Chapter 19
Act II, Scene XI: Basilic, London
Kalina
H ow could a night be both perfect and confusing?
I twirled the beads on the ring Titan had gifted me. It was a thoughtful and beautiful gift, and it meant so much.
He’d been paying attention.
Did friends buy each other jewellery?
I wanted to be around him all the time.
I wanted him to kiss me last night.
I wanted more.
Did he want more too?
‘Lina, shouldn’t you be on your way home already?’ the supervisor asked.
He broke me from my thoughts, but maybe it was a good thing. I needed a break from the relentless replays of last night. Of how we’d danced together then…nothing. It was like Titan had shut down.
‘Yes, I’m nearly done.’ I sent out my last email then grabbed my things and rushed home.
It only took me getting to the Tube to obsess again.
Titan invited me out.
He took me to a place I could enjoy without being overwhelmed and dysregulated, and, if I was correct in my thinking, it seemed like he’d wanted to kiss me.
I wanted to kiss him too. I’d been wanting to ever since the night he’d come over and taken care of me.
But maybe I’d misread things.
Like I always did.
Tonight was the night. Tonight, I’d talk to him and figure out if this was one-sided. If it was, I’d stop it in its tracks. Savi and Ted were going to be together forever. I couldn’t add another person to the list of reasons being in a room with Ted’s friends and family was uncomfortable.
I mentally rotated the three outfits I’d planned for tonight and as soon as I reached the front door, I knew which one it would be. With a toss of my bag on the hook in the entryway, I rushed inside and headed straight for the bathroom.
I needed to shave my legs.
Being careful not to knick my skin, I did the entire front and back. My wax therapist would have to forgive me, but I didn’t want to risk anything tonight.
I had fifteen minutes and I was a woman possessed as I flitted between my wardrobe—hauling out the emerald green dress—the dresser, and the bathroom.
The black lace and mesh bodysuit I’d bought and never worn would finally have its time to shine tonight. Hopefully.
If there was ever a night for beautiful and confidence-boosting lingerie, tonight was it. After slathering glow oil all over my skin, I pulled on the bodysuit and shimmied into the dress.
With its lace-up back, boned waist and flared skirt, it fit perfectly every single time. And the things it did for my cleavage were sinful.
The sleeves ended at the wrist and the hem fell above the knee. With a pair of sheer black stockings, black platform heels, and dusty rose lipstick, I was ready.
I took a turn in front of the full-length mirror; the skirt twirled around and the velvet fabric had an almost glimmery sheen to it.
One thing was certain about tonight; Titan wouldn’t be able to look away. No matter how hard he tried.
I finished the look off with the silver ring.
‘Lina, oh my gosh,’ Scarlet exclaimed as she appeared in the doorway.
She was dressed in a dark blue ankle length silk dress with a pair of killer silver heels.
‘I could say the same about you.’
‘I know, right?’ She flicked her leg out and lifted the hem so I’d get a good look at the straps running up her calves. ‘Perks of having a caring brother.’
My stomach did a flip at the mere suggestion of Titan.
‘He has great taste.’
‘For sure.’ She smirked. ‘He’s so thoughtful.’
‘Yeah.’
She did the one arched eyebrow thing and I gathered my things so I wouldn’t have to look her in the eye.
‘Shall we?’
‘Let’s go.’ Scarlet did a little shoulder shimmy.
This dinner was the first of many pre-wedding celebrations, and was being held at Basilic. A tall glass building, Basilic was the type of place requiring a reservation months in advance, unless of course you knew someone. Between the Montagues and the Rays, there were enough people to go around.
We hurried from the car as rain came down in a constant shower and were instantly in awe of the interior. The streetlights shone through the glass walls of the lobby and bounced off the crystal chandeliers.
The water droplets looked like glitter.
The host showed us where the coatroom was then gestured to the grand staircase. ‘And the restaurant is on the next floor.’
Scarlet shrugged off her coat and handed it to me. ‘Would you mind? I need to find the ladies.’
She was gone in a flash, and I walked toward the door on my left. I reached for the door handle, but it swung open and Titan stood on the other side.
He was dressed in a dark grey suit that fit him like a glove. His white shirt underneath had two undone buttons, giving me a full view of his neck.
I wanted to bury my face in it.
‘Kalina,’ he breathed. His gaze raked down my body then back to my face. It lingered on my lips.
‘Hi.’ Really brain? That’s the best you could do?
His lips twitched at the corners. ‘Hi.’
The intensity and focus in his gaze had me staring at the spot between our feet.
So much for my bold plans. All it took was one look from him to turn me into a puddle.
‘I actually wanted to talk to you. Could we—’
His words were cut off by Savi’s voice. ‘Hello hello. We’re here. I hope we’re not too late.’
