Page 111 of The Rebel Billionaire

He drops onto the sofa next to his father and brother.

“Bloody useless.” He huffs. “Ladies?”

We all look at each other and grin.

“Big Bad Wolf,” we chime as one.

“No wonder we didn’t get it. He was being himself,” Enzo says, jumping up as Alex goes to clock him around the back of his head. “No violence, brother dearest.”

The doorbell goes, announcing the first guest.

“That was fun,” Sophia says, standing up and smoothing down her immaculate dress, her features settling once more into their usual stoic expression.

“Granny, can we play again later?” Avril asks.

“I think it will probably be too late, darling, maybe tomorrow,” she says, running a hand over Avril’s hair affectionately.

“Mrs Bianchi, your guests are arriving,” Elaine says, appearing at the door.

“Show them in,” she says, ushering us to our feet as the first guests enter. “You’ve got this,” she whispers as she passes me before plastering on a smile and air-kissing the first woman through the door. “Darling, it’s so good you could make it.”

“We’d never miss one of your parties, Sophia, you know that.”

I step back, only to have Gabbi grip my arm.

“Don’t worry, we meet, we greet, we full-on retreat,” she says conspiratorially in my ear. When I look at her, she wiggles her eyebrows.

“Won’t we be missed?” I ask.

“In a room full of Mother and Father’s friends. Not likely. Alex is the only one who can’t get away. The rest of us are of little value to this lot. Unless someone wants an item of jewellery, then Enzo must play nice, but usually he just tells them to call him during office hours and moves swiftly on.”

“So, Alex will spend the rest of the evening talking business?”

My heart goes out to him.

“The joys of being CEO,” Gabbi says. “He doesn’t mind. You can’t have missed the fact that my older brother lives, breathes and eats St Clair and has done since Loretta left him for Myles.”

“But they’re still friends?”

“They are. He has a lot of respect for her. He knows he was a shitty husband.”

From Gabbi’s comment, I get the impression she blames her brother entirely for the breakdown of their marriage and is unhappy that their relationship ended.

“They couldn’t have children,” Gabbi continues, sharing more than I’m sure Alex would be happy with, especially with his PA. “Loretta was desperate for a child. They tried for years, but nothing happened. I don’t think he understood how important having a child was to her until she wasn’t there anymore.”

Gabbi must sense my confusion.

“She has two little girls now and is ecstatically happy with Myles. He’s a lovely man. Fantastic husband and father.”

My mind wanders to Leah and her desire for a child and how it brought her and my brother Gabriel together.

Was it that he didn’t understand, or that he couldn’t control the situation? I don’t know him well, but I know Alex likes to be in control of every aspect. Fertility treatment is not an exact science, and he may have seen it as a failure on his part.

The door opens, and a new guest walks in. I recognise her immediately.

Sophia steps up. “Aubrey, welcome. It’s lovely to finally meet you.”

“Thank you for inviting me,” she says, sharing an air-kiss with Sophia.