Page 51 of The Wedding Pact

‘No, you’re not,’ Danny says, ‘Allow me to be Raffa’s stand-in.’ He holds up a deferential hand. ‘For keeping you company, I mean.’

‘That would be great,’ I say.

‘Let me introduce you to some more of Darian’s friends. They’ve been desperate to meet you, but they’re nervous about approaching Raffa so they’ve kept their distance. He’s a bit bloody intimidating, to be honest with you.’

I swat an airily dismissive hand at this. ‘He’s just preoccupied with a big business deal that’s going down so his head’s elsewhere.’

I don’t like the idea of anyone thinking badly of Raffa, but Danny has a point about him being hard to approach. He’s definitely given strong closed-off vibes today, that’s for sure.

‘Yeah, maybe. But he’s never been keen on me. I’ve been good mates with Darian since our school days, so I was around when his mum and Raffa’s dad got together and there was a lot of bad shit that went down, which I guess he knows I know about.’

‘Oh?’ I say, not wanting to seem nosey, but desperate to hear what Danny has to say about this bit of Raffa’s past that he’s so far neglected to tell me about.

‘Yeah. It was tough on all of them. I mean, I get why Raffa was upset. It all got really heavy when he disappeared for a bit though and they had to get the police involved to find him.’ He chugs the rest of his drink, then swipes another one from a passing waiter’s tray. ‘But I’m sure you know all about that anyway. How long have you been together?’ he asks, catching me off-guard as I’m still wondering what the ‘bad shit’ could have been.

‘Err. Not that long. We met online first, then got together in person fairly recently. But I feel like I know him really well from all the late-night messaging.’

Danny nods, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a grin. ‘So I guess he’s a big fan of your show? Have you persuaded him to go on it yet? He’d make an audience-pleasing opponent, since you guys are seeing each other. There’s clearly a lot of chemistry between you. Everyone’s been saying it. You’d get top ratings for a show like that.’

‘Not yet, but I’m working on it,’ I say breezily, even though my interest is piqued at the information about other people noticing that me and Raffa have chemistry.

‘Well, good luck with persuading him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. He’s never taken direction from anyone else well, as far as I know.’ Danny grins, then takes another big swallow of his drink.

‘Yeah. Thanks,’ I say, aware of a strong sense of challenge growing within me. I’m desperate to ask more about what happened with Raffa and his parents but it feels like the moment’s passed to do that without it looking sus. Danny obviously thinks I should already know all about it and he might question how genuine our relationship is if I ask him to tell me more.

I’ll have to subtly try and get it out of Raffa at some point.

Danny waves his hand around, as if he thinks this line of conversation is getting boring. ‘Anyway, let me introduce you to some of my friends.’

‘Sure,’ I say, hoping to fill in a few more of the Raffa blanks in the narrative he’s been spinning me.

Danny is as good as his word and ends up introducing me to a big gang of people, all of whom are just as friendly and curious about me and Raffa as he was.

I get a lot of questions about the show as well, of course, especially the more popular episodes where I’ve managed to get someone famous to give me the skinny. They all want to know if these celebrities are my friends now and I have to disabuse them of this fantasy. I’m sure if I bumped into any of them they’d be friendly, but I’ve no compunction to chase friendships with them. Apart from the odd person I got on well with outside of the show, they’re business acquaintances at best. You soon lose your fascination with famous people once you’ve seen behind the curtain. They’re just people, after all.

By the time we’re encouraged to move back to the hotel for the buffet, many more drinks have been consumed and it’s all a bit raucous at the dinner table, where people shout across each other in their semi-inebriated states.

I think a few of them are going to need a lie-down before we all reconvene for the evening meal and reception.

It’s a lot of fun hanging out with them all though and I’m glad I stayed around for it.

I feel bad for Raffa that he’s missed this, but I guess that’s his choice. Perhaps he’ll be a bit more likely to socialise this evening once he’s got some more work out of the way.

Once I’ve had my fill of the amazing buffet lunch, I decide it’s time to head back to the villa and I make my excuses, waving to all my new friends as I make my way out of the dining room.

Being made to feel so welcome here – like I’ve been accepted into the heart of this big family – has really lifted me.

When I make it back to the villa, still none the wiser about the dark part of Raffa’s past, there’s no sign of him in the communal living areas. Guessing he’s working in his room, I head straight to mine and lie down on my bed, intending to just nap for half an hour, then go looking for him.

Three hours later, I wake with a start and, after glancing at my phone, realise what woke me was a loud knock on my bedroom door.

Struggling up off the bed, my head woolly and my eyes bleary, I open the door to find Raffa standing on the other side, looking at me with a puzzled frown on his face.

‘There you are,’ he says, ‘I was starting to wonder whether you’d left the island. I couldn’t find you anywhere.’

‘Sorry,’ I say, hiding a yawn behind my hand. ‘I fell asleep after lunch and I’ve only just woken up.’

‘So you had a good time then?’