The event was a charity fundraiser.
Damian attended two or three of these every year as a matter of professional obligation and social expectation. Large hotels, expensive tables, the kind of crowd that wrote cheques with many zeros and expected to be seen doing it. He had mentioned it casually at breakfast three days before and asked if she would like to come and she had said yes without overthinking it.
She was trying to stop overthinking things.
Elena helped her find a dress. Dark burgundy, floor length, simple and clean with no unnecessary detail. Elena declared it perfect and Aurora trusted her judgment because Elena had never once steered her wrong in matters of appearance.
Damian saw her at the top of the stairs and stopped walking.
She came down slowly and he watched her the w
