When She Fell for the Billionaire(53)

And he didn’t like it one bit.

“Lay off my sister, Markos.”

Markos’ brows slashed downwards. His body grew taut, defensive. “What the fucking hell are you talking about?”

Luca had a sudden thought that Markos was moving in on his sister. He seemed genuinely surprised by his words though. The Greek billionaire was his closest friend and he knew how he operated around women. He’d regret beating him up, but not if he toyed with Chiara.

Raphael intervened. “Boys,” he said, clapping his hands on each of their backs and sliding himself in between. “It’s time to leave.” As the oldest, he frequently acted as the peacemaker of the group.

Raphael shot them each a warning glance, then looked pointedly to their mother and Mrs. Konstantinos, who were watching from some distance, a frown etched on their foreheads.

They were distracted by a new arrival in their midst.

Eleni Konstantinos.

His mother lit up. She was obviously on Team Eleni. Luca groaned silently. He had to escape before his mother lassoed him in.

Eleni was kissing the older women, making her excuses about being late. She had stayed at one of the back pews. She gushed about the wonderful, touching ceremony. Her modulated voice carried to where Luca was standing with Markos and Raphael. She wished when she married that the ceremony would just be as beautiful.

Luca tugged on his tie. It was starting to suffocate him. The twins, Stelios and Nikos Konstantinos, gave him a commiserating glance.

A marriage between the two families to cement their long-standing friendship had been a dream of both sets of parents since they had been children. However, the propensity of the two families to produce males had left Chiara as the only marriageable female of choice. And Chiara was very vocal about her anti-marriage stance.

Enter Eleni Konstantinos. She had his mother giggling like a school girl. God only knew what they were talking about. He just hoped they weren’t plotting against him.

The vehicles to ferry them to the luncheon arrived. He had arrived with Adriano, who was nowhere to be seen. His mother had ridden with Raphael. Adriano had probably taken off with a bridesmaid and had forgotten to inform him. He whipped out his mobile. He had turned it off during the wedding and now several SMS came in all at the same time.

The last was from Antonia. He scanned the message quickly and cursed. Glancing up, he caught Eleni watching him. She smiled tauntingly, knowing full well he couldn’t confront her in front of the older women.

He fought the urge to march to where she was and shake a confession out of her, but he’d deal with her later. Luca jumped inside the car. To hell with where Adriano was. He had to find Sabrina. Fast.







The rest of Sabrina’s luggage from the hotel had already been transferred to the villa, according to the driver, when she had inquired about her things. The driver’s polite smile faltered when she didn’t appear appreciative of the hotel’s efficiency. She just hoped they hadn’t missed anything when they packed her stuff. She’d have to retrieve them after she had found a place to stay.

Sabrina pulled her carryall along. Never had she been grateful for the invention of wheels as she was now. Who knew she had to drag her stuff through the cobblestoned pavements of Coretta?

It was Seirenada’s oldest quarter, a tourist attraction, but at present it was deserted like a ghost town. The people had probably lined up on the main streets to catch a glimpse of the newly wedded couple as they made their way atop a carriage to the Royal Palace. She would have loved to be one of those waiting in the streets to catch sight of a real live princess. But she had her priorities.

Like finding a place to stay for the night.

The driver had seemed puzzled when she said she didn’t want to go to the villa as he was instructed. She bluffed and said there was a miscommunication. He could call his boss if he wanted to double check. The driver had blanched and Sabrina had sighed in relief.

Pennants on lampposts with the stylized A and N, the monogram of the princess and her groom, flapped in the wind. She had already inquired in three boutique hotels and as expected, there was no vacancy.

She turned to a narrow, precariously inclined street and trudged on determinedly. She wasn’t choosy in her accommodations. Something was bound to turn up.

Her pride demanded it.

There was a narrow alley to the right at the top of the long uphill street. She glanced back down at the miles she had traversed and at the hotels that had the NO VACANCY signs on them. Staff were absent at the front desk and if they were present, they were glued to old television sets, viewing the ceremony. Sabrina wanted to park herself beside them and catch a glimpse of Luca among the guests, but she had to find a room first and foremost before evening fell.