As soon as I was about to open the cab door, someone called my name.
"Isabella?"
I paused, turned and stared. No way.
"Isabella Miller?" the voice came again more certain this time.
And then I saw him─broad-shouldered, dressed in sleek designer casuals, a luxury watch flashing under the airport lights and that same smirky grin I used to roll my eyes at back in school.
"Levi?"
His grin wideneed. "Oh my goodness! Long time no see!"
I started laughing and closed the gap with a quick hug. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Still dramatic I see," he teased. "Wow, you look amazing."
"Shut up. What are you doing here?"
"Flew in this morning. A friend just launched a biotech firm─we're doing a little funding round, so I came to oversee some things personally."
Biotech. Funding rounds. Okay rich boy.
"Of course you are," I muttered with a smirk.
"Hey, don't judge. I've missed seeing that face."
I snorted. "Yeah, sure."
The cab driver cleared his throat behind me.
"Hey─before you go," Levi said, pulling out his phone, "can I get your number? I swear I won't lose it again."
I gave it to him and he quickly saved it. "I'll text you," he said. "Maybe we can catch up properly? Coffee, dinner, brunch─you name it."
"Sure," I replied, feeling unexpectedly happy. "Text me."
He took a few steps backward, that usual grin still plastered across his face. "Don't ghost me this time, Miller!"
"No promises," I called back sliding into the cab with a laugh.
****
I barely stepped two feet into the apartment before a blur of energy collided into me.
"My beautiful friend! I have missed you!"
"Aria—!" I squealed as she nearly knocked the air out of my lungs with a hug strong enough to count as a wrestling move.
She pulled back holding me at arm's length like she was inspecting a returned artifact. "You were gone for three days and I nearly died of boredom. I had to talk to my plants, izzy. Plants."
I laughed shutting the door behind me. "Dramatic, much?"
"You have no idea. I was this close to coming to wherever you were just to check if that boss of yours hadn't stuffed you in a suitcase."
"I'm alive, aren't I?"
"Barely," she scoffed dragging my luggage in for me. "Tell me everything. Who did you kill? What did you wear? Did he yell at you? Or kiss you? Or both?"
"Oh, trust me. You have no idea." I dropped my bag by the door and walked to the couch like my body had aged ten years in that short trip. "I need food and sleep."
She gasped. "So something did happen!"
"Nothing happened."
"Lies."
I buried my face in a pillow. "You're going to be persistent, aren't you?"
"Oh absolutely." She tossed me a snack bar. "Now talk before I explode."
Aria shoved a juice box in my hand like we were ten again and flopped beside me on the couch, legs curled under her. "Start from the top. And don't skip details. You know I will smell lies."
I rolled my eyes, took a sip and sighed. "Okay, so. First of all─he's obsessed with giving thirty-minute deadlines. Like, to the second."
Aria blinked. "What is he… a human stopwatch?"
"And then he made me drive in a foreign country. To a place I didn't even know existed."
Her jaw dropped. "You?! Drive?! Abroad?! Girl you almost died last month trying to Parallel Park by the corner store!"
"I know!" I groaned. "He just gave me the location and said 'follow the directions,' and climbed in the backseat like I was his chauffeur!"
Aria wheezed, laughter already bubbling. "I love this man. Continue."
I smacked her with a pillow. "No, you don't. He then took me to a boutique."
"Wait, wait, wait─you, Isabella-with-the-broken-bank-account, went shopping?"
"He dragged me there after the site inspection," I said, ignoring her jabs. "Told the attendant to bring the best dinner dress they had. I thought─maybe he was gay and shopping for someone else. But nope I was the mannequin for the evening."
Aria's eyes sparkled. "Shut. Up. You tried on dresses?! Did you twirl? Were there sparkles?!"
I groaned again. "Fifty dresses Aria. Fifty. He kept saying no. Either it was too short, too long, too boring, too flashy, too cheap, too much leg─"
Aria clutched her chest like she was watching a telenovela. "Oh my God, he was checking out your legs!"
"Not the point!" I snapped. "And then finally he settled on this black one. Long, sleek, expensive as hell. Said that one and nodded. I think that was his version of praise."
She gasped. "Was it the kind of dress villains wear in spy movies?"
"Exactly that vibe."
"Goddess."
"Anyway, turns out we were going to meet his family at a giant mansion. No warning. I walked in there feeling like a lost puppy."
Aria grabbed a popcorn─when did she get popcorn? "Please tell me someone tried to flirt with you."
"His stepbrother."
She screamed. "AND?!"
"I just sat there awkwardly," I said with a helpless laugh. "Adrien didn't say anything. Didn't introduce me. Didn't stop him he Just… watched."
Aria narrowed her eyes. "Ohhh. The silent possessive type. Even worse."
"I don't know what you mean by possessive," I muttered. "I mean… if he wanted to claim me as his assistant or anything he sure didn't show it. I felt like I was being observed like I was some chess piece."
Aria narrowed her eyes like she was plotting something. "He's playing games."
"I don't even know what game," I muttered. "And then on the ride back, I… kinda fell asleep in the car."
"Aw," she grinned. "You trust him."
"So what did he do?" Aria asked, leaning in like she was watching a season finale.
I sighed. "Apparently… he carried me to my room."
Her eyes went wide. "Bridal-style carried you?"
"How am I supposed to know? I was asleep!"
Aria gasped. "Wait─syou didn't wake up at all?"
"Not even once," I muttered, dropping my head against the couch. "I only know because I woke up in my room and hadn't walked there myself. He must've asked someone for my keycard or something."
Aria blinked at me like I'd grown two heads. "Girl… you really trust him."
"No, I really don't. I just… passed out. I mean…I was tired!"
She raised a brow clearly not buying it. "So, lemme get this straight. You slept in his car, he carried you─somehow─to your room and you woke up with a fancy breakfast tray?"
I gave her a look. "Yes. That's exactly what happened."
"And when you asked about the dress?"
"He told me to keep it."
She threw her hands in the air. "He's giving rich, mysterious CEO energy. Like, 'wear this thousand-dollar dress, peasant.'"
"Okay, first of all─rude," I laughed, "second of all… maybe. I don't even know anymore."
She folded her arms dramatically. "I still think you're in trouble."
I groaned. "Can I just rest before you start planning our wedding?"
"Nope," she grinned. "You're living the dream, and I want details. Keep talking."
I tossed a pillow at Aria. "Shut up." She cackled and ducked.
"Yeah, so… I met Levi too."
She blinked. "Levi?"
I gave her a small nod picking at the hem of my sleeve.
"Wait─Levi Adams?" she said, her eyes widening. "Levi Levi? Tall, rich, campus heartthrob Levi?!"
I shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "That's the one. He recognized me and said hi."
"No freaking way. That Levi? The one who always smelled like cedar and walked like he had money to burn?"
I laughed. "That's such a specific memory."
"Because I crushed on him for two semesters!" she said throwing a hand over her heart. "Did he talk to you? What did he say?"
"He looked… exactly the same. Like he stepped out of a cologne ad or something. He was all smiles, he said he's helping a friend in the country now and we exchange number."
Aria gasped. "Bella. Bella. Do you hear the plot twist forming?"
"No," I said, reaching for another pillow to muffle my face. "And I don't want to."
"Too late. I'm writing it in my head already."