Eight

NADIA POV

The moment we stepped into the hall, heads turned in our direction. Conversations paused, smiles appeared, and a few people raised their hands to greet us. Drew held my hand as we walked further inside, acknowledging the guests with the occasional nod. I did my best to keep up, smiling and waving whenever someone greeted us, although my nerves were getting the better of me.

I was still trying to settle into the whole Isabella act when a woman approached us.

“Wow, looking gorgeous as ever, Isa!” She pulled me into a hug before I could say anything. Thank God for those lessons. I had spent enough time memorizing names and faces to know exactly who stood before me.

“Monica,” I greeted with a smile. “It’s lovely to see you.”

“It’s been months since we last saw you!” She held my arms and looked me over. “I was beginning to think the rumours were true, you know? That you’d run away with a lover and died.” She laughed, clearly pleased with herself.

Of course. Monica. That one bitch at every event wanting to pick on your last nerve.  Drew didn’t bother responding. He remained beside me, his hand still holding mine, watching me as though he wanted to see how I would handle it.

I returned Monica’s smile. “Well, sorry to disappoint you. I’m very much alive.” I reached up and lightly touched her cheek. “I’m not that easy to kill. How’s Richard, by the way? Still can’t keep his dick in his trousers?”

Her laughter died almost immediately. I didn’t wait for her to find a response. I simply gave her another smile, took Drew’s hand and walked away, leaving her standing there.

We had barely made it past a few guests when Drew leaned towards me. “I told you you’ve got this,” he whispered.

I glanced at him. “My hands are sweating.” I whispered

He let out a small laugh” You did good. Just keep it up.”

His lips curved slightly, and I turned my attention back to the room, feeling a little less nervous than I had a few minutes ago. If this was what being Isabella Callahan meant, perhaps I was going to enjoy it more than I expected.

The ball continued, and after a while, I got used to having people stop us every few minutes to greet Drew. He seemed to know just about everyone in the room, and whenever someone approached, he would introduce me before moving on to the next conversation.

I did a little mingling myself, chatting with a few women whose faces I remembered from the lessons. Most of them were nice, but I was getting tired of all the smiling and pretending to be interested in conversations about expensive holidays and charity donations.

All I wanted was a drink. I excused myself from the group I was speaking with and headed towards the bar. I was just about to call the bartender when I heard my name.

“Nadia.” I  froze. I  knew that voice so damn well.

“Is that you, Nadia?” I slowly turned around, and there she was. Sophia. Standing right in front of me with her mouth slightly open, staring as though she had just seen a ghost.

My nerves kicked in, but the anger came rushing in much faster. I took a deep breath, forcing myself to smile. “Excuse me?” I asked coldly.

“It can’t…” she mumbled, looking at me from head to toe. “It can’t be…”

I tilted my head. “Do I know you?” She looked completely lost, her eyes moving over my face as if she was desperately searching for an explanation.

“How…” Her voice trailed off. Then the scum of the earth came up behind her and wrapped his hand around her waist.

“Hey, honey, why are you—” His eyes met mine, and he stopped.

Just like that. The hand around Sophia’s waist remained where it was, but he looked as though he had forgotten what he was doing.

“N… Nadia.”

God, hearing him say my name again. I wanted to rip his mouth off. I wanted to scream. I wanted to ask him if he had enjoyed watching me die. Instead, I stood there, looking at the man who had once been my entire world.

“Honey, is everything okay?” Drew’s hand quickly wrapped around my waist as he stepped beside me. His timing couldn’t have been better because I was barely holding myself together. The moment Lucas appeared, every bit of control I had managed to gather threatened to disappear.

Drew looked from Sophia to Lucas, then back at me. I could feel his hand resting firmly against my waist, almost as though he knew exactly what was going through my head.

I swallowed and forced myself to look away from Lucas. “Everything is fine, darling,” I said, turning towards Drew. Then I looked back at the two people standing before me and offered them a smile.

“I’m sorry, have we met?” I asked clenching my purse real hard.

“Sorry, you look like someone we know,” Sophia said, still staring at me.

I let out a small laugh, looking between her and Lucas. “Well, I don’t associate myself with lowlifes, so I’m quite sure we’ve never met.”

“Nadia…” Lucas muttered, taking a step closer.

I looked at him with a frown. “I’m sorry?”

He stopped, his eyes moving over my face. “You…”

“Is there a problem?” Drew asked, his voice cutting through the awkward silence.

Lucas looked at him, then back at me. “No, I just…”

I sighed. “Honestly, darling, do we know these people?”

Drew looked at them briefly. “I don’t believe so.”

“What nuisance.” I turned back to Sophia. “I’d appreciate it if you stopped staring at me like you’ve seen a ghost. It’s rather uncomfortable.”

I slipped my hand into Drew’s. “Come on, darling. If you would excuse us.”