Dallying with Ryder

Rehearsal Dinner

The cool air brushed passed my bare arm and I suppressed a shudder . Gaby leaned closer to me , tipping her head to my ear to whisper something about the various guests walking in to the tall , wide carved doors of this Italian castle . With its history dating back to the eighteen hundreds , one could only imagine the fortune spent to rent this place for an entire weekend . But , of course , it would be only the best for my brothers nuptials and neither would it make so much as dent in the family' s finances .

My family has been a part of the elite for as long as I could remember . With my dad building his empire from the ground up , he was known for his success but even more so for his brilliant business minded head on his shoulders . It was only natural that , as such , our family would be affluent leaving us with many aquaintances , business partners of my parents and my brother to be invited .

It had been the most awaited event of the year and , now that it was finally taking place , one could only imagine the gradious nature of it . That , coupled with the thrill and buzz of the paparazzi , had only ensured that the entire weekend be kept away from the news hungry and ferocious reporters . This had to start from the root of it all .

The guest list . It was why only a selected and hand picked elite had been chosen to attend . Business partners of my family along with close friends and family had been in attendance . Any extra or unnecessary guests has been cut out to ensure the entire event was safe from the paparazzi .

Gabby and I , seeing as we arrived earlier than everyone else , had decided to occupy the landing of the staircase above that had full view of the grand entrance and it' s fancy guests that walked through it . No one would notice us unless someone happened to look up and , even then , a small smile or acknowledging nod would solve any wandering eyes . After all , it were not like we were snipers hiding up here intending on committing a crime .

A small gasp escaped Gabby , dragging me out of my reverie . " Oh , there is Camilla Hyde making her entrance . " Gaby said in a hushed tones lest someone below may hear her . She trained her gaze back to the woman in question . I followed the direction that she had been looking in and , sure enough , the brunette had made her entrance in the most sparkly of evening gowns but , then again , every one had been dressed quite lavishly for this rehearsal dinner .

I noticed that she had arrived with her parents only . I frowned seeing as it was very unlike her scandalous nature . " I can' t particularly say that I am surprised that she is not here with her boyfriend . " It was an observation , seeing as she seemed to be in the company of her exhausted parents .

They were tired of her wild nature and consistently being photographed in all sorts of trouble granting the tabloids their prized scandals for weeks .

Camilla Hyde had been one of the most spoilt people that I had ever known in my age group . She was pretty , yes , with her light amber coloured eyes , tresses that shined and flowed in a delicate was about her radiant skin . She was tall in a way that would qualify her to be a model and she had the most tasteful figure . The only downside is that her personality stank . She also had a great flare for the wild party loving life and had been embroiled in many scandals yet pretending that none of it ever happened . There had been a few occasions where her father had mentioned to mine that he simply did not know what to do with her any more .

Gabby scoffed but it was more like a choking sound . " You mean her stolen boyfriend . " She snickered with an eye roll . " Poor Danielle was shattered after she found out . She literally walked in on them doing the deed . I could expect this from Camilla - granted her reputation . . But not from Derick . " She added in hushed , scandalized tone .

Ahh yes , this had been one of her recent hot story' s that had been trending for weeks . I glanced at her again below as he has taken a glass of refreshments . She held her head up high , her chin almost jutting out pridefully . I felt my lip twitch failing to understand how she had the energy to play pretend like every single person in the room was unaware of every thing she had done .

I removed my attention from Camilla to look at Gaby . " Oh , please . Danielle deserved better than stick - his - tool - into - anything - that - walks - Derick . " It was true . No one could understand why the gorgeous heiress , Danielle Brody , even wasted an ounce of her time on some one so full of s**t as Derick .

The crowd had began to flow underneath the staircase and into the awaiting and ready dining hall that was far too big to be reasonable but , even so , Camilla was still in our view . Gabby took a step away from me and raised her lemonade filled glass to her lips making sure that she did not spill a drop on her fine champagne coloured silk dress .

" You better keep an eye on Louis this weekend , Lianna . " She commemted once she was lowered her glass back to her chest .

I scoffed . " What ? You know that Camilla preys on men who show an inkling of being unhappy in their relationship . " She stated and that was true , too .

It should have worried me . The whole possibility of Camilla trying to get with Louis to climb the social ladder but I felt not even a spec of worry and that was what had concerned me over all . Not because I was trusting and secure about my boyfriend but because I simply could not find it in me to care about he chose to do or not .

Louis and I had been introduced by family at a party in June nearly two years ago . Given our families and their status , it seemed to have made logical and calculated sense for us to get together and pursue a relationship together that would someday lead to the joining of our families fortune and good name .

I flexed my neck slightly . " I think it would be very telling of Louis integrity if I had to, in fact, guard him to prevent him from being disloyal . " I reasoned logically . Gaby shrugged as we both watched Camilla finally disappear from view .

Louis was nice or , at least , he was for the first six months of being with him . It was after that six month mark that he then began to let his true self seep out like he was unable to contain the facade that he had been putting on for the six long months that went by. He became more snappy and seemed to have a problem with any and every life decision that I had made from choosing a career in law , to my shimmery ruby coloured dress for this evening' s dinner , and everything in between , he always seemed to have something displeasing to say about it all .

