Lena felt so confident in her dress because it was specially and meticulously chosen by her best friend who had a good taste in fashion. She was certain she couldn't go wrong tonight.
She smiled, loving her slender figure in the mirror.
She combed her sleek and straight hair down to her shoulders and gave it a centre part, she did two small French braids by the sides of the hair and pinned them together.
"I hope he likes it," she murmured, applying final touches to the nude makeup on her face.
When she was done, she sauntered to the shoe rack to grab the silver low-heeled stilettos she got together with the blush gown. She slipped them on and bent a bit to buckle the shoe.
Straightening up, she snatched her small purse from the bed and sashayed out of the room to join Darian in the living room.
"Did you send the money?" Darian asked Jay.
"Yes, I did," Jay responded sharply, he tilted his head to the side and his gaze rested on Lena, he blinked his eyes. "Wow," his jaw dropped.
"What's that?" Darian turned to see for himself. He saw Lena approaching them with slow steps. He had seen her dressed up before, but this was different. She was beautiful from her hair down to her feet. Darian opened his mouth to talk but he didn't find the words, he closed them and nodded his head satisfactory; that was what he wanted, she even went beyond what she expected. His eyes ogled her floor-length blush colour strapless gown with a high side-slit and a sweep train finishing. "Where is my wife?" He asked, moving closer to her.
"She's here, don't you recognise me?" Lena chuckled, walking to meet up with him.
They met with each other in the middle of the living room. Lena smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"You look so beautiful, too beautiful to be true." He arranged a few strands of hair to the back and bent a little to place a soft kiss on her forehead.
"Thank you. You look hot too," she said, pointing at his white-tie tuxedo with black jackets and his well-tailored fitted black trousers. She hadn't noticed when he left the room. She inhaled his sweet manly scent of mint, she loved it so much and wanted to bury her nose in his neck forever. She finally let go of him and smiled. "Do you like my dress?" She asked, swirling around for him to check her out.
"Perfect on you, Lena." He kissed her again. "Come on, let's go." He stretched out his palm, she clasped hers with his and he led them out of the living room.
Jay paved the way for them to pass through while he followed closely behind them, praying that someday he too would meet a woman as beautiful as Lena. He considered Darian a lucky man to have Lena as his wife.
Darian took the keys from Jay, "You don't have to go with us." He said.
"Yes, boss." Jay bowed in understanding, even though he was doubting, he knew couldn't disobey the boss.
"Take care of the house with the other bodyguards and make sure you call me if something urgent comes up." Darian patted his back and climbed into the car after he opened the door for Lena.
"Lisa chose my outfit, I am glad you like it." Lena clasped the seatbelt, turning to look at Darian with a smile on her lips. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She was a little bit shy because he was staring at her weirdly.
He chuckled and kicked the car. He stared intently at her, contemplating whether to tell her about the progress he'd made with Jay by finding who his mother was or just keeping it to himself.
He knew she was interested in knowing who his mother was, but he suddenly kicked against the idea of letting her know about it. He hadn't seen her himself, maybe he would let her know about her when he finally saw his mother in person, he thought that was better.
"Nothing," he said, zooming out of the garage.
-
A few minutes later, they arrived at the Antonio family house. Darian showed his gate pass to the bodyguards at the gate and he let him drive in. He parked the car and looked at Lena.
"We are here," he said.
"This is so beautiful," Lena whispered as she hurried out of the car.
The house was a mansion, so huge and beautifully structured. More than a hundred bulbs illuminated the outside with different glows, she could easily make out the tall glass windows that were all over the building.
Darian clasped their arms, "Yes, it is." He said. "Come on, let's go in and join them."
"Yes," Lena nodded, looking back to take a second glance at every beauty of nature that she saw around the mansion.
They were ushered into the garden by two slender hostesses in short dresses. Lena stuck with Darian as they walked to take a seat that was reserved for them at the back of the garden. That had been Darian's spot since he started attending Antonio's family party.
Darian and Lena were on their way to the table when Asher appeared in front of them. His smile grew big when he sighted Lena by Darian's side.
"Hey Lena," he bent to kiss her cheeks, but Darian halted his gesture. He stood in the middle of them and grinned mischievously at Asher. "Really?" Asher shook his head, disgruntled. He reached for Lena's hand to kiss it but Darian didn't let him do that either. He took Lena's hands and smirked at Asher. "Welcome here, Lena." Asher scoffed, waving at Lena.
"Asher, it's been a while." Lena returned the wave. She didn't understand why Darian was altering Asher from making contact with her. She found it childish and maybe cool because he was being possessive of her. "Oh and happy anniversary to your family. We got this for you on our way here." She gave a small parcel to him.