Once he leaves the room, Ellie and I glance at each other and simultaneously roll our eyes.
"This may sound selfish, but I'm so glad Lenny is going to that dinner with you tonight."
I groan as I strip out of my robe and snatch up one of the dresses from the bed, sliding it off the hanger, not even paying attention to what it looks like.
"Don't remind me. It's bad enough I'm meeting that British idiot tonight, I don't want to think about having our brother there with me as well. I'll never understand how you survived with him for eight years before I came along."
"Well, he wasn't the devil when he was a child."
"I find that hard to believe," I retort, stepping into the dress and shimmying side to side as I pull it up the length of my body.
Chapter Two
Dominic
Parking in the private car park around the side of the restaurant, I sigh and stare out the window at the bright lights illuminating the dark city around me that's bustling with people considering it's a Friday night.
My phone vibrates on the leather seat beside me, and I glance over to see my father's name flashing across the screen.
I close my eyes and lean my head against the headrest, taking a few deep breaths as I give myself a moment to prepare for what I'm about to walk into.
When my phone rings again, and I take a peek at my screen to see my mother's face and name now lighting up, I sigh and answer the call.
"I'm just parking up. I'll be in soon."
"You've always been a terrible liar, you know?"
I frown as I take my key out the ignition.
"Who says I'm lying?" I ask.
She chuckles lightly.
"I've been standing here watching you since you parked up a few minutes ago, Dom." I glance out my window and see her standing a few metres away with a smug smile on her face. "Come on. Your fatheris waiting inside and he'd like for us to all be seated at the table before the Garcia's show up."
Pocketing my keys, I get out of the car and walk over to my mother, pulling her into my chest for a brief hug before we walk into the restaurant together, towards the table my father's already seated at.
"You took your time," he grumbles as I take the seat to the right of him while my mother sits on the other side, leaving the three chairs opposite us empty. "Was starting to think you wouldn't show up."
"I was contemplating it," I tell him honestly, unbuttoning my suit jacket and loosening my tie.
"Don't make yourself look sloppy, Dom. We want to make good first impressions," my mother says, leaning forward in her seat to look at me.
I sigh, tightening my tie back into place, but then I remove my jacket and hang it over the back of my chair.
A waiter comes over with a jug, asking if we want some water, and I breathe a sigh of relief now that my parents are distracted, taking the opportunity to look around the restaurant my father's friend owns and lets him use for business meetings.
We're tucked away in a corner, and all of the tables surrounding ours are empty—which I'm assuming is on purpose—but outside of the little circle around us, every table is full, and the atmosphere is loud and heavy.
As my eyes scan the extravagant chandeliers dangling from the ceiling, I'm distracted by a flash of colour in my peripheral vision.
Dragging my gaze to the entrance of the restaurant, I see the most mesmerising woman I've ever laid eyes on in a gorgeous blood red dressthat's moulded to her like a second skin, showing every delicious curve of her body.
My eyes run along her bare, silky smooth legs until they reach the hem of her dress, the colour of it standing out against her warm, olive skin.
The tightness of the dress has me gulping, and my eyes eat up every inch of her as she takes off her shawl and hands it to a member of staff.
Her wide hips sway as she walks through the restaurant, and I could swear I'm enchanted by some sort of spell because I cannot seem to tear my eyes away from them.
