THE VALENTINE PROPOSAL

Chapter13. The Gala

LIORA

The week before the gala passed in a blur. Everett was busy with damage control from whatever Ramsey had done. I was busy launching the campaign. We barely saw each other except at night when we were both too tired to talk.

But the notes kept coming.

I found one Tuesday morning. "You were right about the emotional marketing angle. The early numbers are incredible. -E"

I wrote back. "Told you so."

His response came that night. "Don't get cocky. It's only been three days."

Thursday he left me a coffee on the kitchen counter with a note. "Remembered you like extra cream. -E"

I smiled for an hour after that.

Friday morning Margaret woke me up early. "Hair and makeup team is here. The gala starts at seven."

I spent four hours getting ready. They did my hair in loose waves. My makeup made me look like someone else. Someone who belonged at charity galas with billionaires.

The emerald dress fit perfectly. I put on the diamond earrings Everett had insisted on buying. I looked in the mirror and barely recognized myself.

Someone knocked. "Come in."

Everett walked in and stopped

. He just froze in the doorway staring at me.

"Is it too much?" I asked.

"No. You're perfect." He was wearing a tuxedo. He looked like he'd stepped out of a magazine. "I got you something."

He held out a jewelry box and inside was a necklace.

"Everett, I can't—"

"It's not real. Well, it is real, but it's borrowed. From a jeweler friend." He pulled it out. "May I?"

I turned around. He fastened it around my neck. His fingers brushed my skin and I shivered.

"There," he said. His voice was quiet. "Now you're ready."

The gala was at some museum downtown. We pulled up in Everett's car and cameras were everywhere. Photographers shouting. People trying to get pictures.

"Just smile and keep walking," Everett said. He took my hand.

We walked the red carpet together and people started yelling questions.

"Everett, is the engagement real?"

"Liora, what do you say to people who call you a gold digger?"

"When's the wedding?"

Everett ignored all of them. He just kept his hand on my back and guided me inside.

The museum was beautiful. It was all marble floors and high ceilings. There were women in expensive gowns and men in tuxedos with waiters carrying champagne.

"There you are," Nuala appeared in a silver dress. She hugged Everett then turned to me. "Liora, you look stunning."

"Thank you, Mrs. Montague."

"I told you to call me Nuala." She smiled. It seemed genuine this time. "Come. There are people I want you to meet."

She dragged me around the room introducing me to people.

"This is Liora Jovan," Nuala kept saying. "Everett's fiancée."

Some people were nice. Most weren't. They asked questions that sounded polite but weren't.

"Where did you go to school, dear?"

"What does your family do?"

"How interesting that you met in a lobby."

I smiled through all of it and gave vague answers while trying not to let them see how much their judgment hurt.

Everett found me an hour later. "How are you holding up?"

"Your mom's friends are terrifying."

He almost smiled. "Want to dance?"

"I'm not a good dancer."

"Neither am I." He held out his hand. "But we should at least pretend to enjoy ourselves."

We went to the dance floor. He put one hand on my waist and took my other hand in his. We swayed to some classical music I didn't recognize.

"You're doing great," he said quietly. "I know they're judging you. But you're handling it perfectly."

"I want to run away."

"So do I." He pulled me a little closer. "But we're stuck here for at least another hour."

"Then what?"

"Then we go home. Order takeout. Get out of these uncomfortable clothes."

That sounded perfect. "Deal."

We kept dancing. Other couples moved around us but I barely noticed. All I could focus on was Everett. The way he looked at me. The way his hand felt on my waist.

"Liora," he said.

"Yeah?"

"About the other night. When you said this stopped feeling fake." He paused. "You were right. It doesn't feel fake anymore. Not to me."

My heart stopped. "What does it feel like?"

"Terrifying." His gray eyes met mine. "But also right. Like maybe I've been waiting for you and didn't know it."

I couldn't breathe. "Everett—"

"Excuse me." A cold voice interrupted us.

We stopped dancing. Turned around. Diella stood there in a white gown that probably cost more than my car. She looked like a movie star.

"May I cut in?" she asked. But she wasn't asking. She was already stepping between us.

