Chapter 3

Valerie POV

"Valcat!" Bella's voice rang out, bursting with joy as she suddenly appeared and hurried towards me, her face lit up with a huge grin. "Susu!" I called back, my excitement bubbling up as I quickly passed my drink to Dave, not minding that I spilled a bit of it, and hurried over to her in my heels. I threw my arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. It had been ages since we last saw each other, which felt like forever because we were practically joined at the hip, like sisters who were never meant to be apart. "Oh my goodness, I've missed you so much! It just hasn't been the same without you here." She squeezed me even tighter, making her petite frame seem even smaller. "I know," I laughed, feeling the warmth of our reunion. "I've missed you tons!" I took a step back to see her, holding onto her hands. It was like I was seeing her for the first time in forever, taking in every detail. "Susu, you look amazing, so so pretty!" I gaped at the beautiful gown she was wearing. It was a long, flowy, beautiful old rose-colored strapless gown with a corset-like top with silver patterns that hugged into her waist, strapless gown with a corset-like top with silver patterns which hugged into her waist, and made her already full breasts even bigger. Her pitch-black hair was in an updo with a few loose strands of hair around her face, and her makeup was done flawlessly, complimenting her hazel eyes. She looked breathtaking "Mom outdid herself with this dress. It's more than I could ever imagine." She winked mischievously, and I dropped my jaw at the new information. "I didn't know you asked Mom to make you a dress!" I squinted my eyes at her. My mother was a designer and made drop-dead gorgeous gowns. When we moved, she opened her little shop, however, it blew up in no time, and eventually, we had to expand and now it was a well-known high-end boutique called Matilda. Yup, she decided to use her name as the brand.. "Yeah, well, I didn't want you to know because I wanted it to be a surprise, and -" Bella put her hand to her chest and squeezed my hand with the other. "I love you so much, but you fucking suck at keeping something like that a secret." She said while giving me an innocent smile. I opened my mouth to say something but closed it again because she was right. I was the type of person who would get you a gift and within the next few minutes I would be all like 'Guess what I just got you.' I mean, she already knew what I got her for her engagement. I took a picture of the champagne glasses and sent her a text message that said 'OMG these are so cute! I'm getting them for you and sent her the picture. "Fair enough," I muttered. "But damn, look at you! That dress is so hot on you. Who are you getting your titties out for, huh?" Bella put her hands on her hips and wiggled her eyebrows at me. Typical of Bella, always having her mind in the gutter. "No one." I rolled my eyes. "Unlike you, my titties are covered up." I pointed out. "True, but I have a man now that I need to impress so he knows what awaits him if you know what I mean." She winked, making me laugh in the process. "Speaking of man..." I murmured while looking around to make sure no one was near hearing distance. "Are you sure you want to do this, Bella? You can always, I don't know, run away? You know I'll come with you." I told her with a serious expression. If she wanted to run away to a different country, for her, I would drop everything and go with her. She was my only family besides my mother, and I would do anything to make sure she would be safe. "You know I can't do that. He will hunt me down and kill me if I ever think about running away." She gave me a sad smile. "Besides..." Bella continued. "Anything will be better than living with him. I just have to get away. I need to breathe." She sighed. As much as I hated to admit it, it was true. Her father was an absolute maniac and abusive, to say the least. If she did something and he found it inappropriate, he would lay his hands on her. One time her father came back home from God knows where, intoxicated with both alcohol and cocaine and almost beat her to death if he didn't gain just a little bit of his senses back. Hah, I hoped one day someone would give him the same treatment. Amen. "This is my way out of here." She promised. "As long as you're happy, I'm happy." I gave a small smile and pulled her into another hug. "Just remember, no matter what happens, Pitbull has been there and done that." Bella pulled away and looked me dead in the eyes with a blank expression. "I swear, Valerie if you say that one more time, I will beat you up and make you eat your phone." I stuck my tongue out at her as I grinned. So, I may have used that phrase one too many times to lighten up the mood. (if you knew you know) What can I say? Memes are life. "Are you done catching up? I'm feeling all lonely here by myself." Dave wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pouted his lips. "Isn't this awesome!? The trio has finally reunited at last." He said with excitement, and I just shook my head at him and removed his arm from my shoulders. "I did not spend that much time getting ready for you to get my hair into a tangled mess". "whatever "he muttered. "Come, let me introduce you to my soon-to-be husband." She nodded in the direction of a large group of men standing, smoking cigars and drinking whatever their choice of poison was. But what caught me off guard was that they were already staring at us. Nothing intimidating about that. Nope, not at all =) "Have fun with that," Dave muttered as he was already looking in the direction of the men with a blank impression. "Are you not coming with us? Didn't you just say that you were lonely standing by yourself?" I gave him a teasing look. "Yeah, but I'm not that lonely." He smiled down at me. "See ya!" He said as he made his way in the opposite direction before either of us could get a word out.. "Let's go." Bella took the hold of my hand and together we made our way toward the group of men who were standing there and observing our every move. And for some reason, it felt dangerous.