13. CHRIS
13
CHRIS
I should have known Bella would blow me away, but seeing her tonight was something else entirely. She stepped onto the deck where I waited for her, and for a moment, I couldn’t move. My mouth went dry, my heartbeat stuttered, my cock punching up in my pants and all I could do was stare.
She wore a deep red dress that hugged her curves in a way that should have been illegal. The fabric shimmered as she moved, catching the light and making her look like she was glowing. Her hair was up in an elegant twist, leaving a few loose curls framing her face, and the gold jewelry she wore gleamed against her skin. And those heels—tall, gold, strappy—they made her legs look like they went on forever.
They made me want to get between those legs and have them wrapped around me—
Fuck, I was in trouble.
“You look…” I started, my voice failing me. “You look incredible, Bella.”
She smiled, a hint of uncertainty in her eyes as she glanced at me but her cheeks got rosy with a blush. “Thanks.” She looked me up and down and there was hunger in her eyes, too. I swear I could see my lust for her mirrored back at me. No one could turn me on the way Bella did.
And I’d been around. I’d tried.
“You clean up pretty well yourself,” she said with a cheeky smile.
I was in a tux, sure, but standing next to her, I felt like a slob. My tie felt too tight, my shoes uncomfortable, and I couldn’t seem to figure out what to do with my hands. For someone who was supposed to be charming, used to being in suits and commanding the room, I was doing a hell of a bad job at it.
“Ready to go?” she asked.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”
We walked to the limo that waited for us, and I opened the door for her, letting her slide onto the rich leather seats first. We arrived at our destination a moment later, and we stepped out among the rich and famous that had collected in Monaco for the yacht show.
The gala was held in the ballroom of one of Monaco’s most prestigious hotels, the kind of place where the chandeliers were worth more than my yacht. And that was saying something.
The room was filled with opulence—gold accents, plush velvet, and more champagne than anyone knew what to do with. A live orchestra played soft, classical music, the kind of background noise that made everything feel even more expensive.
The event was meant to impress, and impress it did. Every corner of the room was filled with people who had more money than sense, all dressed to the nines, their laughter and conversation filling the space. I was here to schmooze, to make connections, and to get a few more potential buyers interested in what we had to offer.
And I had Bella on my arm, making me look a thousand times better than I ever could on my own. I was glad I’d asked her to come, rather than Layla, who only wanted the attention, the eyes on her. Bella complemented me, whereas with Layla, I’d always felt like I was on her arm, not the other way around.
Bella was incredible. She stepped in when conversations lagged, charming the people we spoke to, and somehow making me look good in the process. I watched her work, the way she smiled, the way she laughed at the right moments, the way she made people feel like they were the center of the universe. She was a natural, and I couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride—and something else, something deeper—as I watched her.
We made our way through the room, stopping to talk to potential buyers and investors. I introduced her as my date, and she played the part perfectly, nodding along as I spoke about the yacht, adding her own observations when it made sense.
And she’d observed a hell of a lot. I was impressed with her knowledge. She had the potential to be so much more than just head of staff in this world. I made a mental note—if she could fit in better somewhere else, I wanted to find that spot for her.
She made me look good, and I knew it. I was grateful, and it made something twist in my chest. She wasn’t just making me look good—she was making me feel good, and that was dangerous.
So. Fucking. Dangerous.
Of course, at a prestigious event like this, my brothers would be present, too. The Blackwood name had as much representation as we could give it.
Ben and Alex both moved around the room, schmoozing, making business connections just like I did.
We hadn’t spoken to each other much since we’d arrived at the gala—we’d only met just before I’d gone to pick up Bella. They didn’t know that she was my date.
Until now.
They were both dressed in tuxes, and they seemed to find us at the same time. Their eyes widened when they saw Bella.
“Well, well, look who’s here,” Alex said, his voice teasing as he gave me a knowing look. “Bella, it’s nice to see you again. It’s been too long.”
“Time flies, doesn’t it?” Bella said with a warm smile.
“You look stunning,” Alex said.
“Thank you, Alex,” Bella said, smiling. “It’s good to see you.”
Ben stepped forward, his grin widening. “Yeah, you look amazing, Bella. Chris is a lucky guy tonight.” He gave me a knowing look and waggled his eyebrows.
