VANESSA BELMONT
"You have to do something to prevent the ring exchange," I whispered to Ollie as we sat down at the table.
"Shenanigans already?" asked Ollie. "I'm in!" He looked around. "Where's your fiance?"
"Where do you think? Fiona probably has a hangnail."
"Are you cursing me?" asked Nathan as he sat next to me. Fiona sat in the seat next to him. The fifth chair remained empty until some string-bean kid plopped into it.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Kevin Jang."
"Who the hell is Kevin Jang?" I asked Nathan.
He shrugged. "The Jangs are a big family. I'm still not sure who everyone is."
Kevin grabbed the bread basket and asked, "Is this gluten-free?"
"I doubt it," answered Ollie. "It's not actually considered bread without the gluten."
"Well, that sucks," said Kevin.
Okay, cool. My circle of hell was complete.
The dinner was a formal, multi-course affair, which meant we had to sit through endless servings of tiny food on tiny plates.
"Who planned this dinner?" muttered Nathan as he stuck his fork into a quarter-sized steak piece.
"Your mother," I said sweetly.
"Oh."
Kevin's big concern of gluten-free food was soon overshadowed by his dairy allergy.
"It's a fucking cheesecake sliver, Kevin," said Ollie through gritted teeth. "It's all dairy, okay?"
I drank a lot of wine while pretending I wasn't seconds away from flipping the table over. Every time Fiona found a way to get Nathan's attention, my least favorite was how she tugged on his jacket, I felt a bullet of anger pierce my chest.
I looked at Ollie and raised my brows. Shenanigans, I mouthed. He nodded.
"Excuse me," he said. "I need to use the restroom."
Two minutes later, the fire alarm wailed. Ollie sprinted to our table and bellowed, "FIRE! EVERYONE PANIC! ESPECIALLY FIONA!"
The ballroom erupted into chaos. Socialites screamed, waiters dropped trays, Kevin stopped eating bread, and Fiona grabbed my fiance's arm and said breathlessly, "We're going to die!"
Then she fainted.
Because of course she did.
Nathan barely caught her, and I have to admit, I was rooting for her to hit the floor hard enough to leave bruises. What can I say? Sometimes, I'm not a good person.
"Oh, no!" I shouted, standing up. "We should definitely evacuate! Separately! Far away from each other!"
Nathan, who was trying to hold a limp Fiona upright, narrowed his gaze. "Vanessa..."
"What?"
"Did you and Oliver—"
"Save the champagne!" Ollie grabbed three bottles off a nearby serving cart. He shoved one into my free hand. "Priorities, people!"
I watched as Nathan scooped Fiona into his arms, and felt the ache in my chest expand until it nearly suffocated me. I really hated how well he took care of Fiona.
Ollie and I followed Nathan, whose stature and long strides parted the sea of people struggling toward the exits.
"What happened to Kevin?" asked Ollie.
"I dunno," I said. "But he ran away with the bread basket."
***|***|***|***|***
VANESSA BELMONT
Two days later...
Aretha sang about R-E-S-P-E-C-T while I danced around the kitchen. It was mid-morning and the staff wasn't yet prepping for lunch, so I had the place to myself. Henry stretched out across the butcher-block island, his tummy full from the salmon I fed him. I was spoiling this cat forever to make up for the heartlessness of giving him away in my previous incarnation.
I wore a pink silk camisole and shorts along with the matching short robe, which I'd left unbelted. My feet were always cold so I was wearing my favorite purple-monster fuzzy socks. The socks helped me skate across the floor as I belted out the song with Aretha.
I whirled around to return the butter to the refrigerator and nearly died.
Nathan stood by the sink, staring at me, arms crossed, a half-smile on his handsome face. He put a finger to his ear, which I took as: the loud music is melting my brain. I instructed the virtual assistant to turn off the song.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Do I need a reason to visit my fiancée?"
I shrugged. "I guess not."
"Why haven't you answered my calls and texts?"
"I didn't want to." I took my plate of toast and glass of orange juice to the center island and put them next to Henry. He sniffed at the juice, and then, as if the citrus scent had offended his most royal majesty, he jumped off the counter and sauntered out of the kitchen. "By the way, that was Henry."
"I'll introduce myself next time." He walked up to me and pointed at my outfit. "Is that what you wear around the house?" He straightened the robe and then tied the belt around my waist. "It's provocative."
"Who am I going to provoke? You?" I lifted my leg and shook my foot. "Does that mean you find my monster socks sexy?"
"Yes." He grabbed me by the waist and put me onto the island. He stood between my legs and grasped my chin. "When you move into our house, you will only wear ugly gray sweats that cover you from head to toe." He glanced down at my thighs. "Baggy sweats. I don't want the male staff to steal glances."
"But the female staff can?"
"No one can."
"Should I also wear a mask? Maybe Michael's from the Halloween movies?" I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm not doing that. Also, I'm not doing whatever this is." I pushed on his shoulders, but he refused to move. "Why are you being so weird?"
"I can't stop thinking about cherries." He focused on my lips, and I realized he wanted to kiss me. He dipped his head down, but I leaned back.
"What are you doing?"
"Husbandly duty," he answered.
I put my hand over his mouth. "I relieve you of all spousal responsibilities, sir. Now, why are you really here?"
Nathan straightened. While his face was no longer in the kissing range, his fingers still rested on my hips. My skin tingled from close contact. "To ask you a question."
"Ask away."
He grasped my chin, forcing me to meet his serious gaze. "Why did you sabotage our engagement party?"