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Penelope was coming a bit more often and she tried to make me feel better by baking all these delicious cakes for us. Lilly was loving it and sometimes, I just had to pretend I was all right so she wouldn’t keep asking me why I was so sad.
The funeral was arranged for this upcoming Thursday and I went to pick a black outfit from my closet. One of my classic, tailored suits would do fine. I just didn’t have the energy to go out and buy something new. As long as I was well put together, I could be who my mother expected me to be.
She called me the other day, telling me about the flowers she’d chosen for the ceremony, as though she was discussing a wedding. A happy occasion. I hung up on her because it seemed she was completely unaffected by the death of her husband. She acted normal and I just couldn’t understand why she was always so cold.
Then, I remembered she’d acted the same when my brother had killed himself. She had never shed a tear, even during the funeral. I refused to forget about Nicolas so I made her talk about him and that drove her crazy. She hated when I brought him up.
Then Sebastian came by and suggested we go buy a new dress for the funeral. After some protesting, I relented. He thought it would do me good to get out a little, and he’d be there.
Pedro drove us to the store. While Sebastian typed a text, I had some sort of déjà vu.
“Did this happen before? I’m having a weird feeling, as though we’ve already done something like this. We’re in the car, you on your phone,” I asked.
He stopped typing then and narrowed his gaze on me. “Why? Do you remember something?” he asked hopefully.
“No, but I feel like we were here before and you were on your phone. The scenery is familiar,” I told him, knowing that I probably wasn’t making much sense. I was trying hard to bring these memories back, but my mind just wasn’t cooperating.
“I took you shopping before our first meeting that you were supposed to accompany me to as Russina. That was a few days after the incident on the yacht. I remember sitting here and I was on my phone,” he explained. “Then we went inside the shop and you hated every second of it.”
I smiled, thinking I must have been difficult and stubborn back then. My style back when I was in college wasn’t a style at all, and it must have been quite a task to make me look presentable.
For a split second, I thought I was all right. My father was still alive and we were going shopping for our vacation trip next week. But then, reality hit me and I was drowning again.
“It will get better and this is a good sign. Your memories will come back,” he assured me when we arrived at our destination.
The store was huge and there were plenty of options. Two sales assistants materialized in front of me, ready to show me anything I wanted.
“Go to the changing room and try a few things. I will be outside. I have to make a phone call,” he said, kissing me.
I headed to the stylish changing room with several outfits.
It was a funeral so I forced myself to try one pantsuit and a two-piece skirt set. I stared at my reflection in the mirror wearing the second one. The skirt was long enough and it fit me well.
Memories of my father were floating my mind. When I was a child, I remembered him playing with me on one of these rare occasions when he was home. My brother Nicolas was there, too. I missed them both so much.
“Do you think this should—”
I stopped talking because I realised the sales assistant wasn’t there. I went to the back of the store looking for her and saw her handing a large package to some guy who looked like one of Sebastian’s bodyguards. I couldn’t remember when I’d seen him last, but he looked familiar.
I watched them for a little while, then returned to the changing room area.
“I am sorry I vanished. I just had to hand a package to one of our private clients,” she said.
“Oh, yes. I came looking and saw you. That man looked so familiar and I think he really likes you. I saw the way he was checking you out.”
“Oh no, Ms. Dimitrei, Logan doesn’t like me like that and I’m sure he has a girlfriend,” she said, blushing.
“Well, he seemed very interested and if he works for some wealthy celebrity, picking up packages, he’s likely single. You should get his number next time,” I probed.
“Sadly, no, but maybe I will ask him next time. He works for Sofia Anishenko, so he is always in and out. Ms. Anishenko is a huge client of ours,” she explained, and then a lightbulb switched on in my head.
The men outside the restaurant where Sebastian had taken me out on our date. Sofia’s men. He was one of them.
Logan had to be one of the guys who shot Sebastian, then killed my father.
CHAPTER25
Sebastian
