SPITEFUL CHARADES - BOOK V

- Chapter 2 -

Iuliana Selenio...

If Gunay could ever forget that name, he would have. But he could never will himself to do so. Why? Because he could never forget the woman who took his breath - and sanity - away.

Nor could he ever forgive her for it.

He was a different man before they met. Was he cocky? No. That virtue belonged to his brother Caelum Alistair. Was he arrogantly stoic? No. That virtue in turn belonged to his brother Vega. He was, though, confident in his choices and decisions. Yet that confidence perished for a long time when he realized he had been deceived. More than deceived. He was cheated out of a chance to trust someone enough to love them.

And that kind of mistake could never heal in an ego of a man who was convinced of his own righteousness...

"Are You certain that's her?" Roberto wondered out loud, aware his best friend never lied to him before.

"Certain."

"Are You sure?"

"What business would I have in lying to You?" Gunay retorted, forgetting momentarily about his companion whose hand still rested on his arm.

"You were lying to me?" The woman replied, visibly offended.

"Never." Gunay whispered politely, turning on his suave and charm once more. "I was going over possible scenarios of my business meeting in my mind, and I must have spoken my thoughts out loud."

"Nice save," Roberto mocked him.

"I would not worry about Your meeting all that much. If Giancarlo extended his invitation for You to be here tonight, then You might as well celebrate a win even before speaking with him," the woman casually pointed with the champagne flute in her hand toward the crowd of billionaires near them. "None of us would be here if our host wouldn't trust us."

"Does she mean herself? Or Iuliana?" Roberto's question struck a tune in Gunay. Not because it was implicit of Iuliana's connection to Gunay's assasination target, but because Roberto's thought matched Gunay's.

"I hope You aren't mistaken," Gunay replied to the woman, deliberately turning around to avoid being recognized by his former love interest. But failed.

'You cannot be serious...'

Iuliana's thought,  loud and piercing, rang clearly in Gunay's mind. So much so that he swore to himself on the inside. Whether he liked it or not, he was just marked. Discovered. Spotted in a crowd of people he knew he could not have gotten recognized in. Especially before completing his assignment. Especially by someone who knew him.

And yet...

He waited. And waited. And waited. Iuliana neither approached him nor did anything that could have caused him to look her way again. That... raised his temper and unnerved him. How on earth was he supposed to concentrate on succeeding with his task, or even pay attention to the nameless floozy holding onto his arm if all he could think of was the long-legged, long-haired former object of his affection in a vision of midnight blue dress standing on the other side of the grand ballroom?

"Talk to me, G.," Roberto asked with concern. "Are we still good to go? Or do we bail?"

"You are right, my dear," Gunay tipped his head toward the floozy, daring to kiss her cheek in a bold move that made her gasp with excitement. "Let us enjoy the evening. I am sure it will be worth it."

"Oh, I have no doubt," she giggled.

"Me neither," Roberto sat back in his chair with relief. "Time to walk. You'll have to deliver before Iuliana comes Your way."