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Much later I awoke to a fully dressed Frano standing beside the bed. He’d swapped his earlier suit for a tuxedo.
‘It’s time for the ball, my love.’
‘You should have woken me earlier,’ I said, suffering from the thick foggy effects of an afternoon nap. But the memories of our passionate lovemaking quickly woke me up.
Frano grinned devilishly as our gaze met and I blushed. He knew exactly what I was thinking about.
‘You may need to put some clothes on before we enter the ballroom.’
I laughed, feeling giddy.
Even my leg felt a little better, and when I raised the sheets to check the wound, I breathed a sigh of relief to see that it had not bled through the bandages. The nurse had warned not to put too much pressure on the wound. ‘Dance at your ceremony, but for the duration of the ball, you rest and watch others,’ she’d instructed.
I would heed her warning. No more dancing for me. If I wanted to join Frano on his explorations, then I’d have to heal, and quickly.
After dressing quickly, with the help of Frano, we left the room and were escorted to the ballroom by two guards who opened the gold gilded double doors and announced our entrance to the awaiting guests.
The elegantly dressed guests all rose as we entered the grand room where hundreds of star-shaped light crystals hung, suspended from the ceiling.
It was the grandest sight I had ever seen.
‘It’s beautiful,’ I whispered into Frano’s ear. ‘As beautiful as a starry sky.’
‘It is, my love, but it’s nothing compared to you.’ His blue eyes glittered beneath the light crystals. ‘You have a beauty which radiates from within.’
I felt so happy in that moment, my heart could have burst.
Frano escorted me to my seat and sat me at the centre of a large, long table. We greeted the lavishly dressed guests as we past their tables and when I sat down, I asked Frano who would be seated at my left side, the only empty seat in the long table.
Frano smiled and tucked a stray lock of my hair behind my ear.
‘I’m taking your advice and trying to put the past behind me and focus more on us as a family.’ Frano’s gaze shifted to somewhere over my shoulder.
Something made the hair on the back of my neck tingle and I twisted in my seat and had to stifle a gasp. I shifted my eyes between the brothers.
‘Nada,’ said Frano, half smiling and getting out of his seat.
‘Allow me to officially introduce you to my brother, Lukas.’
Lukas stood tall and elegant, even more breathtakingly beautiful dressed in a fitted tuxedo.
Despite the brother’s protests, I pulled myself to my feet, favouring my bad leg.
‘It’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Lukas,’ I said, smiling. Frano didn’t have to know how well I knew him. That was in the past. What mattered now was getting to know Lukas as a brother-in-law, not a clandestine friend.
Lukas signed something and Frano hugged me to his side and smiled down at me.
‘He said the pleasure is all his.’
I nodded at Lukas and smiled, my heart full.
‘Please take a seat,’ I said, indicating that he sit, but both Frano and Lukas waited until I was seated. When I glanced across the ballroom I realised that everyone had been waiting for me to be seated, followed by Frano, before they too eventually sat down.
‘I didn’t realise everybody would stand when I did,’ I said to Frano.
‘It’s not always going to be always like this. Just the formal events. And this happens at all weddings, doesn’t it? Even up on the mainland.’
He was right. Perhaps life wouldn’t be so different down here.
He took two crystal goblets filled with a sparkling golden liquid from a waiter’s tray and handed one to me.
‘To us,’ he said, raising his glass.
I tapped mine to his, a tiny tinkle against the backdrop of chatter and soft music.
Out the corner of my eye I spotted Lukas, already out of his seat and chatting to a group of girls a few seats away. The pretty girls were giggling at everything he was signing, and fawning all over him.
Frano tapped my shoulder.
‘He’s rather a lady’s man, my brother. Despite the fact he can’t talk.’
I watched Lukas listen to a young women intently, nodding as though her words were golden.
‘Actually, that’s why he’s such a hit. He’s a good listener. Look at him. Most people love to be heard.’
‘Take notes,’ I said, turning back to Frano and winking over my glass as I took another sip.
Frano raised his brows and then laughed. ‘Believe me, you’ll be sick of me hanging off your every word by the end of the night. I won’t leave your side.’
True to his word, Frano sat by me the entire time while everybody else danced.
Instead we enjoyed food, more food than I could eat, but it was enjoyable and while everybody kept busy dancing we had time to get to know each other. Frano’s interest in my background and my family was insatiable. He was most definitely a listener like his brother.
Lukas surprised me by not engaging me or Frano in any conversation other than simple pleasantries.
Instead he spent most of the night dancing and devoting his attentions to a select few ladies who were sparkly eyed for him and would squeal whenever he did anything minor like perhaps brush his hair out of his eyes.
‘What time is it?’ I asked Frano when my lids became heavy and my leg throbbed a little more than it had earlier that day.
Frano checked his watched and gave a nod to the stage where the musicians were playing and they started on a different tune, abandoning what they had been playing.
‘It’s late. Time for our exit,’ he said.
I breathed a sigh of relief. Though I’d enjoyed myself, I was exhausted and looking forward to spending time with Frano in our bedroom, alone.
Frano stood and offered his arm. ‘Don’t forget to lean on me,’ he whispered in my ear. ‘I don’t want any pressure on your leg.’
I stood and took Frano’s arm, while all the guests, including Lukas, stopped what they were doing to move towards the dance floor to form a tunnel with their arched arms.
Frano and I bent our heads and entered the human tunnel, laughing as we struggled to pass those who occasionally pinned us with their arms and forced kisses on our cheeks. While others chose to reach out and slap or pinch our behinds as we bent forward.
‘Enough of that,’ Frano teased, ‘or we’ll never want to leave.’
Just as I reached the end and the double doors were in sight, somebody reached out and tucked something in the front of my dress.
There were so many hands waving in front of our faces and patting our backs that it was hard to see who had done it, but I could feel the scratch of the paper and had an inkling.
Minutes later, when we finally closed the bedroom doors behind us, Frano and I sighed in unison.
‘Finally, we’re free,’ I said, laughing.
Frano leaned back against the door and watched me move towards the bathroom.
‘I’ll be a few minutes,’ I said, disappearing behind the bathroom door and shutting it behind me.
I dug into my cleavage and hurriedly took out the piece of paper.
My pulse thrummed at the familiar handwriting.
‘My heart is broken.’