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Olivio made a dismissive gesture. ‘Romance just needs the right circumstances to be rekindled.’
Rebel’s breath locked in her lungs. ‘Rekindled?’
His superior smile widened. ‘I see he chose not to tell you.’
‘Perhaps he didn’t think it important enough,’ she replied, although her voice lacked the conviction she’d been able to project thus far.
‘Or perhaps his male pride still smarts from the fact that I put a stop to their dating three years ago because my Carla was too young for that kind of intensity and didn’t need the distraction. I don’t apologise for looking out for her best interests. But Draco should be made to see he’s letting his bruised ego get in the way of a perfect union .’
The poisoned knife that seemed to have impaled her sternum wasn’t easing up, no matter how much she tried to breathe through it. In fact, with every second that passed, numbness spread through her body. ‘Again, I don’t see how any of this interests me. Draco put his ring on my finger. I need a little more than a second-hand tale of infatuation to discard it.’
The soft background music that had accompanied the pre-dinner drinks faded and the lights blinked, indicating it was time to take their seats. Rebel saw Draco and Carla head their way.
‘You don’t want to make an enemy of me, Arabella,’ Olivio warned.
‘Oh, I don’t know if that’ll make a difference, Olivio. This one seems to take pride in collecting enemies,’ an intruding voice suggested.
She tensed as Tyson Blackwell stopped beside them, a glass of champagne in his hand. From across the room, Draco’s face contorted with barely contained fury as he swiftly headed back towards her.
‘What can I say? Meek and mild have never been friends of mine. And I find it hard to bite my tongue at the best of times when someone is being mistreated right in front of my eyes.’
‘Maybe you should learn,’ Tyson ground out.
‘Where’s the fun in that?’ she fired back.
‘Everything okay here?’ Draco’s icy voice joined the conversation. In the light of what Olivio had just imparted, Rebel found she couldn’t look at him. Not without betraying herself. And now more than ever, knowing how much she wanted to win the championship—ironically thanks to Draco helping her admit the truth she’d been hiding from—she couldn’t afford to let her mask slip.
Tyson smiled indulgently at Carla before he shrugged. ‘Your girl seems to need convincing about what she saw this morning. As I explained to Olivio, I get passionate every now and then in my quest for excellence. Carla knows she has nothing to fear from me, don’t you, bella?’
The look that passed between them made Rebel wonder if they were sleeping together, but the younger woman’s gaze immediately returned to Draco. With the knowledge of their full history, she could no longer stop the arrows that pierced her heart as she watched them. With a heavy buzzing in her head, she took in Draco’s almost protective shielding of the figure skater from her trainer, and Carla’s proprietorial hold on his arm.
Pain lanced sharper her as the lights blinked again.
‘We need to take our seats,’ Carla said without answering Tyson’s allegation.
The trainer’s face hardened. Glancing away, Rebel caught Draco’s enquiring gaze. Unable to deal with it, and not wanting to, she turned away, and followed the usher who stood ready to guide them to their table.
Her breath caught painfully as Draco took over pulling out her chair. ‘Arabella?’
‘Everything’s fine,’ she said lightly, flashing an empty smile before reaching for her water glass. Expecting him to take the seat next to her, she glanced up to find him walking away.
Discovering she’d been placed as far away as possible from him with Carla and Olivio on either side of him shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Inhaling shakily, she summoned a smile for the tennis star and his expectant wife to her left and introduced herself to the soccer star on her right. Beyond him, Tyson Blackwell smirked at her as he took his seat.
As the courses were served and practised speeches given, Rebel picked at her meal and tried to make conversation, even as a part of her was staggered at how drastically different the evening had turned out from how she’d imagined when they’d left their suite. Just from the simple disclosing of one small fact she hadn’t been privy to.
A fact Draco had deliberately neglected to mention.
As if compelled, her gaze lifted from her plate. Across the table, steel-sharp eyes met hers, and, despite the charming smile gracing his lips as he nodded at something Carla was saying, Rebel saw the unyielding questions lurking and the grim warning wrapped around each of them.
