‘Listen.’ Blake’s tone was serious. ‘I never really knew what happened between you and Sienna when we left, why you stopped seeing her. I was wrapped up in my own stuff at the time, you know? But I remember what you were like afterwards.’
‘I was fine,’ he insisted flatly.
‘You couldn’t even hear her name.’
‘Because she was my ex.’
Blake expelled a breath. ‘Okay. But you’re both going to be here, all week. She’s really important to Astrid. I just want?—’
Aiden ground his jaw. ‘If you’re worrying about me, don’t. Sienna Mastrangelo is someone I haven’t thought about in years. As far as I’m concerned, she’s just a friend of your fiancé’s – which is fucking weird, I’ll admit. For those two to have met, to have become friends…’
Blake grunted. What more could he say? Aiden knew that Sienna and Astrid had met at an airport, but that Astrid hadn’t realised Sienna’s connection to the twins until she’d gone back to Ashbury Falls to interview their dropkick dad and Sienna had been there, all protective and throwing herself in harm’s way to keep Astrid safe. They’d been inseparable ever since. Despite the fact he and Sienna had history. So what? Astrid didn’t have to avoid Aiden’s one-time girlfriend on his account.
‘I’ll be as nice to her as I would any other wedding guest.’
‘I’m not worried about you being nice,’ Blake said. ‘I’m worried about you being okay.’
‘I dumped her. It was my choice.’
Blake’s brows furrowed. ‘It’s just?—’
‘Bro!’ Aiden’s laugh was forced to his own ears, but he reckoned Blake would buy it. ‘Chill. This is all good. I swear to you, there’s nothing you need to worry about. I mean, it’ll be interesting to see her again, you know, in the same way it would be anyone you knew from a different part of your life, but other than that, Sienna is nothing to me. There’s nothing there. Can we drop it now?’
* * *
Getting married on a tiny, out-of-the-way island in the middle of the sparkling Mediterranean was both romantic and exciting, Sienna supposed, but it also involved a gruelling day of travel, even with the private charter flights and luxury speedboats. By the time they disembarked onl’Isola Antica, with its stunning white sand, coves lined with palm trees and the incredible, huge mansion – more like a five-star hotel – she could see just down the beach a little way, Sienna felt a lot less like the wannabe beauty queen the other girls had morphed her into and more like a creased, frazzled version of her original self.
It wasn’t their fault.
It definitely wasn’t.
The fact Sienna was scared witless of flying was something only she could control – something she always thought she’d grow out of, but didn’t seem able to shake, no matter how many meditations she listened to. Then, there’d been the jetboat ride, across choppy waters, with the sun beating down hard on them the whole time. Which might have been bearable, except her hat had blown into the sea almost the minute they’d set off. She felt more Jack Sparrow than Jackie Onassis, and wild, windswept and woozy.
‘Okay, you ready?’ Bella asked, leaning closer, nodding towards the mansion.
Sienna pulled a face. ‘I need a stiff drink, a hairbrush with the power to undo this’ – she gestured to her bird’s nest – ‘and possibly a vomit bag.’
‘You’re not a boat person, either?’ Paige cooed sympathetically, and when Sienna blinked across at the other woman, she caught sight of Astrid looking ever so slightly stricken. With sympathy for the fact Aiden was somewhere on the island, or because Sienna looked like she’d been dragged backwards through a bush? Or both?
Even though Sienna had warmed to the idea of getting her revenge on Aiden after all this time – and heartbreak – she hadn’t forgotten what this week was really about: Astrid’s wedding. Having known that the other woman had sworn off marriage, and how much this whole thing meant to her, Sienna definitely wasn’t going to tank any part of the experience for her.
She glued a smile to her face. ‘I’m fine,’ she lied. ‘Let’s go.’ She linked her arm with Bella’s, noting that somehow she made it look easier than anything to stroll across the uneven timber jetty in heels. Not a single one of Bella’s hairs were out of place, either, Sienna noted with genuine amusement. It was just so like Bella. Even given the million knots they’d travelled at, Bella’s hair still wouldn’t let her down.
Unlike Sienna’s.
But that was fine. She’d have a chance to get her game face on before seeing Aiden. Time to prepare, and feel amazing, so the first time he saw her after all these years, would be like a kick in his guts.
She’d have time?—
‘Oh, bloody bollocks,’ Astrid groaned, turning to face Sienna, eyes running over her face with something like panic.
‘What?’
‘It’s them.’
‘Them, who?’
The four would-be queens of relationship karmic retribution, along with Chase and Olly, turned, in unison, at the approach of a golf cart. It was too far away to make out facial features, but even at this distance, Sienna could easily spot their matching, broad shoulders, larger than life frames. Strength. Charisma. Titan Twins, incoming.
