Chapter One
Alana
Alana loved weddings, just not when she was hosting them.If someone had told her a mere few years ago that she would be hosting a wedding at Club Billionaire, she would’ve laughed in their face.Actually, if someone had told her even five years ago that Club Billionaire would be a success, then she would’ve laughed and cried ...happy tears, of course.Then probably done so again, in that order.She’d come from nothing; rejected by her parents and thrown into the system when she was just a few days old.She’d lived in foster homes until she was fifteen, and then she’d ended up in a ‘family’ who only took her in for the paycheck.It wasn’t a place worthy of the wordfamily.She refused to say their names, to think of them.She wouldn’t give them the time of day.At eighteen, and without a dollar to her name, she decided that she’d try her luck in the luxury events industry.She could turn on the charm if needed, and she talked her way into a temporary office job at a luxury events firm.From there, she’d gotten the idea for Club Billionaire, and it refused to leave her alone.It was like it had been lit and nothing could tame the fire, only stoke the flame.So, she got funding and sweet-talked some billionaires at any and every event New York had to offer, and the rest was history, as they say.
She cast her eyes over the room, a smile tugging at her lips.She’d never seen the club look so beautiful.The main restaurant and club area had been transformed.A long-carpeted aisle was set, with red rose petals littering it ...as if Ruby wouldn’t know where she was going.A red rose archway was set up at the end of the aisle on a raised platform.Candles flickered all over the floor in clear vases.A string quartet was in the process of setting up.
“Sorry, Alana, I need you to confirm that everything is on schedule and that the workers will be moving the tables across for the evening meal at precisely seven PM.”The wedding planner, Susan, pushed her slipping glasses up her nose, her forehead crinkled in worry.
Alana suppressed a sigh.She could have just as easily been her, she surmised to herself.The stressed, worried, pulling your hair out sort of businesswoman.But she refused to be her.Her feet could be flapping maniacally under the surface, like a swan, but on the surface, the parts everyone else saw would be calm, nothing splashing the waters.
She smiled placatingly.“Everything and everyone are on track, Susan.Mark my words, they’ll have me to answer to if they aren’t.”
That earned her a grateful smile.“Ruby mentioned that you are friends.”
“We are.So you see why I have even more invested in this going well.”She glanced at her watch.“Okay, we have an hour until the guests begin arriving, and I need to get these out,” she said, pointing at the copious number of rollers in her hair.Truth was, she’d left it as late as possible to go back into her office.The bridal party was set up in there and it was noisy.She steadied herself, taking a deep breath, before going back in.
Lola, the groom’s sister, gave a squeal.“There’s the other bridesmaid!Come on, we need to get dressed.”She peered at her face.“And you need your makeup finishing.And I’m not even going to mention the hair.”
Not your day, not your day, not your day, Alana chanted internally to herself.She couldn’t wait to get the club back to normal.Granted, many of the club members were attending the wedding, but she’d had to waive a day off their fees for next month, seeing as the usual services wouldn’t be available.Shewouldn’t be available to them.She liked to think of herself as a fairy godmother, granting wishes for those who paid her a pretty penny.They weren’t just paying for membership of a place they could come to eat and drink; they could do that anywhere.Hell, they could make their own place.It was her and her connections that helped to sell it.
Her gaze caught Ruby’s in the mirror.She had to suppress a gasp.
“Oh, Ruby, you look so beautiful.”
Ruby’s dark hair had been piled atop her head in an intricate hairdo, and her ivory mermaid-style gown caressed the floor as she walked, every step a sparkle.Her signature makeup look was complete with her bright red lips.Ruby walked out of her mom’s fussing arms and took her hands.
“Thank you.Of course, none of this would have been possible without you.”Tears filled her eyes, and Alana reached out and swept them off her face.
“Don’t ruin your makeup,” she scolded, pulling her in for a hug.She didn’t want her to see her own tears forming in her eyes.Ruby was one of her closest friends, she was a sister to her, and she didn’t want to scare her off.She didn’t know much about her past, she’d only met the new and improved shiny Alana.She didn’t want to meet the scarred and rejected version.Hell, it’s probably why she’d forgiven Ruby for lying to her last year so easily.She didn’t want to lose her friendship.
She broke their hug.“I need to get my dress on, or Lola will have my head,” she whispered.
Ruby broke into a smile.“She’s intense,” she whispered.“But you’ll like her, I promise.”Ruby walked over to the side of Alana’s office, where there was a pile of bags heaped in a corner.“One more thing,” she said, pulling out a thin box with a ribbon on.
“For me?”Alana asked.
Ruby nodded.“Of course.”
She took the box in her hand, and Ruby said in a low voice, “You know you’d be my maid of honor if it weren’t for Lola.It’s why I have you both as my bridesmaids.Now, go on, open it,” she said, bouncing on her heels like an excitable child.
She obeyed, pulling off the ribbon.Inside lay a heart necklace covered in diamonds.She flipped it over.On the back, etched into the heart, was:Thank you, love you x
Emotion caught in her throat, and she had to swallow it down like a bitter pill.This was her sister’s wedding, her chosen sister, and she’d been so involved in the logistics and the mechanics of it all that she’d hardly taken a second to breathe and really think about what it all meant.She vowed to herself that that would end now.It was Susan’s problem, it was what she was being paid for.Alana would be an overseer, keep a general eye on things, but she would be present for this wedding.
“I love you, too.”She smiled.“Put it on me?”
Ruby latched it around her neck, and she let the coldness seep into her skin.
She gave Ruby’s hand one final squeeze, before heading off to get ready.The rollers came out of her hair, and she brushed through the light brown waves.Her makeup only needed a little touching up.She layered a few more shades of brown and gold over her lids to bring out her hazel eyes, and smudged a nude layer of lipstick over her lips.The final touch was her bridesmaid dress.It was red, of course, with a slit up the left side and a flowered, tight-fitting bodice before it floated down to the floor.It had been a long time since she’d seen herself in a fairy-tale gown, and the little girl in her was squealing with delight that she finally got to wear something like this for an important occasion.Because the truth was that she could buy all the fancy ball gowns she wanted now, but without anywhere to wear them, what was the point?
The excitable claps of Ruby’s mom brought her back to the present.Susan ran into the room, holding three bouquets, two for the bridesmaids with red roses, and one for the bride with red roses and sweet peas woven together.
The string quartet began to play, and Ruby’s dad walked into the room, tears brimming in his eyes at the sight of his daughter.Ruby’s biological dad had passed away when she was one and she’d been raised by this man, who she referred to as Dad, and as messed up as their relationship had gotten, Alana was glad to see that they had made up after the mess of last year.
“Beautiful, just beautiful,” he said to his daughter.
“Dad, don’t make me ruin my makeup.”
