's arm. At the sound of Zachary's voice, her spine snapped straight as if she'd been hit by a live wire.

She threw her head up, violently yanked her arm back, and stumbled a half-step away.

The bright smile on her face fractured into a look of frantic, panicked embarrassment.

"Ah—Mr... Mr. Hawthorne?" She looked up, catching the dark, unreadable storm brewing in his eyes.

She immediately dropped her head, the tips of her ears visibly turning a burning shade of red. "I'm so sorry, oh my god, I am so sorry. I completely mistook you... your backs look so similar, I—I swear it was an accident..."

Her voice grew smaller and smaller until the last few words were practically mumbled into her chest.

She "frantically" scurried around to Zachary's side, clinging to his arm. She kept her head bowed, her cheeks flushed, looking like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole.

"I thought he was you..." she whispered to Zachary, her tone laced with mortification, absolutely refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Zachary looked murderous. He didn't say a word, just stared a hole into the top of her head for two agonizing seconds.

Carter set his champagne flute down on the nearest table, taking in the incredibly combustible tension between the three of them.

He laughed, effortlessly smoothing things over. "Alright, alright, it's an easy mistake. One year I thought Cyrus's head was my assistant's from behind. Almost made him go fetch me a coffee."

Cyrus, who had been thoroughly enjoying the front-row drama, paused. His glass was nearly empty, and he was just debating getting a refill.

He turned his head slowly. "You thought I was your assistant?"

"You had a buzz cut that year. From the back, you were identical." Carter defended himself shamelessly. "You both have the exact same head shape."

Sometimes, a situation is so absurd you just have to laugh.

"Right." Cyrus nodded slowly. "Well, your assistant must be blessed, walking around with a billionaire's head."

Carter wasn't letting it go. "It's true! Don't you remember? In Australia? You were wearing a white tee, and I shouted for 'Leo' across the pool. You spun around and glared at me so hard I almost fell in the water—"

"No shit, am I Leo?" Cyrus deadpanned, enunciating every syllable. "I'm your damn boss."