The Billionaire Saved My Life (BWWM Billionaire Love Story Book 1) by Sherie Keys

hungry,” she said, picking up her wine glass again. Absently, all she had done was sip wine. Slowly she was becoming more and more heady and the room was beginning to spin. The staff buzzed around and carried plates to and from the kitchen. They refilled glasses, and kept the guests happy. The string quartet stopped playing but the sound of their instruments still rang in Tanya's ears. After dessert and coffee, the staff was busy filling champagne glasses again and serving them to the guests, ready for a toast. Kurtis was about to make a speech.
    He stood up and cleared his throat. Then talking in the great dining hall dulled down to silence and all eyes were on Kurtis.
    “Everyone, I just wanted to thank you for coming here tonight and mostly, for keeping our secret hideaway a secret. Thank you.” He gave a slight bow around the room before continuing. “Tanya and I are so glad to see you all and we're just so happy that you could share our joy. As many of you know, I haven't had a good time over the years before meeting Tanya. And if you didn't, you could always find out on Google why that was.” Here he looked at Mae and Kaya, who laughed aloud. So did everyone else.
    “But seriously,” he went on. “I was at my lowest point, emotionally, and something happened to change all that. I was doing what so many of you know I was prone to do, disappear into the dark and just try to walk my problems away. But on this particular night, there was a bright light ahead of me. It was shining from this beautiful woman here on my left and it showed me a new way. The night I met Tanya changed everything. My whole perspective on life and what I wanted from it. I knew when I saw her, she was the one, that special someone who could return me to life.
    I was so happy when she agreed to be my wife. I honestly have been walking on cloud nine...”
    There was the sound of a commotion out in the corridor; people were anxiously turning around. Tanya thought the staff must be having some sort of problem, so she signaled to the head waiter to go out and see what was wrong. When the door was opened, Tanya thought she caught a glimpse of James. It must be her warped imagination, she thought, but all the same, her heart immediately began to pound. So loudly, she thought Kurtis might hear.
    “...so, I'll stop telling you how beautiful she is. You all know that.  Tanya has a beautiful heart. I hope we can announce the date of the big day very soon but first I'd like you to, please, stand, and drink to the love of my life, T...”
    “Wait!”
    A voice from the door shouted, “I need to speak to Kurtis!” It was a woman's voice. One by one, the guests took their seats again and lowered their champagne flutes.
    A brief look up at him and Tanya could see that Kurtis had lost all the color in his face.
    Tanya looked towards the door and saw the woman standing there. The woman had long dark hair and simply stood in the doorway with her arms at her side. She was not dressed for the party. She wore a simple, white silk dress that came to her knees. She was staring straight at Kurtis, eyes penetrating him alone and ignoring everyone else in the room.
    Still, Tanya did not understand why her fiancé had gone as white as a sheet. Who was this woman standing, looking so longingly at him? Tanya looked back at Kurtis.
    “Kurtis?” she said. “Who is that woman?”
    At first Kurtis did not speak.
    Tanya managed to peel her eyes off the woman, as beautiful as she was, and turn to Kurtis once more.
    “Kurtis, look at me,” she asked in a quiet and measured voice. “Who is that?”
    Kurtis, too, had to tear his eyes away from the woman at the door. He looked at Tanya.
    “Th-that,” he said. “It -- it is Catherine.”
    Tanya's head swung back to the open doorway. She looked back at Kurtis, open mouthed, but he had left her side and was walking towards the woman on the other side of the room. He was walking back to Catherine.
     
     
     
     

 
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