I glared at him, but he just smirked and winked at me. I knew what they were thinking—that this was more than just a favor, that maybe I was finally pulling my head out of my ass and doing something about how I felt about Bella. But it wasn’t that simple. It was never that simple.
And this was just a gala.
We made small talk with my brothers, Bella catching up with what they’ve been doing over the past handful of years since she’d seen them. There had been a time when Bella had practically been a part of my family. Alex and Ben had never mentioned that they’d particularly missed having her around after I’d called it quits, but the way they were talking to her now made me think maybe they had missed her.
Breaking up a serious relationship was always so fucking messy, affecting a hell of a lot of people who weren’t necessarily a part of the relationship, but they were a big part of the picture.
And what do you know—it just made me feel that much more like a piece of shit for walking away all those years ago.
But I had a reason, didn’t I? And after all was said and done, it was still my life.
After the conversations with my brothers ended and they headed into the crowd to keep doing what they did best, we moved on, making our way to the bar.
I ordered us a couple of drinks. I could really use some alcohol to ease the tension in my shoulders and the heavy feeling in my chest.
Bella sipped her champagne, her eyes scanning the room, and I watched her, sneaking glances so that I wasn’t staring outright. She was so… different from anyone else here. Genuine, real. And I was starting to realize just how much I’d missed that.
“So, how are you holding up?” Bella asked as she looked at me.
I shrugged, forcing a smile. “It’s a gala. They’re all the same. Lots of fake smiles, lots of people trying to impress each other. The night seems to be going well, we’ve made some great connections, thanks to you.”
“I don’t really have much to do with the industry,” she said, shaking her head slightly.
“You have so much more value in this kind of role than you realize,” I said. “I don’t know why you’re still just managing staff.”
She lifted one shoulder nonchalantly. “I take what I can get. It’s the only way to make a living—start at the bottom and work your way up.”
I nodded. She was right, and she’d done a fantastic job. I was determined to make sure she could take that next step up, that she ended up in a place much more suited to her talents. And would give her a lot more financial freedom.
She deserved to be in a different environment—one where she was waited on, not one where she waited on others.
Her eyes met mine and she smiled. My heart did a little flip, constricting, and it was the whole in-love deal going inside me. Butterflies, yearning, the whole package.
“You’re doing great. You’re good at this,” she said.
I let out a small laugh, shaking my head. “I might have been doing this since I can remember, but the credit for tonight’s success isn’t mine. You’re making me look good tonight.”
She smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly. “Just doing my job.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but before I could, someone approached us—one of the other guests, a man I’d spoken to earlier in the evening. He smiled at Bella, his eyes lingering on her for a moment before turning to me with a slight frown.
“I have to say, Chris, I was surprised to see Miss Rossi here with you tonight.”
“What?” I asked. “Why?”
“It took me a while to place her—you’re very charming, my dear,” he said, smiling at her. “But then it hit me. I thought you were with Mr. Moretti.”
“Oh? I wasn’t aware.” I glanced at Bella, but the dread on her face made my stomach twist. Was he right?
“You might be thinking of someone else…” Bella started.
“Oh no, I never forget a face. It was at Ciel Bleu, was it not?”
Bella swallowed. “Ah, a casual lunch between acquaintances.”
My stomach dropped and I stared at her perfect poker face.
She went to lunch with Eli fucking Moretti?
The man shrugged, giving me a small smile before he walked away, and I turned to Bella. My blood rushed in my ears and I felt like the Negroni I’d just downed was hitting me harder than usual, making me sway on my feet.
Or maybe it was the shock of being betrayed.
“You were with Eli?” I asked, my voice low.
Bella blinked. “No—I mean, ye… but it’s not what you think.”
I clenched my jaw, trying to keep my emotions in check. “And what am I supposed to think? Eli’s not exactly someone I’d want you spending time with.”
She frowned, her eyes narrowing slightly. “And since when do you decide who I get to spend my time with?” Her words were sharp.
I clenched my jaw and glanced at the crowd, mingling, laughing, making connections just as before. But now I felt like I was watching them from a distance, floating above them.
“Chris, it was just lunch. It wasn’t anything more than that,” Bella added softly, as if that fixed anything.
