VANESSA BELMONT
"Oh, ha, ha."
"I'm serious, Neeni. It's not like you're in love with Nathan." Carver considered my expression, which I supposed showed my true feelings about my fiancé. "Ah. I suppose it's more like Nathan is not in love with you."
"We're a business marriage. Reciprocal feelings aren't part of the deal."
Carver extended his hand as if he wanted to touch my face. I stepped backwards, out of reach. He dropped his arm.
"My company's value matches his. And I ... I like you."
I wanted to hear those words when we were in middle school. Maybe things would've been different for me. "Carver, you liked fourteen-year-old me. Twenty-three-year-old me is a pain-in-the-ass."
"I happen to like that about you." Carver's gaze snagged mine and in those baby blues, I saw his yearning. For me? Me? The dumbass who got a pencil eraser stuck up her nose and had to go to the hospital for extraction. That's the girl he liked?
"I would treat you like the queen you are. I would be faithful, Vanessa. Because if I have you, why the hell would I want anyone else?" He tilted his head in a "look over there" gesture.
I turned, and saw Nathan and Fiona standing at a different jewelry display. Fiona had her arm wrapped around Nathan's, and she beamed at him while he studied the ruby and diamond necklace.
"Looks like your husband-to-be doesn't mind buying jewelry for other women," said Carver.
I had to admit, it hurt me to see Nathan and Fiona together. I knew the future, and the future sucked. I'd been given a precious second chance to change it. If I couldn't get out of this contract marriage, I had to find a way to survive my wedding day. Not to mention crushing Fiona into dust no matter what.
"Hello, bestie!" Oliver slung his arm around my neck. "Well, well," he drawled. "If it isn't Carver Haynes. Here to steal your white moonlight?"
"You think she's willing?"
"Who cares! What's a little kidnapping between lovers?" Ollie let go of my neck and elbowed me in the ribs. "Felonies can be a love language."
"Who's your white moonlight?" I asked Carver.
Carver chuckled. "See you in the auction room." He nodded good-bye and sauntered off.
"It's you, you adorable idiot," said Ollie. "You're Carver Haynes' white moonlight."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not anybody's Bai Yueguang."
"Oh, my sweet, sweet summer child," said Ollie, sighing. He pulled me forward. "Let's drink the bubbly until you feel better. Then we'll spend money on pretty objects in the name of charitable causes."
***|***|***|***|***
VANESSA BELMONT
Three glasses (or was it four … yeah, probably four … definitely not five … okay, five) of champagne was too much, especially on a stomach that only had a fruit tart and three chocolate-covered strawberries in it.
Feeling happy drunk, I plopped into the plush velvet seat next to Oliver in the front row. On the other side of the aisle, also in the front row, was Nathan and Fiona.
Nathan wore his tailored black three-piece suit with his silk maroon shirt and black tie with a silver-chain tie pin. He looked good enough to devour bite by bite. Why can't you be mine? I silently lamented.
Fiona looked like an angel who'd descended from the sky, her halo shining—a symbol of her purity and innocence. The way she angled her body toward Nathan, her demure smile, her lowered lashes, her perfect posture—it was all calculated performance. Her saccharine hypocrisy made bile rise in my throat.
I felt Nathan's gaze on me—that icy stare he'd perfected over years of boardroom meetings and contract negotiations. I blew him a kiss. He lifted one eyebrow, then crooked his finger in a "come here" gesture. Oh, hell no. I shook my head. My whole goal was to avoid him. Oh, and to piss him off enough to cancel our engagement.
Fiona's eyes revealed hate sharp enough to cut. I knew from my first life that she was fine with watching me bleed. And she certainly had no qualms about causing my death. She curled her lips into a smile I could only describe as evil. You know, like that scary grinning clown from Stephan King's It.
Ollie put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. "You want to join your husband-to-be? There's an empty seat next to him."
"There's also an empty-headed mistress next to him."
Ollie laughed. Then he looked at someone in the aisle and grinned. "Looks like you're getting a new seat buddy."
"What?"
Carver Haynes sank into the plush chair next to mine, stretching out his long legs. He reached inside his jacket's inner pocket, pulled out a lollipop, and unwrapped it. After he stuck it in his mouth, he pulled it out and waved it close to my mouth.
"Wanna lick?" he said with a straight face.
"I'm not sharing saliva with you," I said. "I don't know where your tongue's been."
"I could tell you where I'd like to put it."
"Carver..." I said in a warning tone.
"Okay, okay." He put the lollipop back into his mouth. His gaze slid toward the other side of the aisle, where Nathan sat stiffly beside Fiona. "What's up with those two?"
"Fiona and Nathan sitting in a tree," I sang. "K-i-s-s-i-n-g."
"You are so drunk," said Carver.
"Yes, I am." I felt my entire body start sinking. Alarmed, I looked at Carver. "Am I ice cream in the summer sun? Because I think I'm melting."
"You're sliding off your chair."
"Oh." I thrust out my hand. "Help a girl out."
Carver grabbed my shoulders and helped me get re-settled.
"You probably shouldn't bid on anything," said Ollie.
"Probably not."
"Also, Nathan's about to explode." Ollie sounded delighted. "I've never seen him this angry."
"Angry? That man's heart is colder than Arctic ice," I said. "Not enough fire in him to be furious."
Ollie shook his head. "I think you should re-evaluate what you actually know about your almost-husband. He seems ... upset."
"Are you on Team Nathan?" I asked, offended.
Ollie gasped and put a hand on his chest in mock horror. "I'm Team Vanessa forever."
"He might be jealous," said Carver.
"Hah!" I peeked across the aisle and got a hellfire stare from Nathan. Rude. "It's a control thing, not a jealousy thing."
"Oh, yeah? Watch this." Carver took a loose strand of my hair and tucked it behind my ear.
All three of us turned to look at Nathan. Huh. His expression suggested he was one smack away from bursting like a pinata. I poked Ollie in the shoulder. "Is he having a stroke?"
"I think you're confusing a health crisis with murder vibes. He looks like he wants to kill ... well, Carver."
"He can try," said Carver, grinning.
The auctioneer arrived on stage, and everyone focused the expensive items being auctioned. Every time I tried to raise my paddle, Oliver or Carver would push my arm down. "You two are no fun," I complained.
The ruby necklace that Fiona and Nathan had been eyeing came up, and Nathan bid on it immediately. He fought with another bidder for Fiona's treasure, finally winning at forty-two million dollars.
"I hate her," I said to Ollie.
"You should," responded Ollie. "She's horrible."
More items came and went. I didn't much care about the vases or paintings or that weird duck-watermelon thing that supposedly some popular modern artist created. In between the selling of the available lots, Ollie and Carver whispered jokes. I covered my mouth to muffle my giggles.
Then the sapphire necklace arrived on stage.
As the auctioneer started the bidding, I stood up, waved my paddle, and shouted, "Eleventy-billion dollars!"