006

ISABELLA

I pulled away slowly from Damien, brushing my fingers and staring at the wall.

Caterina stepped closer, and I caught her eyes darting between me and Damien. She was staring at him, but his eyes remained on me.

“What’s going on here?” She asked.

I couldn’t tell if she was mad, suspicious or simply curious. Her voice was calm, and when I met her gaze, she wasn’t even glaring at me like I’d expected.

Damien spoke up, and it was a good thing because he was the one who was supposed to explain to his fiancée.

After all, he was the one who’d pulled me into his arms. I had no choice but to remain there after he did that.

“I was consoling Isabella.”

A simple explanation. He spoke like he didn’t have the strength to make her understand anything else.

Getting involved in their personal lives was something I didn’t want. I clutched my purse tightly, then turned around to leave.

But Caterina’s voice halted me once more.

“Isabella,” she called gently. “Please stay.”

I grew confused, taking a deep breath before facing her slightly. She wore a warm smile, her eyes glistening with pity.

“What?”

“Since you’re not going to let me return the favor,” she murmured, taking one step closer. “Or exchange contacts with me, then I’ll have to ask you to join us for dinner.”

My breath trembled. I exchanged glances with Damien and saw that he had a chill expression.

Wasn’t he worried that his fiancée was asking me to join them for dinner?

Because I didn’t like the idea.

“Caterina, I don’t think—‘’

“—I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer,” she whispered, already leading the way. “We reside in the east wing of the estate. Damien will show you the way.”

I glanced at Damien again, and exhaled sharply. Caterina’s heels clicked against the marble floor, her hips swaying in rhythm as she walked away.

I was confused, unsure if it was the right thing to do or leaving was better. Since she’d asked politely, I decided to honor her invitation.

What could probably go wrong?

*

“Is it good?”

Caterina asked at the dining table, her smile never leaving her lips. I nodded subtly, barely eating anything from my plate.

“Yes.”

“Damien hired a new chef,” she chatted. “After the last one burned down the kitchen.”

My eyes flickered to Damien for a split second and noticed him staring at me rather than looking at where his fork was going.

I scoffed under my breath, returned my attention to Caterina, and I grew intrigued against my will.

“Really?”

She nodded, grabbing her glass of wine from the table and taking a quick sip.

“Yes,” the glass remained in her hand. “I got badly burnt from the incident and my face…” she trailed off for a second. “It was a messy sight.”

My stomach churned in pity. That kind of explained something about why she looked different.

“I’m so sorry, Caterina.”

“It’s okay,” she smiled. “Even though I miss my old face before surgery, I’m in love with this new one.”

Right.

She’d gotten facial surgery. Now I knew why she looked completely different than the last time I saw her.

If it was the old Caterina I knew, I wouldn’t have saved her from getting hit by that car.

“You’re pretty either way,” I said genuinely, swirling my fork around the pasta on my plate. “Extremely pretty.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “You knew my old face?”

“Yeah.”

“Really?”

“We met once, remember?” I grabbed my glass of water and took a small sip. “At Alix’s second birthday.”

Her lips parted into a silent gasp, and she grinned after recalling what I was saying. I wondered if she was always this… chatty and smiley.

Or if she knew who I was, the history between Damien and I. And was pretending to be nice, unbothered and polite.

“Right. Five years ago. You were the girl wearing a pretty blue gown and refusing to take my hand.”

My throat tightened at the details. She recalled everything—even more than I thought.

I sighed softly. “I… I wasn’t really having the best day that evening.”

She waved my explanation with a playful shrug of her shoulders, her glass close to her lips.

“Don’t worry, I get it.”

Damien didn’t say anything to add to the conversation. I didn’t expect him to remain silent, and I didn’t want to talk to him either.

Maybe he read my thoughts, or he wanted me to respond to him. But seconds later, his voice rang out in a question that was directed at me.

“How’ve you been, Bella?”

I hated the way my stomach responded when he called me that. Without sparing him a glance, I responded quietly.

“Good.”

Caterina chipped in before he could ask another question. And while I didn’t like how chatty she was, I appreciated the fact that she didn’t give him any chance to talk to me.

“So…” she began quietly. “You two seemed really… close.”

I almost choked on the water running down my throat. Her eyes met mine when I lifted my head, and it made me uncomfortable.

“We’re not close,” I said bluntly.

Damien added. “We were.”

I turned to face him with a stern, forced smile. “No, we weren’t.”

His eyes never left mine. “We dated.”

My throat tightened. “No, we didn’t.”

He turned to Caterina, desperate to make me lose my mind with his words by trying to prove something that wasn’t even there.

“Isabella and I dated five years ago,” he said. “It was during the time you said you needed space.”

Caterina murmured. “I see.”

“It was a long time ago, Caterina,” I leaned forward, making sure she understood clearly. “And it was just a fling. A stupid, brief moment that should’ve never happened.”

Damien looked offended when he stared at me. His lips tightened, jaw clenched, and he held his fork like he wanted to stab someone with it.

Hopefully, he didn’t have me in mind.

“But you loved each other, right?”

I froze at her question, feeling something slam hard into my chest. I retreated quietly, reclining my back against my chair.

“No.”

“Yes.”

We both answered at once—Damien and I.

He’d said ‘yes’ and I refused to believe that it was true. Caterina sighed, pressed her lips thinly as she darted her eyes between us.

“I appreciate your honesty with me,” she said. “But like Isabella said, that was a long time ago. And I have absolutely no issue with it.”

I swallowed hard, feeling the heat flushing through my cheeks. For the first time since we’d met, I saw the diamond ring glistening on her finger as she raised her hand.

Caterina clasped her hands together, resting them against her chin while I struggled not to be blinded by her ring.

“Isabella,” she called sweetly. “So, I heard you’re an event planner. One of the biggest and most successful actually.”

I nodded slowly, unsure where she’d gotten that information, but it was true.

“Yes.”

“Great. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help myself from going through your business page on social media. Beautiful works, by the way.”

“Thank you.”

“Sure,” she sat upright, her teeth digging into her lower lip as she continued. “I was thinking… maybe you could do something?”

I raised my eyebrows curiously. “Like?”

“Organize a wedding, plan it, do whatever it is you do,” she replied. “I want to give you a contract, and don’t worry, I’m willing to pay whatever amount you want.”

My breath shuddered. The pasta I’d tried to swallow remained stuck in my throat, refusing to go down.

“A w-wedding?” I asked, and she nodded.

“I’m not asking,” Caterina said, voice steady. “I’m entrusting you to plan my wedding to Damien.”