She was a vision in an off-white strappy dress that highlighted her chest and waist, while skimming over her bump, which had popped since I’d last seen her.
‘Nope, right on time,’ I said, and pulled her into a hug.
Ted joined us and before I could respond to Titan, Savi took the coat from my arms and placed it in his.
‘Would you mind? Lina and I need to chat.’
‘Sure, of course.’ Titan sighed, but if Savi saw it, she didn’t say anything.
Titan came to stand behind me. ‘Let me.’
His fingers on my shoulders as they curled beneath the collar of my coat sent shivers down my spine.
‘Thank you.’
Savi hooked her arm through mine. ‘We’ll meet you upstairs.’
As soon as we were out of earshot, she looked at me. ‘Is everything okay? Looks like we stumbled into something back there.’
‘Everything’s perfect.’ I gave her hand a squeeze. My tone, however, said otherwise.
‘Come on, you can take one night off from wedding duties. Let’s have some fun.’
I couldn’t tell Savi there were next to no wedding duties Titan and I’d been working on. I’d been doing this for years and could plan it with my eyes closed.
‘Sure. Anything for the bride.’ I offered her my best wedding planner smile.
We reached the top of the staircase, and both our breaths hitched at the view. The entire restaurant was surrounded by glass walls, overlooking the city skyline.
Jesse and Lexie were seated at the table. Lexie blew kisses our way, and Jesse spoke loudly to one of my uncles about his latest acquisition for the Montague Group.
A voice I’d once enjoyed now made my skin crawl. I shivered at the thought of being intimate with him. Of sharing something so amazing with someone who couldn’t even be bothered to stick around to ask me how I was feeling.
‘Ignore them. He’s been extra irritating lately.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘He wants to make things right with Ted and he’s playing nice so he can go back to working with his mom and Ted.’
I snickered. ‘Is Ted allowing that?’
Savi chuckled. ‘No way. He’s making him sweat.’
‘Thank you. I needed to hear that today.’
Savi nodded.
We greeted her parents, Ted’s mother, and some of our aunts and uncles.
‘My Gulab and Ladoo,’ Dadi said to us. She pulled us into a group hug.
‘Where are your handsome men?’
‘Our?’ I asked.
‘She means Titan,’ Savi said and nudged me in my ribs.
‘Dadi…’ I groaned.
‘Snatch him up before I do.’ With that, Dadi walked away to greet some relatives.
‘She’s been so persistent lately,’ I said.
Savi only raised her perfectly threaded eyebrows. ‘Mmm…and I wonder why.’
‘What do you mean?’ I narrowed my gaze at her.
‘Nothing.’ She pursed her lips as if to keep them shut.
‘Hello, you gorgeous bride.’ Scarlet leaned down to air kiss both of Savi’s cheeks.
‘Thank you for coming.’ Savi beamed.
‘Of course. Thank you for having me. Are there any cute guys coming tonight? Ones who aren’t related to either of you. No offence, your cousins are boring.’
Savi and I both laughed.
‘Yeah, they’re not really great at dating.’
‘Runs in the family,’ I mumbled.
‘Hey, you’re going to be fine.’ Savi squeezed my hand reassuringly. She looked down at the ring on my finger and gave the beads a little spin.
‘Anyway,’ I crossed my arms over my chest so she couldn’t inspect it. ‘No one but family and two of Ted’s uni friends are coming tonight. I checked the RSVP list this afternoon.’
‘Well…’ Savi started, but there was a cheeky glint in her eyes.
‘What do you mean well? What did you do?’
It was at that moment Titan walked over, his long strides eating up the distance of the room until he was in front of me.
‘Sorry ladies, I need to borrow Kalina for a moment.’ He didn’t wait for their response as he placed a hand on my lower back and ushered me away from Savi and Scarlet.
‘Is everything okay? Is something wrong with the fish? I knew it would be the fish.’ I took a deep steadying breath as we came to a stop.
‘What? No.’ He shook his head, and his bright green gaze met mine. ‘The thing I wanted to talk to you about earlier…’ He ran his hand through his hair. I’d never seen him so flustered. ‘I…’ He stopped and took a deep breath. It wasn’t like him to not find the words.
I reached out and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. ‘Go ahead,’ I said.
He opened his mouth to speak. ‘I wanted to tell you. Well, I actually wanted to tell you last night, I—’
His words cut off as three men popped up behind him.
‘T,’ one of them exclaimed as they patted his back.
‘It’s been ages,’ the other said, with a polite nod.
‘Yeah, too long,’ Titan ground out. He greeted each of them in turn, taking their hands and giving them the half hug men did with each other.
They stared expectedly at me then at Titan.
