Page 53 of The Wedding Pact

‘Hey,’ I say, putting down my cutlery onto my now empty plate and turning to look past Raffa to his dinner nemesis. ‘I’m still catching up on who’s who. Tell me how you and Margot met. I’m fascinated by how everyone here is interlinked,’ I say with a smile, attempting to divert her attention away from Raffa for a few minutes so he has time to eat and breathe.

‘Ooh, am I being interviewed by the great Ida Fury?’ she asks with a twinkle in her eye.

‘You sure are,’ I say, twinkling back at her.

The woman then happily launches into her whole backstory with Margot and Darian, and I sense Raffa relax a little beside me now that the focus is off him.

After a moment, I feel his foot push against mine, in what I take to be a show of thanks.

Warmth pools in my chest and I press my knee against his in return, feeling the heat of his leg bleed into my bare skin where the short skirt of my dress doesn’t quite reach.

Prickles of lust rush up my thighs and I pick up my water glass and take a long swallow of liquid to try to cool my heating cheeks.

I’m so buzzed I feel like my skin must be glowing like a beacon, but no one seems to be looking at me funny, thank goodness, so I guess it’s all in my mind.

Luckily, we’re interrupted as the wedding speeches are announced and the whole place quietens to listen to the father of the bride expound on the many virtues of his daughter.

He’s clearly incredibly proud of Margot and knows all about her life and friends, which makes me wonder what my dad would say about me if he ever did one of these speeches. He’d be hard pushed to tell many stories about my upbringing, having been around for so little of it. And he never got to know a single one of my friends, since he worked such long hours and never engaged with any of them on the rare occasions he saw them in the house.

Darian stands up next and has everyone in tears as he talks about what an amazing woman his wife is and what a positive impact she’s had on his life.

I turn to look at Raffa and see he’s staring down at the table, seemingly lost in thought.

It makes me wonder what he’s thinking right now.

Is he happy for his stepbrother? It’s hard to tell with his expression so neutral.

He must sense me looking at him because he turns to catch my eye and does a little head jiggle from side to side and widens his eyes as if to say, yeah, yeah, get on with it, how soppy are you?

I frown at him and he grins back and wrinkles his nose, as if he realises how mean that might have looked and is trying to pull it back to funny banter.

I roll my eyes, but do it with a smile, and turn back to watch as Darian leans down to kiss his new wife.

There’s a huge round of applause and it seems as if that’s the end of Darian’s speech, until he holds his hand up, asking for quiet.

The clapping immediately reduces to nothing.

‘Before I sit down, I just wanted to say a big thank you to Raffa, for being here, but also for saving this wedding at the eleventh hour by arranging for it to be held in this amazing place after our disaster the other month with the original wedding venue. We owe you big, brother.’

He holds up his glass of champagne and everyone in the room does the same, following Darian’s lead in chorusing, ‘To Raffa,’ before taking a drink, then putting down their flutes to give him a standing ovation.

I think I can actually feel him squirming in his seat and when I turn to look at him it’s clear from the tight expression on his face that he’s uncomfortable with the amount of attention being directed at him.

I’m guessing the last thing he wanted was to be singled out like this, but I imagine Darian and Margot didn’t feel they could just ignore him saving the day like he did.

Raffa must have expected some public thanks though. How could he not have?

Family politics!

But at least they all seem to care about each other, even if it is a fractious relationship.

My parents really couldn’t give a damn about what I’m doing now. I can’t remember the last time they called to check in with me. They’re both still hyper-focussed on their careers and leaving me to figure out my own adult way in the world now.

It’s good for me, apparently.

Good for them, too. Much less of a mental load if they’re not having to factor me into any of their plans.

As soon as everyone has sat down again, the focus turns to Darian’s best man, who stands up next to give a speech. Raffa leans closer to me, jiggles his phone and murmurs, ‘I need to skip out for a minute. I’ll be right back.’