247
~Bella's POV
What surprised me most, though, was how easily he and Alex were bonding.
They'd only met earlier today, but it felt like they were old friends reunited. They joked, teased each other like brothers would, and every now and then, I'd catch Alex watching Noah with a kind of admiration I couldn't quite place. It made my chest warm. It made me... grateful.
Noah leaned back in his seat, his plate nearly empty, and wiped his mouth with the napkin before glancing across the table.
"So…" he said casually, "I get that Alex is the guy who gave you a royal treatment today and arranged all this." He gestured toward the fancy spread. "But who's the mystery man with the suit and silence?"
Luca smirked without lifting his gaze from his wine. "Mystery man, huh?"
Alex chuckled. "That's Luca. My assistant. And don't let the quiet fool you…he probably knows more about you than you know about yourself."
