Chapter 3

One week later. 

'I'm right outside.' 

Charlie pocketed his phone as soon as he read the text and began wheeling his suitcase out of the airport, careful not to bump into any tourists or worse, his friends, before they'd be holed up in an island for a few days. Truly out of all the beautiful places in the world, he hadn't the faintest idea why Nate and his bride, Angelina, have chosen his family's private island to host their wedding. They could've done this somewhere with more history than their own. But then again, he'll never understand these old families, coming from his own first-generation wealth.

Amidst all the tourists and the drivers waiting right outside the arrivals hall, Charlie finally spotted his best friend, Rafe, leaning against his black Mercedes Benz with his legs crossed, raising his hand to catch his attention. He was wearing his shades and looking every inch the powerful man that he is with his navy polo and beige trousers. Charlie immediately wheeled his suitcase to meet him, quickening his steps. When the hell did Rafe arrive in the city, he hadn't even known. 

"Hey," Charlie greeted as Rafe pushed himself away from the car, clicking his keys to open the trunk, "when did you get here?"

"A few days ago, coincidentally I also had some business to take care of in Seattle." Rafe replied, helping Charlie place his suitcase right next to his own, confused that he saw another one next to his before Rafe closed the trunk with a press of a button. 

"Right, so have you been waiting long?" he asked, moving towards the door of the passenger's seat while Rafe towards the driver's. 

"Not really." he replied, climbing in. 

It wasn't until Charlie had put his seatbelt on and the car hummed alive that his eyes connected to the woman sitting behind him through the rearview mirror. He immediately turned to find Lila asleep on the backseat, wearing a white floral sundress with earphones in her ears. She looked tired, peaceful but tired, probably from her long flight all the way from London. And he only knew this because he saw her Instagram. 

"Dude…" Charlie said in a soft but accusatory tone at Rafe, careful not to wake their friend. Why hadn't he mentioned that Lila's coming along with them? 

"What?"

"You didn't tell me that Lila was joining us."

Rafe kept his eyes on the road but turned on the radio through his steering wheel, keeping the volume low as the sound of a woman singing in Italian filled the speakers. Only then did he decide to reply, "She looked for me asking for a ride. I was just as surprised as you are."

They knew her well enough to know that she would rarely ask for help. Always an introvert, Lila would much rather drive herself to the island and besides, it wasn't like she didn't have friends to drive her. So to reach out to Rafe, out of all people, is a little bit shocking to Charlie. 

Perfect timing, really, because she chose that moment to slowly rouse from her sleep. Pulling out her earphones, she looked around, registering her surroundings before her eyes landed on Charlie sitting on the passenger's seat. Stretching her arms, she muttered, "Hey Charlie," her voice still thick with sleep, "long time no see."

He wanted to say that he was there a week ago actually, when she finished her two-week performance at the theatre back in New York, but he decided to stay quiet about it instead, especially after what he'd seen after she walked away from the stage. Instead, he only met her sleepy dark brown eyes through the rearview mirror to say, "Nice to see you too, how are you?"

"A little tired actually, I just flew from London for a masterclass." she crossed her arms, her eyes drifting towards Rafe's arms on the steering wheel and the natural view beyond him wondering why it caught her attention, "How about you?"

"Great actually, we just bought another rights to a film."

"That's amazing, may I know what it's about?"

"It's a book adaptation, it's a little boring really, but it has potential."

"Let me guess," she leaned her head closer to the middle, "it's a cheesy romance?"

"More or less," he turned back to face her, "would you do me the honors to write a song for the film?"

Lila broke into a grin so radiant it caught Rafe's eyes from the rearview mirror. He immediately looked away to focus on the road though his periphery remained. Charlie had only meant it as a friendly tease knowing that Lila had never really composed her music before, at least none that he knew of anyway. 

"Maybe I would," she jutted her chin proudly at Charlie, "though it would only depend on how cheesy and romantic the movie's gonna get."

"That's out of my hands unfortunately," Charlie raised his hands in mock surrender, "I'm not the scriptwriter, I just produce the film."

"I really don't get men and their perversion to romance." 

"Contrary to popular belief, I do love love," Charlie argued, turning around to find her raising her eyebrows at him in challenge, "but I just don't like seeing it on screen. My love life's already in shambles as it is, I don't need to feed even more unnecessary dreams."

"Well I can't argue with that," Lila relaxed again in her seat, "it's not like mine's any good either."

"What about you, Rafe?" Charlie asked, turning to his friend who had been silent throughout their drive. 

Rafe stared ahead at the road pretending that he hadn't heard Charlie's question. They were about to enter the dock anyway, so he was happy enough to ignore his best friend's inquiring question only to feel a pair of eyes behind his head. A pair of dark brown eyes that he knew all too well. 

Lila caught his eyes through the rearview mirror, feeling her chest doing that weird somersault thing. Why her body had released such a reaction, she hadn't even known. She didn't even want to know what it meant. She and Rafe are, and will always remain, friends. So she looked away first, choosing instead to focus on his hands on the steering wheel, "I heard you had a girlfriend, how is she?"

