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I turned away to hide the feelings clogging my chest. “Perhaps.” I pulled on a fresh shirt and buttoned the cuffs.
Raymond’s phone rang and he excused himself and left to deal with whatever it was that had reared up.
I glanced at my watch. Time for my next meeting. I checked my reflection in the mirror, ran my fingers through my hair to style it neatly once more, then headed off to speak to Francis before returning to the cabinet room.
The conversation with my steward was as uncomfortable as I’d anticipated, but in the end, he conceded to the importance of getting the divorce any way we could, and he agreed to book me on a flight with the other three.
Finally, after more endless and intensely boring meetings, it was time to dress for dinner. I walked to the dining room, where Erin, Silas and Viktor were already drinking wine and chatting happily at the dining table.
“Good evening.” I approached the large table and looked down at the pleased faces of my guests. A pang of jealousy ran through me. If only my life were simple enough that I could throw down a few wines and join in their casual laughter.
“Henryk!” Erin grinned up at me.
She was wearing a spaghetti-strap red top with long black trousers, and her hair was down and soft around her shoulders.
“You look beautiful,” I said to her, unable to take my eyes off her.
Her cheeks flushed. “Thank you. I really didn’t pack for this weather or formal dinners, so my clothing choices are a little limited.”
“We didn’t either,” Silas said with a chuckle.
The two guys wore long-sleeved shirts and no ties, but both looked fit and strong, and I knew whatever they wore, they’d look good.
I inclined my head. “We’ll head to Spain in the morning, so you’ll all be fine. It’ll be me that doesn’t have the right clothes for that climate.”
I pulled out a chair and sat down with them. There was a bowl of warm rolls and three open bottles of wine.
“I think we need something more substantial than bread,” I said, glancing around for the head of hospitality, Neil.
He nodded at my request, hurrying out the door.
“I hope you don’t mind that we started without you.” Erin sat up straighter in her chair. “Your staff offered us a wine and the next thing we knew, we had three bottles going.”
I smiled at her, loving that she had asked. None of my other guests would have bothered to do that.
“Of course not. The wine is there to be enjoyed.”
Silas poured wine into my glass, filling it almost to the brim. “You’re an hour behind, Henryk. Get drinking. You have to catch up.”
“Catch up?” I repeated, picking up my glass and taking a careful sip so I didn’t spill the deep red liquid. “I doubt I can do that.”
Viktor grinned at me, snatching a bread roll and taking a bite. “Try. You need to loosen up a bit, man.”
Although I didn’t appreciate the insult in his tone, I kind of agreed with him. I knew I was too uptight, but didn’t know how to relax.
I put my mouth to the glass and drank. And then I drank, and drank, and drank some more.
When I set the glass back down, it was empty.
Viktor nodded. “Nice, man.”
I shrugged. “You’re probably right. If we’re going on vacation, why not start right now?”
“Yes!” Silas said, pouring more into my glass, though he didn’t fill it up quite as much as last time.
The butler came by with a selection of more wines and I chose three of the best. Part of me wanted to tell them that these wines were meant to be slowly sipped and savored. That each bottle was worth hundreds of dollars. But I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to change the happy, relaxed atmosphere in the room.
“How was your afternoon?” I asked the group.
