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Page 143 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession

“And that’s you done,” Stella announces, I stand and go to the floor-length mirror in the middle of the room, step on the raised dais, and twirl.

“I can’t get over this dress Stella.” It’s just so… me, and it fits like a soft glove, with no folds or blebs.

“You’re simply breathtaking in it babe.” Stella begins clearing up her makeup kit from the mirrored counter.

Breathtaking.That word reminds me again of the cryptic message Giovanni sent to me a few days ago in the dark web chat room. We were discussing security updates when he suddenly said, or rather chatted;

Until I find you a proper wedding present, will you be content with taking his breath away?

“Of course” I’d replied, not entirely sure what he meant.

But staring at my reflection now, I can see how Ethan might be awed. But then Giovanni hasn’t seen me in this dress before, so I can only conclude that he meant that no matter what I wore I’d still take Ethan’s breath away.

Whether one understands what Giovanni is saying depends on his overall mood. He has a tendency to switch to Italian when he’s excited or annoyed. Sometimes he struggles to find appropriate words and would make literal translations which don’t always make complete sense. And to add to the confusion, he can also be extremely articulate at other times.

“Now I wonder where that Twiggy is.” Stella interrupts my musing, pulling a snort of laughter from me.

“Somewhere far away from your grasp would be my guess, Stella. I’ve told you Twiggy will never let you near his hair much less let you curl it, babe.”

“But he said he’ll be here”

“Of course, he’ll be here, he’s escorting me down the aisle. Maybe you didn’t understand him.” I laugh

“Actually, that’s entirely possible,” Stella replies, “given the tickle in my ears when he talks to me. Fucking hell Bonnie, I’ve never wished to be a man more than I have in the past week!”

Stella is nothing if not dramatic. I know for a fact she’s not crushing on Twiggy, although the man does have a certain effect on people of both sexes. Perhaps because I’ve known him forever, I take how people react to meeting him for the first time for granted. He has strikingly attractive masculineand femininefeatures.

“Well, get in line, sweetheart.” In a pang of grief, I remember how Nan always nagged Twiggy to settle down. His last long-term relationship was ten years ago. I don’t know the details because he never talks about it, but I know his boyfriend was a model, and the relationship was so toxic that Twiggy spiraled into drugs and became homeless.

“There’s just something so…exotic about that man.” She sighs.

I conclude it’s the stylist in her that’s drawn to him. And no wonder Ryan hates Twiggy despite knowing the man could never be interested in Stella. If anything I’d say Twiggy might even be a little smitten by Ryan’s looks. A most moronic love triangle if I ever saw one.

I used to think Stella and Ryan couldn’t stand each other. But seeing Ryan’s dislike for Twiggy, I suspect the guy does like her, although whether Stella is theonlywoman Ryan likes remains to be seen. In the past month alone, he’s been linked to, and photographed with more women than I can count on one hand.

Now I know it’s Stella who can’t stand Ryan and it has to be his personality that puts her off, because looks-wise, Ryan and Twiggy could pass for twins. Except for Twiggy’s thick, waist-length wavy hair, the color of ripe wheat, which has understandably left Stella drooling since last week when she finally got to meet him.

“Exotic, shmexotic! You just like his hair, Stella,” I argue.

“Well, can you fucking blame me? In all my life, I’ve never seen hair like that, and I’ve seen plenty. I wish he’d let me play with it.” She sighs, running her hand through her own platinum-blonde hair, artfully teasing the wavy bob to perfection.

“You’ll get over it, babe.”

“Oh, it’s not just me. I believe Sabrina too needs to wind it in. She told me she’d asked Jordan if he could sketch Twiggy for her upcoming exhibition and didn’t quite get what Jordan was so pissed about.” Stella reveals, and I laugh.

“At least he gets on really well with the guys despite us girls being all giggly and breathless over him,” I say, not wanting to bring up the cold shoulder Ryan has been giving the man.

“True. Good thing also, that men can communicate with mere grunts because I’m sure they don’t get half the things he says. I know I don’t.”

Twiggy and Ethan have particularly taken to each other since they connected over their plans to destroy the Sect, which is going extremely well so far.

My father is in jail at the moment, with the other Sect masters, pending full investigation. Their plea for bail was denied because they are thought to be a flight risk considering the amount of hidden assets they possess. Also, the police feared that because of their master status, if granted bail, they would exert undue influence on potential witnesses.

The scandal had sent shockwaves through the media landscape, and even though the Sect reach was mainly in the provinces south and west of Ireland and not established as far as Dublin, it was consumed all over the country.

The fact that the Sect remained little known over the years, despite it spreading fast, pointed to an element of targeting of specific areas and groups of people. Twiggy stayed on the situation and took Ethan’s advice to leak information by piecemeal to ensure a constant media-feeding frenzy. Moremedia interest led to public outrage and agitation, which would then put considerable pressure on the courts to give stricter penalties.

Grace Martinez hesitantly pokes her head into the dressing room. “Is the bride ready yet?”




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