Everett's jaw tightened. "Diella—"

"Just one dance. For old times sake." She put her hand on his shoulder. "You don't mind, do you Liora?"

I did mind. I minded a lot. But I couldn't say that without looking petty.

"Of course not," I lied.

I walked off the dance floor. I found a corner where I could watch them. Diella said something that made Everett's face go hard. She touched his chest and laughed at something.

They looked perfect together, like they belonged in each other's arms.

"Champagne?" A waiter appeared with a tray.

"Yes. Please."

I drank it too fast.

"She always does this." A man's voice beside me.

I turned. Zyler stood there in a black tuxedo. He looked at Diella and Everett on the dance floor.

"Does what?" I asked.

"Stakes her claim and reminds everyone who really belongs in this family." He sipped his drink. "You're temporary, Miss Jovan. Diella is permanent."

"Everett doesn't love her."

"Love." Zyler said it like it was a joke. "My son doesn't believe in love. He believes in strategy. Smart partnerships, building something that lasts."

"You're wrong."

"Am I?" He looked at me. "He learned from the best. His mother left me for someone more suitable. I taught him that emotions are weaknesses. Business is what matters."

"That's sad."

"That's survival." Zyler finished his drink. "Enjoy the gala, Miss Jovan. These events won't last forever. Neither will your engagement."

He walked away and I stood there feeling sick,hating him, hating Diella and hating this whole world that treated people like chess pieces.

The song ended. Everett walked toward me. He saw his dad talking to Liora and immediately strode towards them, but before he could reach them his father already walked away.Diella followed him looking smug.

"Ready to leave?" he asked.

"Yes. Please."

Neither of us spoke on the drive home. I stared out the window.

"What did Diella say to you?" I asked finally.

Everett's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Nothing important."

"It looked important."

"She was just trying to get in my head. Same thing she always does." He glanced at me. "What did my father say to you?"

"That I'm temporary. That you don't believe in love. That Diella is the one who really belongs."

"And you believed him?"

"Should I?"

Everett pulled into the parking garage.

"My father is bitter and angry," he said finally. "He thinks love is a weakness because my mother proved it was. At least for him."

"What about for you?"

"I don't know." He turned to look at me. "I told you I've been waiting for you. That this feels right. That was true. But I also don't know if I know how to do this. How to trust someone enough to actually love them."

"So what are we doing?"

"I don't know." He reached over and took my hand. "But I don't want to stop. Does that make sense?"

It didn't. But also it did. We were both scared. Both broken in different ways. Both trying to figure out if this thing between us was real or just convenient.

"Yeah," I whispered. "It makes sense."

We went upstairs. I took off the necklace and earrings and changed into my PJs. When I came out of my room, Everett was in the kitchen making tea.

"Want some?" he asked.

"Sure."

We sat at the counter drinking tea in silence. It should have been awkward but it wasn't. It was comfortable.

"Thank you," I said finally.

"For what?"

"For tonight. For defending me against your dad. For dancing with me even though we're both terrible at it."

He smiled. "We are pretty bad."

"The worst."

"Maybe we should practice."

"There's no music."

Everett pulled out his phone and put on some slow song I didn't recognize. I was shocked when he held out his hand.

"Dance with me."

We danced in the kitchen in our pajamas.

"This is better than the gala," I said.

"Much better." He pulled me closer. "Liora?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you proposed to me in that lobby."

I laughed. "Even though I was a mess?"

"Especially because you were a mess." His voice was soft. "You were real. Everyone else in my life is so polished and fake. But you were just raw and honest and real."

"I was humiliated and angry."

"You were brave." He brushed hair from my face. "You're always brave. Even when you're scared."

The song ended. We stood there swaying anyway. Not wanting to let go.

"We should sleep," Everett said. But he didn't move.

"Yeah. We should."

Neither of us moved. We just stood there in the kitchen holding each other. Finally he stepped back. "Goodnight, Liora."

"Goodnight."

I went to my room and found a note on my pillow.

"You were the most beautiful woman at th

e gala. But you're even more beautiful right now. -E"

I held the note and cried. Happy tears this time.

I was falling in love with Everett Montague. And I had no idea if he was falling too or if I was just another Claire waiting to get my heart broken.