Chapter 30
Over the last few years, Lola had been to countless weddings as both a guest and occasionally a bridesmaid, but she’d never been to one in a place quite like Il Giardino.
The wedding reception was held on the largest terrace.
The tables were dotted between olive trees and raised borders spilling over with herbs that released a fresh earthy scent into the warmth of the early evening.
Each table was decorated with a centrepiece of dried grasses and seeds, the warm cream tones beautifully showcasing the darker greens of the surrounding trees and the mauve hues of the mountain backdrop.
Lola was on a table with Deni, Mark and a couple of Fabs’s Italian friends not far from where the bride and groom were sitting with their immediate family, while Rhys was sitting a little further away with Barnaby, Gareth, Sarah and Polly.
Valentino was seated to her left. Of course, the seating arrangements had been organised months before, but it did make her wonder if Mirabel had considered Valentino as a possible suitor.
He was nice enough but their conversation was stilted, unsurprising considering the last time they’d spoken she’d turned him down.
Even with over a hundred guests, it felt intimate, with the tables spaced between the trees.
The waiters began to bring out the courses: ravioli with wild fennel followed by spit-roasted pork served with an array of dishes.
Lola’s mouth watered at the sight of pan-fried peppers and onions, crispy potatoes and ricotta-stuffed aubergine, along with the delicious aroma, a smokiness mixed with citrus and herbs.
As they began to eat, her attention kept drifting towards Rhys, who seemed to be listening intently to Barnaby.
He was good at paying attention to people, but he was also open to talking about his feelings and worries.
Mirabel often referred to Fabs as her best friend.
Lola had never thought of any partners in that way.
Perhaps that was where she was going wrong.
How could she put her heart and soul into a romantic relationship if they weren’t the closest person in her life – friends as well as lovers?
She’d never talked to Jarek as openly as she had with Rhys this week.
Rhys looked her way and she blushed. She raised her glass of wine and he did the same in a silent exchange.
That curdling thought about Jarek and the unhealthy relationships she’d had in the past eased a little.
Rhys was good for her: his friendship, his thoughtfulness, his easy-going demeanour and humour. He made her laugh and?—
‘What do you think, Lola?’
At the sound of her name, she switched her attention to Deni, who was doing a valiant job of keeping the conversation flowing around their table.
Even self-assured Valentino, who was being standoffish, was making a decent effort to chat politely.
Lola inwardly sighed but silently promised to stay present and help Deni out on the conversation front.
Once the honey and myrtle gelato had been consumed and Fabs and Mirabel had done the rounds of the tables to thank everyone, they announced that the bar on the adjacent terrace was open and invited everyone to join them.
Live music from a string trio filled the dusk-tinged evening, a jazzy beat with electronic strings.
The candles on the tables flickered and the woven lanterns hanging in the trees glowed as people began to drift away.
Through the slender branches, Lola could make out Fabs and Mirabel dancing.
Lola had never seen her look happier, dazzling in her ivory dress, her skin sun-kissed and shimmering, her hair and make-up natural, the focus on dark lashes and strawberry lips.
Smiling, Lola touched the small round filigree necklace that Felicity had given her as a thank you for helping Mirabel over the last few months.
‘Would you like to dance?’ Valentino’s smooth, deep voice pulled her attention away from her friend.
With a sinking feeling, she realised they were the only two left.
Glancing back, she spotted Deni and Mark standing on the edge of the terrace with their arms wrapped around each other; Polly and Sarah had disappeared completely, Gareth was chatting up his Italian fling, while Rhys was with Barnaby and Freddie at the bar.
‘Not at the moment,’ she said politely.
‘But later?’
He was certainly persistent.
‘Maybe.’ She would dance at some point tonight, but with her friends and hopefully Rhys if he asked.
She cursed herself for daydreaming and winding up stuck with Valentino.
That’s unfair , she thought as she turned back and met his gaze again, an odd mix of amusement and seduction on his face.
Did he still believe he had a chance with her?
Of course he did because he was so confident in his looks that he wasn’t used to being turned down.
‘Did you get my flowers, Lola?’
A voice behind her sent her breath whooshing from her body at its familiarity; a voice that once sent chills through her and still did, just for a very different reason.
Trying to keep it together, she turned away from Valentino, her eyes snapping to Jarek as he slid onto the empty chair next to her.
She knew his face so well, yet the person behind those cool dark eyes was a stranger, one who unsettled her to her very core.
He looked right past her to Valentino.
‘Excuse me for interrupting,’ Jarek said smoothly, a picture of sophisticated politeness. ‘It’s just I haven’t had the chance to talk to Lola properly for quite some time.’ His eyes flicked back to hers. ‘The other day didn’t count, not when you were in such a rush to make your dinner reservation.’
With his sharply cut suit and open-necked shirt, he fitted in beautifully and had chosen his moment with a sniper’s precision when she was talking to Valentino, who wouldn’t know who he was. There was no one in the immediate vicinity who would recognise him either, Lola realised with growing fear.
She reined in her breathing. Silently and sternly, she told herself that Valentino was next to her, she was surrounded by people, even if her friends weren’t here right this moment.
She sensed Valentino making a move to go and through sheer terror of being left on her own, she clamped her hand on to his rock-hard thigh. That stopped him.
Jarek’s eyes slid to her hand, then snapped back to her face without a flicker of emotion. ‘I thought we could take a walk and talk properly,’ he said smoothly.
‘I’m perfectly fine here with Valentino. We were about to have a dance.’
‘Mmn.’ Jarek leaned back in his chair and studied her. ‘You do seem to be getting through men like they’re going out of fashion.’ The edge to his voice had become dangerously low. The muscles in his jaw tightened, betraying his annoyance or an anger he had no right to direct her way.
