Page 52 of The Island of Hopes and Dreams

‘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.

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