Chapter 1 THE FIRST MEET
The first thing zinnia noticed about the wedding was the enormous flowers and gold accents all over the place.
If she had’nt been invited she wouldn’t have seen this much flowers in one place.
“Thank God for celeste” she thought. Celeste and zinnia had been friends since childhood, she was the spice in her boring life.
She was here as Celeste’s plus one
Celeste leaned closer to her.
“If one more person tells me this wedding is intimate, I’m going to scream.”
Zinnia bit back a laugh.
“It has only been ten minutes.”
“Exactly. Ten minutes and I’ve already seen three women wearing enough diamonds to buy my apartment.”
“You don’t have an apartment.”
“I know. That’s why I’m bitter.”
Zinnia laughed properly this time, quickly covering her mouth with her fingers.
“Stop.”
“I’m serious.”
“You’re embarrassing me.”
“I haven’t even started.”
Celeste adjusted the strap of her dress and looked around the ballroom with exaggerated suspicion.
“Where is the champagne ?”
“You’ve had 2 glasses celeste”
“2 glasses is not a personality”
“I can say for sure, it is for you”
“Wow” celeste gasped with funny exaggeration “you just insulted me”
“Maybe”
The two ladies laughed.
It was easier to forget everything in the presence of celeste.
The whispers.
The phone calls her father kept avoiding.
The emails from Vellure’s finance department that had begun arriving later and later at night.
The uncomfortable silence that now seemed to follow every mention of the family business.
Tonight, she didn’t want to think about any of it.
Tonight, she was just Zinnia.
Twenty-four years old.
Wearing a champagne-colored dress that made her feel prettier than she would ever admit.
Standing beneath too many chandeliers at a wedding she barely knew anyone at.
She reached for her glass at the mini bar.
Then she felt it.
The gaze.
Someone was definitely looking at her.
In a room filled with more than a hundred people, of course.
Accross the room, Cassian laurent lowered his glass.
He’d been watching her for 3 mins now. Not because she was the most beautiful woman in the room,
Or…
He really didn’t have a reason why,
He just felt drawn.
Maybe it was the way zee moved like she didn’t want to be there or the way she looked at her phone every minute and take a sip of her champagne,
Or it was the way her lips sat on her glass…
Cassian’s lips curved slightly
“Are you gonna keep staring?”
Rhys, his childhood friend, asked
“Who is she?”
Rhys scanned the room
A lot of people and a lot of “shes” was present
Then he looked to the direction cassian was focused on
There he saw her,
A beautiful lady, standing by the mini bar,
Sipping her champagne in a champagne-coloured dress.
“Oh you mean zinnia vale”
“You know her”
“Not really. She’s here with a friend, celeste, a bridesmaid”
“I seeeee”
“You see what” he examined the face he’d known for thirty years and knew exactly what was coming. “ you want her”
Cassian smiled.
“You dont even know her”
“Yet” he chuckled
Across the room, Zinnia was still laughing.
Then she looked up.
Their eyes met.
For a second, neither moved.
Cassian didn’t look away.
Zinnia did.
Immediately.
Her cheeks warmed.
She turned toward Celeste and said something Cassian couldn’t hear.
Celeste looked at him.
Then at Zinnia.
Then back at him.
Cassian smiled.
Rhys noticed.
“Oh, this is going to be annoying.”
“What?”
“You’re interested.”
Cassian took a slow sip of his drink.
“Maybe.”
“You’re never interested.”
“I am now.”
Rhys sighed.
“Poor girl.”
Cassian laughed.
He wasn’t sure why.
But he liked the sound of her laugh.
And he wanted to hear it again.
Thirty minutes later, zinnia escaped.
The ballroom had become too full
And she needed fresh air.
She slipped through the terrace doors and stepped outside.
Cool evening air brushed against her skin.
She exhaled.
Much better.
Zinnia rested her hands on the railing.
For the first time that evening, she was alone.
Or so she thought.
“You disappeared.”
She startled.
A quiet laugh came from behind her.
“Sorry.”
Zinnia turned.
Cassian Laurent stood a few feet away.
She knew who he was.
Everyone did.
Cassian was the eldest Laurent son, the man everyone expected to eventually take control of Laurent Holdings.
Thirty-one.
Wealthy enough that people spoke about his money as though it were a personality trait.
And, annoyingly, much more attractive in person than photographs had suggested.
His black tuxedo fit perfectly.
His tie was slightly loosened.
His expression was relaxed.
Not intimidating.
Not cold.
Just amused.
“I didn’t” zinnia said.
“Really”
“I came outside for fresh air”
“Same thing. PoTAto PoTAHto”
Zinnia smiled.
“Zinnia” she said.
“Cassian”
“I know”
His eyebrow lifted.
“You know?”
“Everyone knows who you are”
“That’s unfortunate”
She laughed.
“There. That’s better.”
“What?”
“You laughed.”
Zinnia blinked.
“Were you trying to make me laugh?”
“Maybe.”
“Why?”
He shrugged.
“You looked like you needed it.”
She studied him for a moment.
“You’ve been watching me.”
It wasn’t an accusation.
But his smile changed.
Just slightly.
“You intrigued me”
She laughed again.
Then the terrace door opened, it was celeste.
“Zee”
“Zinnia,” Celeste called sweetly.
Zinnia narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
Celeste smiled innocently.
“We’re leaving soon.”
“Already?”
“Yes.”
Zinnia turned toward Cassian.
“It was nice meeting you.”
He straightened.
“Was it?”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
“Will I see you again?”
She hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t usually attend weddings.”
“Neither do I.”
She glanced at him.
“You’re literally at one.”
“Exactly.”
She laughed.
Cassian stepped aside as she moved toward the doors.
Then, just before she passed him, he said,
“That’s unfortunate.”
Zinnia stopped.
She looked back.
“What is?”
His expression was almost too calm.
“That you don’t know if I’ll see you again.”
She didn’t know what to say to that.
So she smiled.
Then she walked away.
Cassian watched her disappear into the ballroom.
Rhys appeared beside him a moment later.
“You look pleased with yourself.”
Cassian slipped his hands into his pockets.
“I am.”
“You got her number?”
“No.”
Rhys looked at him.
“Then what exactly did you accomplish?”
Cassian glanced toward the ballroom doors.
A small smile touched his mouth.
“Nothing yet.”
“Yet?”
Cassian looked at the empty doorway where Zinnia had disappeared.
“No.”
His smile deepened.
“Not yet.”
And somewhere inside the crowded ballroom, Zinnia Vale laughed again.
Cassian heard it.
And for the first time that evening, he knew exactly what he wanted.
To hear it again.