Valentino started to say something, but Lola quickly cut in, shifting closer to his warm solidness while not taking her eyes off Jarek. ‘We had been enjoying each other’s company before you interrupted.’
‘What happened to the other one?’ Jarek cocked his head. ‘Rhys, wasn’t it?’
Lola’s breath hitched at Rhys’s name on Jarek’s lips. She desperately wanted his focus away from Rhys. She shrugged. ‘He’s just a friend.’
Her heart was thudding so hard, she felt it fluttering in her throat; the pounding in her ears drowned out the joyful conversations happening on the table behind her.
Jarek leaned close. ‘Are you being truthful with me, Lola?’
With her heart ricocheting against her chest, she slid her arm around Valentino and didn’t flinch under Jarek’s glare. ‘It’s hardly any of your business any longer.’
* * *
The man to Lola’s right had his back to him, but there was something about her demeanour that made Rhys shift his attention from his conversation with Barnaby towards her.
From just the way she was sitting, stiff and upright, leaning away as if she was getting ready to run, he sensed something wasn’t right.
Actually, she was leaning as close to Valentino as she could get.
Rhys’s heart dropped into his stomach. She looked scared shitless. There was only one person who would have that effect.
With so many people and tables between them, he felt utterly helpless and frozen to the spot; he didn’t have a clue what to do while avoiding causing a scene, yet he couldn’t ignore the fact that her ex had followed her here.
Even though he didn’t know what he was going to do or say, Rhys was about to stride over when Lola grasped Valentino’s face and kissed him.
Passionately. And from the way his hands immediately cupped her hips and tugged her close, he reciprocated equally as passionately.
The air was knocked from Rhys, like he’d been sucker-punched in the gut.
‘Rhys?’ Barnaby said. ‘Are you okay?’
A roaring in his ears engulfed him. His heart thumped and adrenaline pulsed. Every part of him was tense and ready for a fight, because witnessing Lola kiss Valentino angered him almost as much as Jarek having the audacity to infiltrate the wedding did.
‘Rhys?’ Barnaby repeated, following Rhys’s line of sight. ‘What’s going on?’
Rhys’s whole focus was on Lola, and the second she pulled away from Valentino, Jarek got right in her face and said something, before standing and pacing away.
Rhys ignored the concern on Barnaby’s face and handed him his glass of beer. ‘Hold this, please. I’ll be back.’
Rhys’s blood was on fire as he stalked in the direction Jarek had disappeared.
He knew he’d turn up here because he wanted to cause Lola the most amount of upset, but to be this brazen about it was unsettling.
He understood why Lola had kissed Valentino, someone who matched Jarek in looks and build, handsome and confident with it – the sort of man Jarek would actually believe she was with.
With his fists clenched and eyes blurring, he strode even faster beneath the vine-covered arch that led onto the grassy path through the meadow.
In the dusk, with only occasional solar lights to mark the way, there was no sign of Jarek and the only sound beyond the roaring in his ears was the tinkle of shepherds’ bells which hung from the branches of the surrounding olive trees.
Freddie grabbed him.
On Freddie’s heels, Barnaby pulled him to a stop. ‘What the hell’s going on, Rhys?’ he said. ‘And what on earth was Lola playing at with Valentino?’
‘Yeah.’ Freddie nodded. ‘I thought you and her were a thing?’
Rhys couldn’t think straight, not with a bullet train of upset ripping through him. ‘Her psycho ex is here, so get your fucking hands off me so I can get rid of him.’
Freddie raised his eyebrows but released his hold. ‘Let’s go then.’ He motioned the way ahead.
Rhys faltered, but at Freddie’s intense look and serious nod, he set off, both him and Barnaby matching his pace through the meadow.
* * *
‘I thought you weren’t interested?’ Valentino said to Lola the moment Jarek had stalked off.
Lola pulled away from his hold. ‘I’m not,’ she replied, swivelling in her chair to search the terrace.
She spied Rhys still by the bar tight-jawed and rage-filled.
He shoved his drink into Barnaby’s hand, then weaved between the tables in the direction Jarek had gone, not once looking her way.
Without a doubt he’d seen her performance with Valentino.
That was all it had been, a performance to put two fingers up to her ex in an attempt to unsettle him, while trying to get his focus away from Rhys. And yet…
‘You mess around with me, that is it?’
She was now treading a fine line between making a scene with Valentino or pacifying him with an explanation.
The confusion on his face when she turned back to him made her soften her retort.
‘I’m sorry. I did just use you.’ She waved her hand in the direction Jarek had gone.
‘That was my ex-boyfriend, who’s stalking me.
’ There, she’d said it out loud, the truth of what Jarek was actually doing and the lengths he was prepared to go.
‘I’m really glad you were here with me. He’s not someone I want to be left on my own with. ’
Valentino opened his mouth as if to snap back, then nodded. ‘I’m glad I was here.’
Deni flew into the seat that Jarek had vacated. ‘Barnaby said something’s up.’ Her eyes narrowed as she glanced at Valentino, then back to Lola. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Jarek’s here.’
‘Oh my God.’ Deni’s face fell. ‘Are you okay?’
‘He is unhinged,’ Lola hissed. ‘And he can’t – he absolutely can’t ruin this wedding.’
‘We won’t let him,’ Deni said fiercely.
Lola loosed a long breath. ‘I think Rhys went after him.’ Looking like he was going to punch his lights out , she thought. Oh God, he wouldn’t punch Jarek, would he? ‘Shit. I was trying to get Jarek’s attention away from Rhys. I have to find him.’
Deni placed a firm hand on her shoulder. ‘You need to stay here. A reaction from you is presumably what he wants, so don’t give him the satisfaction. Barnaby went after Rhys. Freddie too. He’s not facing Jarek alone.’