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“Indeed. Isabella Astley. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Brunswick was now closely staring at her, like he was scanning every inch of her skin. Not once had he even looked at Liam.
“The pleasure is mine, Miss Astley.” She tilted her head with a barely visible grin.
“Please, call me Isabella,” she said, forcing a charming tone.
“Only if you call me Tom.” He made a gentle nod toward her.
“Deal, as you Americans would say,” she joked in an elegant laugh. The server returned with a bottle of wine and started pouring their glasses. “I must confess, when Liam informed me that your name was Brunswick, I could barely sleep last night.”
“And why is that?” Curiosity littered all over his face, something that didn’t happen too often.
“Not that it is a matter of much consequence, but our houses are related.” Tom’s chest perked up and his elbows pulled back as he raised an eyebrow in a mixture of pride, astonishment, and confusion. There was no doubt in Isabella’s mind that this man was nothing more than a buffoon, a pretentious fool, and she intended to exploit that.
“Brunswick of Lower Saxony, is it not?” It took Tom a few moments to process her words before finally leaning over in excitement.
“Yes, that is correct! That’s my estate!” Isabella was by no means surprised that he hadn’t even bothered to read up some of the history of the title he had purchased. But then, it wasn’t like it was trulyhistitle. This estate made him as much of a true lord as lipstick would make a pig a princess.
“Then there is no doubt. Our ancestors were married to one another in the fourteen hundreds. I admit that was quite a long time ago, but for houses as old and prestigious as ours, some might actually still think of it as relevant,” she said with a slight smirk on her lips.
If a human could burst out of pride and arrogance, Tom Brunswick would have done so at this very moment.
“Yes, I’ve heard of that,” he said, now with a visible grin on his face that made him look foolish.What a liar."So, youarepart of the British nobility?”
Holding the wine glass in between her thumb and index finger, Isabella took a gentle sip that exposed her red rosy lips. Then she leaned closer to him and whispered. “One does not talk about it openly these days, but just like yours, my family dates back centuries.” Tom lengthened his neck like a rooster that had just been crowned king of the hen house. Isabella held her laughter under tight lip as she peeked over to Liam who was watching the whole thing like he was in the first row of a movie theatre. She could tell by the faint smile on his lips that he knew what sort of man Tom Brunswick truly was. But there was something else in Liam’s face. The way he looked at her… Was it admiration?
“I can’t believe that we met just like this. All those years have passed, and finally our families have met once again. It’s almost like fate brought us together,” Tom announced with a sparkle on his face.
“Splendid indeed,” Isabella smiled back. “However, I must confess,” her tone suddenly changed, “I was rather anxious over the thought of our families meeting again under such dire circumstances.” His face turned weighty. “But then I am relieved for us to have met before the Queen’s invitations had proceeded for her annual hunting celebrations. She is so very particular about whom she invites. Although the estate of Brunswick has received an invitation for centuries, this one is held in honor of the veterans you see…” Isabella took another sip of her wine. The ball was now in Tom’s court. His eyes simply stared at her. The momentary silence was growing painful for him. He cleared his throat, and coughed to gather his voice.
“I couldn’t agree more. I’m so glad we could meet to resolve thisridiculousmisunderstanding.” Liam almost spat out his wine, but managed to hold it in by pressing his fist onto his lips, giving him an uncomfortable cough. Tom didn't seem to notice.
“People at my company can be such idiots. As soon as I heard that the owner of Green Wear LLC was a veteran, I demanded that my secretary arrange for this meeting the very next day, so I could make things right again. It was totally unacceptable how they were treating him.” Tom's attitude had changed completely. Liam stared at him like he had just seen a ghost. He struggled to speak, searching for his voice which he couldn’t find. In his stunned state, a man dressed in black caught his gaze as he approached their table. The stranger bent over to Brunswick and whispered, but somehow audible enough for them to hear—'Sir, your car is ready.'
“You idiot. Who told you to disturb me right now?” Brunswick yelled at him.
“I—I’m s-so sorry." The man looked terrified. "I thought you said to come get you in five minutes as this—”
“Are you retarded or something? Short wired? Stupid? Go wait for me outside!” Like a beaten puppy, the man turned around, almost running back to wherever he had come from.What a despicable creature Brunswick was!
“I’m sorry about that.” Tom shook his head as if he truly had no idea what it was all about. A buffoon, Isabella thought to herself again. Her hand burned with desire to empty the contents of her glass in his face, but she placed a hand on Liam’s arm instead and put on a fake smile.
“See, Dear? Didn’t I tell you this was a huge misunderstanding? Members of high society do not waste their time trying to bleed stones dry. It's beneath them, isn’t that right Lord Brunswick?” Isabella asked intentionally, placing a hand to her lips. "Oh, please accept my apology… I mean, Tom.” She knew he was already eating out of her hand like a starved rooster, but calling him alordwas that little push necessary to tip the scale in Liam’s favor.
“Apology accepted,” he grinned while waving another waitress to come over. “Please get me a bottle of your finest champagne.” The waitress nodded and rushed off. Liam finally found his voice.
“Y-Yes…,” he cleared his throat. “You did say that…”
If this had been 1881, the two men would now withdraw to discuss the details of their business agreement in the cigar room. But of course this hotel did not have such amenities, so it was up to Isabella to excuse herself for a while. “Would you excuse me?” Isabella got up. “I shall refresh myself.”
“Of course,” Liam said as both men stood up.
On her way to the bathroom, she managed to peek over her shoulder to get a glance at Liam. Much to her surprise, he was staring at her, pretty much ignoring the babbling peacock sitting in front of him. She felt a touch of lightness in her limbs. It felt like she was floating. Rarely had she felt as happy as she felt now, which had been the case for the past couple of days—a streak she hoped to continue. Staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she noticed something had changed. For the first time in her life, she truly liked the person she was seeing in the mirror. She had managed to do so much more than just assist a kind man whom she cared for. This simple little gesture was so much more than that. From the deepest depths of her heart, she had saved the man she loved.
It was already late when Tom finally received an important phone call that put an end to this meeting. Isabella had barely made it out of the hotel lobby when Liam grabbed her by her waist, lifted her up and swirled her around in circles.
“Isabella Astley! You are the most magnificent person I have ever met!” She laughed, grinning from ear to ear as he lowered her down, his hands still glued to her waist.
“It was nothing.” Her cheeks felt as warm as her fast beating heart in her chest. Her skin tingled from the touch of his strong hands that held her back.