I let out a bitter laugh, shaking my head. “Right. Just lunch. With Eli Moretti .”
Her expression hardened, her voice rising slightly. “I’m not doing anything wrong. You don’t get to tell me who I can and can’t have lunch with. It was my morning off and I happened to run into him. We met on your yacht, in fact. Your little soiree, so he wasn’t a complete stranger and he offered to treat me to something nice.”
Something nice.
The anger bubbled up inside me, the jealousy, the fear that I was losing her—that I’d never really had her in the first place. “I don’t want you getting mixed up with him, Bella.” My words came out hard, demanding. “He’s trouble.”
She glared at me, her eyes flashing. “And you’re not? You think you’re any better? You push me away, you pull me back, and you expect me to just be okay with it?”
I stepped closer to her, my heart pounding, my breath coming in short bursts. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“Protect me?” she scoffed, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “From what, Chris? From living my own life? Without you?”
I didn’t have an answer. All I knew was that the thought of her with Eli made me see red, made me want to beat the living shit out of him for even looking in her direction. And the way she was looking at me now, the fire in her eyes, the way her chest was heaving as she glared at me… I couldn’t help myself.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Where?”
“Home.”
She frowned at me.
“The yacht,” I corrected myself. Because damn it, we didn’t have a home together. And now, it appeared we didn’t have anything together.
“Don’t we have work to do?” she asked tightly.
“I’ve done enough work for one night,” I said. “We’re leaving.”
“You can’t tell me what to do. What if I wanted to stay?”
“Then fucking stay,” I challenged her.
She glared at me, her jaw set and her eyes spewing fire and she was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. Her fire burned bright and it elevated her beauty into something ethereal. She was a vision. A goddess.
“Fine,” she finally said. “We can go.”
We left the gala together, and I opened the limo door for her when it pulled up.
The trip back to the yacht was made in strained silence and even though the drive was just a few minutes, it felt like it stretched out into eternity. Despite Bella sitting so close to me that I could feel the heat radiating off her skin, it felt like there were miles between us.
It felt like I’d lost her to Eli Moretti.
How had this happened? How had he gotten in there? He always tried to undercut me, to steal business, to get on top. I’d always fought tooth and nail to protect the business I’d worked on so hard, to protect what was most important to me.
I just hadn’t thought he’d end up going for Bella.
The one thing more important to me than the Blackwood empire, the yachts I designed, my passions and my pursuits.
When we arrived at the yacht we stepped on deck.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going to my cabin,” she said tightly.
“How could you do that to me?” I blurted out. “How could you go anywhere with that good-for-nothing piece-of—” I cut myself off before I launched into the most colorful words I could think of to describe him.
“I’m not doing anything to you,” Bella snapped. “I’m doing whatever I want, for me, because that’s what we do. We live our own lives, Chris. You were the one who decided this was better. You were the one who walked away. Did you think I was just going to sit here and wait for you, hoping that one day you would come back to me and sweep me off my feet?”
I stared at her. I hadn’t thought about it that way. I hadn’t thought about anything other than how desperately I’d needed to get out, back then.
“You told me you wanted a family,” I said hoarsely. “You talked about marriage, about building a life together.”
“Yeah, and you treated me like doing it made me the enemy. That’s how love works, you know. People find their soulmate and they settle down together, facing the rest of their lives together.”
I blinked at her. “You thought I was your soulmate?”
Bella pursed her lips together like she’d said too much.
I grabbed her, my hands going to her waist, pulling her against me as I crashed my lips against hers. She gasped, her hands coming up to my chest, and for a moment, I thought she might push me away. But then she kissed me back, her fingers curling into my shirt, her body pressing against mine, and everything else faded away.
It was just her. Just us. The heat, the anger, the desire—it all blended together, and I couldn’t get enough of her. I needed her, wanted her, more than I’d ever wanted anything in my life.
I pulled back, my forehead resting against hers as I tried to catch my breath. “Bella…”
She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine, and for a moment, I saw something there—something vulnerable, something real. And I knew I couldn’t let her go. Not again.
“I’m not letting you slip away again,” I whispered, my voice rough.
She didn’t say anything, but the way she looked at me, the way her eyes softened, told me everything I needed to know.