Page 74 of Valentine’s Billionaire Auction

“Thank you, I think.”

“Easy, Sara,” Chloe said with a laugh. “She’s not on the menu.”

I sipped my cocktail and listened as the conversation moved on to yachts and villas in the south of France. They talked about stories of summer escapades. As I listened, a part of me grew more aware of the differences in our lives. It wasn’t just about having money, but how one carried themselves within these circles. They all had impeccable manners and seemed to know everyone.

“Kaira, have you ever been to Monaco?” asked the man with the British accent, now known to me as Simon.

“No,” I admitted, slightly embarrassed. “I’ve never left the States.”

Their surprise seemed mixed with a tinge of admiration rather than judgment.

“You’ll have to get Roman to take you to the Maldives,” Chloe said.

“Private of course,” Sara said.

That started another conversation about Simon’s new private jet. I listened intently, taking mental notes on everything. They would be useful to have filed away, in case I needed the details for a story. Yet despite feeling like an outsider in this opulent world, their openness made it less intimidating.

They weren’t bragging. They were just talking about their lives. I didn’t blame them or find it snobbish. It was their world. They didn’t know any different. It would be the same thing if Carla and I talked about our favorite thrift store and the amazing finds. That kind of thing would be foreign to anyone else.

“Kaira, you must tell us about yourself,” Simon prompted after a lull in the conversation. “Where did you grow up?”

“Philadelphia,” I answered.

“Wow! How did you get all the way out here?”

I smiled. “I always dreamed of living in the City of Angels. I wanted the sunshine and beaches and all the beautiful people.”

“You found us,” Sara said and everyone laughed.

“Is your family still in Philadelphia?” Simon asked.

“Yes.” I smiled and nodded. “I try to get out there to visit as often as I can.”

“Where did you go to school?” Chloe asked.

They weren’t asking about my high school. I knew they were all Oxford and Ivy League. “I didn’t go to college.”

Simon grinned and held up his hand for a high-five. “Me either. Well, I tried, but I kept getting kicked out.”

“I got a degree in art history,” Chloe said with a giggle. “I can tell you the difference between a Monet and a Manet, but otherwise, it’s useless.”

Everyone laughed, and the tension I felt eased a bit. It was refreshing to hear someone from their circle admitting to something so ordinary, so human.

The conversation shifted naturally from one topic to another, and soon I found myself sharing funny stories of my misadventures in Los Angeles, which seemed to delight and intrigue them as much as their tales of exotic travels did for me.

I couldn’t help but notice how different this was from my usual life. I was used to being invisible—overlooked in grocery store lines, passed by on sidewalks, ignored at bars. But here, with Roman’s friends, it was like I mattered. If only it wasn’t because I was his fiancée. Or maybe because I was so different from all of them. I doubted they ever sat down and actually talked to someone like me before. But I didn’t hold that against them. It wasn’t like I went out of my way to talk to their type either.

“Do you remember that time Roman got arrested in Monaco?” Simon asked with a smile.

“Oh my God,” Chloe groaned.

“What happened?” I asked. I wanted to hear more about Roman, behind the stiff, serious man I knew him to be.

Chloe rolled her eyes playfully before starting the story. “It was absolutely ridiculous,” she began, shaking her head. “We were all at this fabulous party on a yacht, right in the heart of Monaco during the Grand Prix. The champagne was flowing, music was pounding—just a crazy night.”

“Roman was in high spirits, to say the least,” Simon said. “Started bragging about how he could outswim anyone back to shore.”

Chloe laughed. “And before we knew it, he stripped down to his trunks, dived into the water, and started swimming. It was dark, and everyone was cheering him on.”