Falling for the Billionaire

18

Lil met her sister's eyes in the mirror and dabbed a happy tear away before it could smudge her makeup.

"Are you sure the veil is on securely?" Abby asked.

"I can have the stylist check it again, but I think short of stapling it on, it's as secure as it gets."

Abby turned and Lil was once again moved by the glow on her sister's face. The paparazzi would love her – not that they would have a chance to snap a single photo. With the Andrade's blessing, the couple had flown less than a hundred guests to Isola Santos for a highly private wedding. Immense air-conditioned tents covered the lawn and led to a discrete area that would allow the couple to marry with the ocean as a backdrop to their ceremony. There was only one photographer and he'd signed a non-disclosure contract.

Although Alethea was not attending the wedding, she'd sent a wedding present–a schematic breakdown of the weaknesses she'd found both at Dominic's engagement party and in his plans for the island wedding. Abby hadn't warmed up to her enough to invite her to the wedding, but she was beginning to soften her stance against her. After all, Alethea had played a role in saving

Corisi Enterprises.

The only one who wasn't presently happy with Lil's best-friend was Dominic's head of security. Rumor had it that he was furious when he read her report, especially since she'd noted that he was "easily distracted" from his duties. That was Al, making friends wherever she went.

My sister is getting married today.

Today.

Three weeks hadn't been much time to prepare for a wedding, but since the budget had been so generous–it had come together seamlessly. Amazing what people could accomplish when they worked on commission and the bride could have whatever she wanted.

Concepts for wedding dresses had arrived almost immediately from several well-known designers and it was no surprise that Abby had chosen something simple: a white strapless, silk gown with layers of lace that covered both the dress and Abby's arms and shoulders in the classic style of Grace Kelly. Her bouquet was a nosegay of white wild orchids, white peonies and mini calla lilies. Abby's most stunning accessory was the huge smile that hadn't dimmed since she'd met Lil for breakfast that morning.

Lil looked down her own iridescent, charcoal chiffon dress. The body of it was shirred and fitted from the strapless, ruffled bodice to the mid-thigh hemline that boasted a detachable flowing skirt. Mrs. Duhamel had found the perfect compromise-dress, floor length to satisfy Abby and sizzling and short in one easy step for Lil. Nicole and Maddy had been easy to talk into wearing the spicy bridesmaid's dress, but Zhang had been an altogether different matter. She had also been the wildcard in the wedding party. Maddy's husband, Richard, and Nicole's fiancé, Stephan, were natural choices for groomsmen. Maddy convinced Abby that choosing a groomsman for Zhang had to be done as carefully as if they were matchmaking.

Lil smiled at the memory of how they had finally chosen a fourth groomsman.

Dominic had declined on having a bachelor party, saying that he'd had quite enough wild days in his past. In the spirit of that decision, in lieu of a bachelorette party the women had gathered at one of Dominic's homes with a few bottles of champagne for a high tech slide show of men Dominic knew well enough to ask to be part of his wedding party.

Maddy had suggested that, to keep it fun, the candidates must either be royalty or be on Forbes list of most influential men. The selection process was as much fun as any night on the town would have been. Maddy cued up the photos on a large screen in the home's private movie theatre. Nicole read a detailed description of each man. Pros and cons were discussed and then Maddy used her Photoshopping skills to superimpose Zhang and the potential escort into the same photo walking down an aisle, arm in arm.