‘Sorry. This is Kalina,’ Titan said.
I gave them my best smile.
‘These are some of our friends from uni,’ Titan waved his hand across them.
‘Nick, Rowan, and…’ I didn’t know who the third guy was because he hadn’t RSVP’d.
He took a step closer and offered his outstretched hand to me. ‘Charlie, lovely to finally meet Savi’s pretty cousin.’
When he smiled, his light brown eyes narrowed. A genuine and warm look if I’d ever seen one.
My cheeks burned, and I reached out to shake his hand. ‘Wonderful to meet you too, Charlie.’
‘Hey, don’t hog her.’ One of the other guys said and took my hand. ‘I’m Nick.’
‘You didn’t say she was this beautiful.’ Charlie’s statement was directed at Titan.
Titan cleared his throat. ‘Must you be a menace?’
‘Mr. Romance; always one step ahead of us,’ Nick said.
Charlie grinned at me. ‘Can’t waste any time with the three of you around.’
I laughed and wanted to fan my face. He was cute. From his scruffy beard sprinkling his strong jaw, to the way his brown hair looked like he’d rolled out of bed, thrown on a suit, and walked into this room.
‘It’s lovely to finally meet you. Titan’s told us so much about you,’ the other friend said.
Titan shut his eyes and inhaled deeply.
‘You have?’ I exclaimed. I couldn’t believe I’d come up in conversation with his friends when, before this very moment, I wasn’t aware they’d existed.
‘Also, Rowan, that’s the meaning of my name.’ I placed my hand on my chest as I spoke to the quiet friend.
‘Courage and wisdom,’ Charlie said, his lips curled into a grin.
A flush creeped into my cheeks and seeped down my neck.
‘I see your hand is empty. Can I get you a drink?’ Charlie asked, and offered his arm to me.
I looked over at Titan, his eyebrows furrowed and his lips downturned.
‘One second,’ I said to Charlie. ‘Wait you were saying something?’
He shook his head. ‘It’s nothing.’
‘Are you sure? It sounded important.’
‘Yes. Go.’ He tipped his head toward Charlie.
I gave him one last look and searched his eyes for a clue into his thoughts. It came up blank.
‘Okay.’
I wrapped my hand around Charlie’s outstretched arm and he led me to the bar.
‘I love this name,’ he said, looking at the sign for the signature drinks of the evening. A fizzy pink one aptly named M uch a Woo About Nothing caught his eye.
‘Thanks, I did a deep dive into puns for this.’
He ordered two and leaned an elbow on the bar top. ‘Rumour has it you’re partly behind Ted and Savi’s illicit affair.’
‘Something my aunt and uncle weren’t too pleased about.’ I stopped myself before I revealed too much about the entire incident.
Titan’s voice popped into my head.
If you meet someone, listen to what they’re saying and don’t tell them too much off the bat. Get a feel of their personality first.
Even though he’d never said these words to me in person, they were little nuggets of information he’d text me after a lesson.
I hadn’t been expecting it and shook my head to get him out.
Charlie’s laugh was light, like little bells. ‘Oh, it sounds like there’s a story there.’
‘Long enough to fill the pages of a book.’
He grinned. ‘I’d read that story.’
‘You like reading?’ I couldn’t contain my excitement. Titan’s advice would have to wait for another time.
‘Yes, mostly sci-fi and mystery.’ His cheeks reddened.
‘Sounds fun. Not something I’d read, but reading is good regardless.’
‘What do you like to read?’ His gaze was so intense, I needed to inspect my nails. I’d chosen to go with a dark green colour because it reminded me of the soft knit jumper Titan wore.
I cleared my throat. ‘Romance.’
A sheepish smile spread across his face. ‘See, I didn’t want to say it because I wanted to look really cool in front of you, but I love romance novels.’
That certainly took me by surprise. Romantic or not, you didn’t find a lot of men reading romance novels and openly admitting to it. There was such a stigma around it, but seeing him get excited about it was endearing.
‘Romance novels are cool to me.’
He did a little air pump, and I laughed. He was adorable.
‘I know this is really sudden, and we only met like ten minutes ago, but I’d love to take you out.’
The bartender put our drinks in front of us and I took a sip to stall even though I had no reason to say no. I could go out with him, and I didn’t need to feel guilty.
I looked over Charlie’s shoulder to where Titan spoke to Ted and the rest of their friends. He wasn’t looking at us, but his relaxed shoulders and soft smile made it clear he was at ease.
This was what I’d wanted. Titan had held up his end of the Agreement and he was the one who’d encouraged me. I didn’t need his permission.
And, as much as I’d come here tonight with the intention of leaving with him, saying yes to Charlie was for the best.
‘When did you have in mind?’ I replied.