Chapter 2 2

Valerie POV

The moment we stepped inside the mansion, I couldn't help but take in the surroundings. Right there in front of us was this stunning staircase made of light brown marble. It split into two smaller stairways at the top, each with sleek black handrails. Hanging above was an eye-catching crystal chandelier that, along with tiny lights dotted around the ceiling, gave off a really fancy vibe.

As we moved past the staircase towards the backyard, I was hit by a wave of memories. This house, despite its many changes, still felt familiar. It hadn't been my home for years, yet the time I spent here was unforgettable, largely because I had Bella with me back then.

The sound of music and people talking got louder as we approached the backyard entrance, still hidden from view. We took a stone path that curved around to the right side of the house. Looking around, I was amazed by the garden. There were flowers and plants in every color you could imagine on both sides of the path. It was clear the gardener had put a lot of work into this, making it feel like walking through a vibrant, colorful meadow.

I halted in my steps just before we rounded the corner to join the rest of the people.

"Just take a deep breath, Valerie You will be fine, I promise." I turned to look at Dave, and he gave me a reassuring smile while giving my hand a small squeeze. I tightened my hold around his hand a little, grateful that he was here to ease my nerves a bit.

"I know, it's just nervousness getting to me. It's been a long time since I've been here, and so many memories." I gave him a small smile in return. He pulled me a bit closer to him, which I welcomed because it calmed down my nerves which were increasingly building.

As soon as we rounded the corner, I let out a small gasp at the sight in front of me. I was stunned by how beautiful everything looked.

"Wow." I breathed out as took in the sight in front of me.

It was a big open space with massive trees surrounding the place. They have managed to wrap the trees around with light chains, lightning the whole place up, and string lights hanging from one tree to another, creating a form of a ceiling of light in the air. There were big round tables scattered around with fancy tablecloths, and vases with gold engravings, holding the white and soft pink Camellia flowers. If this was just the engagement party, I couldn't imagine how grand the wedding would be. And it definitely would be grand just by looking at the number of people present here.

"Yeah, I agree," Dave said as he also looked around the backyard.

"I'll just go and put this on the gift table. Can I get you something to drink?" He motioned his head to the far-right side where a bar has been set up with a bartender.

"Anything non-alcoholic would be great, thanks. I want to stay as sober as possible." It was not that I couldn't handle a few glasses of champagne, I just didn't want anything to mess up with my senses if anything went wrong. I am nervous as hell and do something crazy and I couldn't risk that.

"Sure! I will be right back." He said as he went his way to the gift table.

Shit, I was alone now. I should have gone with him but instead, I was now here, standing alone, and I didn't know what to do....Should I just go up and say 'hi, remember me?' kind of thing? Yeah, that sounded like an awful plan. I decided to look around to see if I could spot Bella somewhere in the mass of people. What I didn't notice was that half of the people were already staring at me while I was in my miserable bubble. I shifted my weight on my feet a little as I started to feel uncomfortable with all the attention on me.

I suddenly felt underdressed because what in the universe was this? It was like Italian Vogue magazine spat out all of its models into this backyard. I have never seen so many beautiful people gathered in one place. Women were dressed in long beautiful gowns, and men in suits that made them look like people who did not belong to this world, and that was freaking intimidating. The more I looked at who did not belong to this world, and that was freaking intimidating. The more I looked at them, the more intimidated I felt. It was easy to see I was kind of an outsider and didn't belong here.

I shifted around on my feet again, not knowing where to go. And how long did it take to grab a drink? I wouldn't mind being saved right now as I gave some awkward smiles to the people who looked at me. And where the heck was Bella? I kept looking around to see if I could spot her somewhere but there were too many people. While gazing around, someone caught my attention and my eyes landed on him.

[Our mafia Daemon ;)]

My breath halted at the sight of him as I checked him out. This man is gorgeous. Breathtaking actually.

He was wearing black dress pants, and a black dress shirt that was unbuttoned a bit from the top, exposing some of his chest. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and showed his perfect arm. This man was on the top styled into perfection. This man was the literal definition of perfection. My eyes scanned him, starting from the bottom, and slowly made their way up to his face. I got a bit startled, and I held my breath once again when we made eye contact. Normally, I would look away immediately, but there was just something about him that made me stare at him for a little longer. He was standing tall as he smoked and even from a distance, I could feel the power radiating off him.

He tilted his head slightly to the side as he, too, inspected me from head to toe. His face showed absolutely no form of expression as he kept me locked under his gaze. His eyes looked intently into mine, and it was like I was in some sort of trance because I couldn't seem to look away as we kept looking at each other from afar.

"Don't look at him like that." Dave suddenly stood in front of me, startling me, and blocked my view from the man.

"He has killed people for staring at him in a wrong way." He told me as he handed me my drink.

"Huh?" I breathed out and stared at him confused.

"I was just looking around. How am I supposed to find the person I'm looking for if I'm not allowed to look?" I chuckled a little at his exaggeration and raised my brow at him.

"The way you looked at him can get your ass shot." He looked at me with a serious expression, letting me know that this was not a joke. I looked at him with wide eyes, suddenly feeling scared that the man would shoot me because I did not take my time to look at him.

"Wait, really? Oh, duck shit... What should I do? Do I go and apologize?" I asked hurriedly. I didn't mean it in a mean way, he was truly too beautiful not to look at.

Dave let out a small snort.

"No, just don't look at him. I don't know if you have heard of this, Valerie, but you have a mean resting bitch face. You looked like you were ready to fight him or something." He muttered I choked on my drink when I accidentally laughed, making a fool out of myself. And in front of so many people.

"Hah!! I may have heard that a few times."