Page 19 of Finn

A smile stretches across my face, and I tell her my plan.

“Having fun, brother?” I ask, walking up to Eoghan and Gemma as they stand in front of the bar. I order myself a drink and take in the way the two of them are standing much too close to one another.

“There’s the happy groom,” he exclaims, shooting Gemma a wink.

“I was just telling your brother how it’s amazing what Lilliana can do with one week and limitless spending,” Gemma says, waving her hand around the ballroom.

“It’s a talent, that’s for sure,” I reply. For a wedding based on a business deal and nothing else, Lilliana went all out. It makes me wonder who she had to pay off to score us this ballroom.

When Alessia’s cousin walks up to my brother, I have to turn toward the bar so he doesn’t see the smirk on my face.

“Hey, baby. I’m all set to go up to your room,” Carla says, wrapping her arm around my brother’s arm. “I told my dad I was staying at a friend’s house. I’ll just need a ride home in the morning because I have to babysit my little brother.”

Through the mirror, I see the girl look at my brother with wide doe eyes while he looks like a deer caught in headlights.

“Umm, I’m sorry. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he says, clearly uncomfortable, his gaze darting between Carla and Gemma.

“What do you mean? You told me ten minutes ago you had a suite here and asked if I wanted to come up and check it out.”

Carla blinks rapidly, like she’s trying to hold back tears, and I nearly lose it. It’s everything I can do to swallow the whiskey I just sipped and not spit it all over the bartender.

““I’m going to go. You”—Gemma shoots my brother a disgusted look—“seem to have your hands full.”

Gemma tosses her blonde hair over her shoulder and stomps off in the direction of her table.

When Carla unwraps herself from my brother’s arm, she taps me on the shoulder, holding out her hand. “You owe me.”

I pull the money clip from my pocket and slide out a crisp hundred, handing it to her with a shit-eating grin directed toward Eoghan.

“You fucking asshole,” Eoghan growls as the girl walks back over to her table, waving the hundred.

“Told you I’d get you back,” I say, handing him a fresh drink. “Stay away from Gemma. She’s Alessia’s best friend, and I don’t need the headache.”

“Ugh. You know I’m a sucker for a leggy blonde.”

“I don’t give a shit. The last thing I need is to smooth shit over when you inevitably fuck her and dump her.”

“Marriage has made you boring.”

“It’s been four hours,” I reply in a dry-as-hell tone.

“Oh, that’s right. You’ve always been a boring asshole.” Eoghan looks around the ballroom. “Speaking of marriage, your wife is over there looking rather uncomfortable for someone who’s supposed to be a happy bride.”

I find where his eyes have traveled to, and what I see causes my blood to boil.

Chapter six

Alessia

The wedding was…a wedding. It’s hard to be excited about getting married when you’ve had no time to get to know your groom, and the two of you barely tolerate each other at best. I would’ve been perfectly happy to have a small reception lunch, but my father and Finn decided it would be in our best interests to appear as a united front in the eyes of the other families. Nothing says united like a lavish party thrown by my family to welcome Finn and his family into ours. None of the Cataldis were invited, but the Farinas are here, much to my disgust. I wasn’t surprised when my father invited them, but you could have knocked me over with a feather when my ex showed up instead of his father. Even I thought he wouldn’t have the audacity after what he did to me, but wonders never cease. I should have known the devil of a man would show up to try to rattle me.

“You look lovely, Alessia,” Orlando says, leaning down to kiss my cheek.

I flinch at his touch. Old habits die hard, as they say. “You have a lot of nerve walking in here. Careful, Orlando, or you may not be walking out,” I grit out through a fake smile, hoping my father is somewhere close and sees what’s going on.

Orlando releases a dark chuckle and trails his cold fingertip down my arm. There was a time when one touch from him would light me on fire. Now, it turns my blood to ice, especially when I look into his cold brown gaze and recognize the evil behind his eyes.

“Oh, come on, Alessia. It was years ago. I was a hotheaded kid under a lot of stress. You know how my temper can be. And it’s not like you ever had a kid, so you weren’t pregnant after all. Tell me, what did you have to promise the Irish scum to get him to marry you? If you wanted a powerful man, we could have worked something out.”

---