Page 56 of His Obsession
“You invited everyone because I’m miserable?”
“Yes.”
“What time?”
“Seven.”
I nod and close my laptop. I haven’t showered in days, and my hair is a tangled mess. Getting presentable is going to take effort. I brush past him on my way upstairs and don’t say another word. Still, I feel his eyes on me as I go.
When I come downstairs at exactly 6:57, Gia is already handing Sebastian her coat. Her face lights up when she sees me.
“Come on,” she says, looping her arm through mine. “I need you to tell Nico that saying ‘you look tired’ is not a compliment, even if he adds ‘but beautiful’ after.”
“It was meant to be supportive,” Nico says from the dining room.
“It was an attack,” Gia yells to him as she leads me toward the table.
I look at my brother. “That was terrible.”
“I’m outnumbered.” He shrugs helplessly.
That’s all it takes to lift the dark cloud hanging over me. My two favorite people in the world arguing over somethingso inconsequential. Nico takes his seat, and Sebastian appears seemingly out of nowhere to sit beside him.
“Matteo should be here soon,” he says.
It’s all so normal. So domestic. To an outside observer, this would look like a typical dinner between good friends. Maybe, just for a few hours, I can pretend my life really is that simple.
22
SEBASTIAN
Gia is halfway through the story about the first event she and Val ever worked together. Apparently, a stylist accused half the staff of stealing a diamond necklace before realizing she’d tucked it into her own bra for safekeeping. Val laughs so hard she nearly chokes on her water.
Nico immediately reaches over to pat her back, which only makes her laugh harder.
“I’m fine,” she chokes out, waving him off. “Stop. You’re making it worse.”
“You sound like a dying seal,” Nico says.
Gia points her fork at him. “I thought the stylist was going to have a medical episode, and Val was standing behind the bar biting the inside of her cheek so hard I thought she’d draw blood.”
“I was trying to be professional,” Val says, wiping at the corner of her mouth.
“You were turning purple.”
“I didn’t laugh in her face, did I?”
“That is a very low bar for professionalism,” Matteo says.
Val lifts her glass toward him. “Welcome to event planning.”
I sit back and watch her. She’s still pale, and I can see the strain around her mouth every time the conversation slows, but she’s laughing. Really laughing. It’s good to see after the last few days. She deserves more of this. Dinner, friends, stupid stories, and even Nico annoying the hell out of her.
“I still think the keynote speaker at my gala was worse,” I say.
Val turns toward me with instant betrayal on her face. “Don’t you dare.”
Gia gasps. “What keynote speaker?”
