Page 54 of The Wedding Pact

All I can do is nod and watch, aghast, as he gets up from his chair and strides out of the room, everybody he passes turning to look as he makes his sharp exit.

I notice a few people looking over to me once he’s gone too, I guess to see whether we’ve had a row or something.

Forcing a fixed smile onto my face, I try to act as if nothing’s wrong.

I wonder what can be so important he’s happy to walk out of the speeches at his brother’s wedding dinner. It’s quite a statement.

He could at least have waited till the end of them before making his call.

But then it’s not my place to make judgements like that. I’m just here as his plus-one and a shield for this bad behaviour.

Which I’m becoming more uncomfortable with, the better I get to know the rest of the people here. They all seem so lovely and not at all the type of people you’d want to avoid hanging out with. At least, I wouldn’t.

Turning back to look at the best man, who’s gallantly pushing on with his speech, despite the Raffa-distraction making him fluff the first few lines, I give him a smile when he turns to look my way. Unfortunately, this seems to throw him off his stride even more and he loses his place again and has to pause to take a big swig of his champagne and give himself a moment to figure out where he is in it.

Mercifully, he gets back on track quickly and it’s a friendly crowd, so there are whoops and calls of encouragement as he goes on.

Once the speech has finished, the newlyweds get up to perform their first dance, with lots of people quickly joining them after Margot signals for everyone else to dance too.

I stay where I am, chatting with one of Darian’s friends from the five-a-side football team he’s apparently played in for years, waiting for Raffa to return.

The moment we spot Raffa marching towards us, the guy excuses himself to go and dance with his partner, who’s been giving him meaningful looks from the dancefloor for the last few minutes.

Raffa sits down in the chair he’s just vacated and gives me a tense smile. ‘It looked like you were getting on well with that guy – what’s his name?’

‘Jacob. Yeah, he seems cool.’

‘Hmm.’

I lean my elbow on the table and look at him meaningfully. ‘Is it a problem for you?’

‘Is what a problem?’

‘Me getting on well with other people here.’

‘No. Of course not.’

I fold my arms. ‘Then what’s going on? Why are you in a bad mood?’

He double-blinks, like I’ve asked a ridiculous question. ‘I’m not in a bad mood.’

I raise my eyebrows in sarcastic admonishment, irritation prickling up my spine. ‘Sure you’re not.’

Raffa sighs and rubs his hand over his face. ‘Okay. Yeah. Fine. I’m a bit stressed. I’m tired. I’ve been working like crazy recently and I guess it’s catching up with me.’

I let a loaded pause sit in the air after that, letting him know I know there’s more to it than tiredness. ‘It’s a shame you can’t enjoy being here,’ I say finally.

He frowns, the line between his brows deepening. ‘I am enjoying it.’

‘Really?’ I shoot him a sceptical look. ‘Because you walked out to deal with some work business in the middle of the wedding speeches. That doesn’t point towards you having much fun.’

‘I couldn’t take any more of the family bollocks. I had to get out of there.’

‘Why?’

He folds his arms. ‘It’s complicated. With my family.’

My ire with him increases and I feel it, hot on my skin. ‘I get that, but the best man doesn’t have anything to do with that, right? The poor guy botched his lines when you walked out. I think he took it as a personal affront.’