Was she thinking about last night? Did she have any idea how I’d felt with her there, on my arm? She made me want to do better, tobebetter. To speak the truth even when it was difficult, like she did.
But it was more complicated than that. I’d started something at Novexia and had no option but to finish it—the cost of failure was too high.
I looked at her again. Her hands were folded in her lap, dark hair falling across her face.
The reasons wouldn’t matter to Andrea. Only the damage would.And there was nothing I could do aboutthat.
Chapter 27
Andrea
James:So, breakfast with a billionaire on a private jet. Tell me EVERYTHING. Was it champagne on takeoff or caviarfirst?
Me:Coffee, juice, brioche, croissants. No caviar, though. I feltcheated.
James:Croissants?! God, I hate you. I’m still at my desk eating a Tescowrap.
Me:Want me to mail you thecrusts?
James:Sorry, GTG. My Uber Eats is here. Chat soon? Love u! x
Takeouton top ofhis Tesco lunch? James was going to get chubby if he wasn’t careful. Must have been the third time this week he’d ordered Uber.
I looked out through the tinted window of the chauffeur-driven Mercedes as it carried us away from the private airstrip and into the French countryside. It could’ve been the backroads around Datchet, except the houses weren’t pebble-dash semis, they were shuttered stone cottages that looked like theybelonged on shortbread tins. I pressed my forehead lightly to the window. It felt cool despite the bright sunlight outside.
My phone pinged again in my hand—Monish had got back to me.
Monish:Hi, Andy. No, still nothing official. Two weeks, apparently.
Me:I’m so sorry. How are you holdingup?
Monish:Fine. Updating the CV. Speaking to a fewpeople.
Me:And… how are you doingreally?
Monish:School fees just went up 20% and recruiter said the market’s soft. Timing isn’tideal.
Me:Shit, Monish.
Monish:I know. I just don’t want Priya to see mepanic.
Fuck. This was not okay.
And here I was in a Mercedes heading to a château wedding with the man responsible. I felt faintly sick.
I flicked a message to Kelly and dropped my phone into my bag.
Behind me, there was a rustle of paper. Bonnie leaned forward just enough for the edge of a leather-bound folder to graze my arm. “Andrea.” Her voice was pitched low and private. “I thought you might appreciate this. It’s a little guide. For the wedding.”
I glanced down. It was about a centimeter thick, crammed with tabs and color-coded Post-its. Across the cover, it saidFor Andrea.Conduct & Etiquette: Nobility & ModernAristocracy.
“Don’t feel you have to read it all at once,” she added, hand on my shoulder. “The sections on table settings and suitableconversation topics are the most urgent. Especially for someone new to this kind of circle.”
I forced a smile, and she turned back to Dex and Ben, laughing.
Wow, she really had a low opinion of me. But after what I’d seen at Oxford, I wasn’t so sure she was wrong. It seemed like Liam’s world was full of rules I’d never understand.
“She doesn’t need that, Bonnie,” Liam said, a hint of irritation in his voice as he reached for the guide, but I’d already slipped it into my bag before he could stop me.