"You have a girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Rafe parked his car in front of the drop-off area, "it was just a date." Had Lila been reading about him?

They climbed out of the car while Rafe handed his key to the valet, slipping a nice tip along as he joined Charlie and Lila by the entrance. Lila had already slipped on a white cardigan over her floral dress, her arms wrapped around her middle while Charlie slipped another tip to the guy who had helped them load their suitcases into the cart. 

"Welcome back sir, your boat is ready." Rafe's assistant greeted, clutching his iPad against his chest. A short middle-aged man with a strong loyalty to Rafe's family, Charlie can already tell that he'd gladly take Rafe's secrets to his grave, gladly. "Miss Lila Evadne?" he called out. 

"It's nice to see you again, Mr.Russo." Lila shocked the man by wrapping her arms around him like a daughter hugging her father. Mr.Russo freezed in shock, not accustomed to the closeness as his eyes drifted to his boss, who was standing there with his hands shoved in his pockets pretending to look at his shoes. If only Lila had only looked closer and seen how much power she has over his boss, she would be shocked at how much of the world she can control. But it was probably best that she didn't, he thought. 

"You should call me Anton instead, 'Mr.Russo' sounds like my father." he said once she let him go. 

"That's what Rafe called you so that's what I'm calling you as well, right Rafe?" 

Rafe shrugged, "It's your choice, Lila."

Rafe watched Lila beamed at him with a smile that briefly took him back to their school days before turning to Mr.Russo to say, "Then Mr.Russo it is, not just because of Rafe but because you're older and it doesn't feel right."

"Right then," he began, tapping at his laptop for his boss's schedule, "we should head to the boat and, sir?"

Rafe stopped in his tracks, motioning for Charlie and Lila to head on without him as he approached his assistant. Only as soon as they were both out of their views did Mr.Russo spoke again in a soft voice, "I have a bad feeling about this, sir."

"Why?"

"Nathaniel broke into Miss Lila's dressing room that night after you left."

"Did anyone see him?"

"Not really," he said, swiping his iPad to show Rafe the footage, "I don't think anyone noticed anything out of the ordinary."

Rafe watched as the footage showed Nate breaking into her dressing room shortly after he left, judging by the time stamp. Lila hadn't thought to lock the door so Nate had strided into her private space thinking like he owned the place. He sped forward the video until he spotted Lila walking into her dressing room, looking visibly drained judging from her posture, carrying two bouquets of flowers in her arms as she headed in, only to stop dead in her tracks. 

There must have been some kind of heated conversation between them, he thought, as he watched Lila standing frozen halfway through her door. But then, a surge of anger hit him when he saw Nate suddenly pressing his lips to hers. He zoomed in on them both to find Lila standing there with her eyes widened and frozen in shock before shoving him away. She must've not expected this as well. 

"I've seen enough of what I needed to see." Rafe handed back the iPad, "Make sure there are no witnesses and if there are, take care of it."

"Right, and sir," Mr.Russo chased after Rafe, "do take care of Miss Lila, I don't think she's going to be safe on that island. I'll have the boat waiting near and out of sight should you need it."

Rafe only nodded in thanks before walking off to join his friends, who were already sipping champagne whilst enjoying the view from the upper deck of his yacht. The crew welcomed him as soon as he stepped on and instructed the captain to get moving. They all immediately went about their task while Rafe poured a glass of whiskey from the nearby decanter before heading upstairs, eager to forget the memory of Nate forcing his lips on Lila. 

Taking a sip out of his drink, he found Lila leaning against the railings sipping her champagne whilst staring mindlessly at the view of the foggy waters ahead. She looked distant, lost in thought rather than feeling all the bits of excitement at the prospect of seeing her friends again. Releasing his breath, he walked towards her, one hand in his pocket while the other holding onto his glass of whiskey, finding himself more interested in his view of her than the shadows of the island ahead, covered by the fog from the graying skies. 

"Hey," he approached as she turned her head to face him in his voice, "do you want to head inside? It's getting cold."

"I don't mind the cold," she replied, turning back to face the waters, "it helps me think."

"Are you okay?" he inquired, genuinely concerned. 

"I'm fine," she replied, downing the rest of her champagne then continuing, "as fine as someone attending her ex's wedding can be."

"May I ask," he looked at her, loving the fact that she was tall enough to meet his nose, "why did you decide to come then?"

"I don't know," she replied, "right now I'm still figuring it out myself. Maybe I'm just curious, or in the mood to torture myself, either way it's too late to back out."

"I still can turn the boat around, you can tell them that you can't attend for some work reason…"

"No," Lila shook her head mindlessly twisting her empty glass, "that'd be rude. I'll be fine, Rafe. Thank you, though, for the offer. Anyways, I should head in, it's getting cold."

She walked into the cabin on the second floor with Rafe trailing after her, his mind still reeling over what he had learned. His assistant was right, something just doesn't feel right about all this. What could Nate have planned? It had been years since they had ended things, surely he should've moved on by then? He was about to be married anyways. Rafe refused to believe that Nate invited Lila out of pure intentions.