When She Fell for the Billionaire(52)

“You should have brought a date so she’d leave you alone.”

Luca marveled at the ability of his brother to speak without actually moving his mouth. They sat as the congregation sat. The priest started talking in English, a language that would be understood by the majority of the guests who had flown in from all corners of the globe.

Sabrina. She should have been with him right now. He would have kept her apart from Markos. With a congregation this big, he doubted he’d run into his friend if he specifically asked not to be seated at his table. Which he could have done if he wanted to with just a word in the event coordinator’s ear.

Don’t make me fall for you.

He had to wrench himself away from the bed, away from her when he had woken up. He kept his eyes averted, fearing he’d turn to stone with a glimpse of her sleeping form. But he couldn’t help it. He took one last look. It was worse. He didn’t petrify as he’d feared.

He cracked.

She had been chipping away at his defenses, little by little, that he hadn’t seen the fissures creeping and growing until it had completely surrounded his heart. One small tap of betrayal and his defenses had shattered.

He still wanted her though, even if she was an untrustworthy, lying bitch. It angered him. How she had revealed his true nature. He was as weak as his father was, susceptible to the allure of a beautiful, gold-digging temptress. If she had woken before he had left and asked him to stay, Luca would have never have left her at all.

Even now he was fighting the urge to walk out of the wedding and run after her.

“Speaking of dates, where’s Eleni?” Raphael smirked.

“How should I know?”

Their mother rapped her fan on the pew and mouthed “Silencio.”

Chastised, they remained silent for a few minutes. Luca angled his body unobtrusively when they stood up so he could take a peek at a few pews behind him. The Konstantinos brothers were present, minus the second one, Mikhalis. They were also with their mother. Eleni was indeed missing.

He should have been relieved she wasn’t present, but her absence caused his gut to clench in disquiet. He turned his attention back to the ceremony, but it was useless.

Would Sabrina take up again with Chase Latimer? Would she find herself a new lover? Or worst of all, would she get back together with Markos?

All the possibilities made his stomach turn, the same way it had when he saw the copy of Sabrina’s letter Markos had sent to his suite at The Medeia. He had given it a cursory glance and had flung it on the table. Raphael was sharing the suite with him or else he might have thrown a lamp or two. Instead he had sent for Olivia and gave her instructions to send the letter and several packages to the yacht.

“Making up with Eleni?” Raphael had quirked an eyebrow at the parcels.

“None of your damned business,” he had growled, and Raphael shot him an amused look at his uncharacteristic display of temper.

The ceremony dragged on, heavily interspersed with singing. A lot of it. The Liguerians had voices like angels and were he not preoccupied, he would have appreciated it. Only Adriano’s violin accompaniment to one of the church hymns during communion   had snagged his attention. He hadn’t heard his brother play live in a long time.

After an hour and half, the happy couple was pronounced man and wife. Nicolas Fernandez was kissing his bride longer than was proper. Luca suspected there was tongue involved. Her brother Stefan was looking anywhere but the couple. When the bride and groom broke apart, Lexie’s cheeks were a bright pink. Her blushing reminded him of Sabrina. As if she had ever been actually far from his thoughts the whole damned ceremony.

It took them quite some time to navigate their way to the side exit of the church. A large throng of paparazzi was camped out at the front, and he and his brother wished to avoid it.

It seemed the Konstantinos brothers had the same idea. After a flurry of greetings in which they both paid their respects to the two matriarchs, Markos turned to him, cocked his head to the side, and strode a few feet away from the group.

He followed him silently.

“How is she?” Like him, the Greek billionaire was wearing a morning suit and tie and like him, he had donned a pair of dark sunglasses.

“She’s probably left the yacht by now.” A tiny, cracked fragment splintered in the vicinity of his chest.

Markos’ brows slashed together. “I was inquiring after Chiara.”

Chiara? Luca frowned. The two couldn’t stand each other and yet… “She’s feeling a lot better.”

Markos nodded, then said gruffly, “It’s not like her to miss her own event.”

Not like her?

His friend was only concerned about his sister, but he couldn’t shake off the suspicion that there was something more than casual concern in Markos’ tone.