His recent irritant being my decision to take up a high paying post at a thriving company in New York and not at his company in an entirely different country . It was not just any odd job and that was something Louis was failing to understand . It was Head of Legal . I would be the head of the entire lagal department . It had been just yesterday that I had recieved my acceptance letter from the company and I did not hesitate to accept the generous offer .

It was only a matter of time before Louis and I parted ways and , by now , I knew that it was inevitable and certainly unavoidable . It had to be . I could not see myself pursuing a future with some one like him who seems to only want a partner that will agree with his every word , and follow his path , and develop not have the ability to form an individual opinion . Louis must know it , too . He couldn 't possibly think of taking this relationship to more serious depths when it had been drowning at the shallow end already but , then again , Louis looked at this as a family obligation and I would wager that he would much prefer us to be miserably together and his family business , which he will soon inherit , being stronger and most appealing than ever after having my family name , connections , and power joined to his .

Gaby 's gasp had brought my attention back to the now and the declining number of guests indicating that the dinner was about to start and we had to head down soon . We could not stand up here and avoid the crowds forever . As appealing as that idea was .

Gabby nudged my shoulder with hers and I squealed . " Is that Ryder Huxley ? " Gaby whispered more to herself than to me. " My god, that really is him . " She stated in delight . " I dare say he looks like the definition of s*x on legs . " She said in a low tone .

My head snapped up to get a glimpse of the man and I clenched my jaw . Of course , Ryder Huxley would be attending . He was , and still is , my brother' s best friend for as long as I could remember .

Ryder stood tall in all of his ruthless and powerful glory . His thick chestnut hair had no longer been unruly and long but neatly cut , and styled back tastefully . He wore a dark three pieces suit that had been tailored to his body 's advantage displaying every notable contour of his torso and emphasizing the broad expanse of his chest and muscular shoulders .

" T - That is him . " It came out as a weak whisper and I was relieved that Gaby had not heard it . The chatter below must have aided in covering it up . Chase did say that he had asked Ryder to be his best man but Ryder had not confirmed his attendance yet here he was owning the foyer with his presence. The guests seemed to swarm around him awaiting to gain his favour and make his aquaintance.

My jaw clenched tighter recalling what an absolute nuisance he had been to me all those years ago . Getting me into trouble , spying on me when I snuck in after curfew , and he would catch me trying to sneak out as he left the house after hanging out with Chase . He never kept it to himself but made sure to tell Chase every thing like he were some kind of body guard or spy . That was all fine , the unpleasantries and sharp banter that always seemed to be the only conversation we were capable of making had not even been the worst part .

The worst had been when he acted in a more overbearing way than even my own brother in warding of any male attention that I ever got . If a dude even so much as looked at me or who had ever shown even the slightest of interest in me , rest assured Ryder was going to f**k it up . It was torture being in the same high school as him even though he was a senior and I was pretty much still a newbie . Confronting him was futile since he would either find something else to stir my anger only so I would forget the initial reason for said anger . It made it worse that Chase had never sided with me and insisted that Ryder was right which only spurred my dislike for him further . He was unreasonably controlling as he was undeniably handsome , pridefully entitled , and felt like he had a say in my life . I doubt that those qualities had faded away and , if anything , I would assume it had only grown more prominent seeing the level of success that he had reached .

" He had come alone , too . " Gaby pointed out in pleasant surprise .

I rolled my eyes at her and watched Ryder Huxley as he exchanged pleasantries with the men and women surrounding him , each person trying to make themselves known to him and hopefully gain his favour like he was king of the lands .

" I would be flabbergasted has he arrived here with some one . It pains me to imagine what women would want to suffer being in any sort of relationship with him . " Gaby snorted hard in disagreement .

" You only say that because you loathe the man's existence . I' m sure that is what had you believing other wise . " She defended him and I rolled my eyes at her before shifting my gaze back to him again .

Just then , as if he could feel two pairs of eyes analysing his every move , he looked up and I was not prepared for his piercing green eyes to come clashing with my brown ones . The pleasant face that he had wore for the guests had slowly started to fade and his lips had pressed together into a thin displeasing line . His eyes had lost their charm and sparkle that had danced in then only mere seconds ago . Instead , he looked at me with the same distate and annoyance as I had been looking at him with .

Ahh , so he has not grown up and changed at all , then .

" Looks like you have been busted . " I heard Gaby say but her voice was muted in the background . It seemed like none of my other senses had been working and I had liked to think that it was because of how overcome I had been with irritation for Ryder that had rendered me motionless and not the way he had been searching my eyes like he was trying to gage into my soul .

I stuck my chin out and mustered up the nerve to break away from his entrapping gaze to refocus my attention to Gaby again . Nothing good could ever come with me trying to stir this pot of old trouble again an it was best for every one that I maintained as much distance from him until the end of this weekend . From our wordless exchange , it was clear that no good would and ever could come from us being in conversation proximity with the other . It was a good thing that the Italian castle was large enough to accommodate my plans and keep me sane .

After all , how difficult could it be to avoid one man for the next two days .