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She would not let him back in.
She wouldn’t.
* * *
“I’m glad you decided to come to this thing after all,” Anton said softly.
“Yeah, well, Connie and Cliff were getting pretty sick of me moping around in my pyjamas all day,” she said with a grimace.
“How are you?”
She shook her head. It had been ten days since Anton had brought her flowers. Ten days since Caradoc had reappeared in her life. And ten days of gifts that she’d turned away at the door each morning without fail.
Beyond that, nothing. He was showing her that he was still there though, and yet he was, at least for Caradoc Moore, being patient. And Caradoc didn’t do patient.
“Fine,” she lied credibly well. “And you?”
He grinned. “Same as always.”
He was reliable. Predictable. God, she wished she’d fallen in love with him instead of Caradoc.
“What is this thing for, anyway?” She asked, taking in the usual crowd of over-paid Londoners and their glamorous finery.
“It’s my sister’s charity,” he reminded her gently.
Finn should have remembered that. She flushed guiltily. “Right, sorry.”
“Don’t be. I mentioned it a long time ago.” He sipped his champagne. “She gives me the job of inviting finance industry heavyweights though, so I’m somewhat obliged to attend.”
And as soon as he said it, she knew.
Her skin began to prickle with a sense of presentiment. Her eyes moved slowly, screening the guests with careful diligence.
And there he was. A perfect, silver head in the midst of the tuxedoed room. Standing taller than most, and broader too. Her gut clenched and she reached for Anton’s hand.
“Seraphina? What is it?”
She couldn’t tell him. He’d been so good to her. He deserved better than to have more of her drama infiltrate his life. Especially at his sister’s event.
“Nothing,” she lied convincingly. “I just wanted to say how pleased I am that you thought to invite me.”
“I know a thing or two about heartbreak. I understand how it can knock you sideways.”
Finn studied him thoughtfully. “I don’t know if I can imagine you ever being anything other than stable and happy.”
“Oh, believe me, I’ve had my moments.” He lifted his eyes heavenward. “My rather disastrous youth was spent chasing a woman named Delphine as though my existence depended upon it.”
“Delphine? That’s not unlike Seraphina,” she said with a wink.
“True. But she was as unlike you as possible. Beautiful,”
“Gee thanks,” Finn interjected.
“I wasn’t finished,” he laughed. “Beautiful but vain. So vain it should have bored me silly. It didn’t though. It took me years to realise how vapid she was. How she adored having me at her disposal. I loved her, and again and again she made me miserable.”
“What happened? How did you get over her?”
“She married someone else,” he said pragmatically. “A rich Italian chap. Invited me to the wedding. And like a fool, I went.”
