Anything Could Happen

Chapter Seven: Belle of the Ball

"Will you relax," Cristiano murmured shaking his head, he sipped on his drink surprised about how nervous Lionel was about all of this; he remembered when he had been in the same position as him meeting Ariana for the first time. 

It only seemed like yesterday that he was asking Ariana to court her and now they were married and had two beautiful daughters; Cristiano could only hope that one day they would be blessed with a son. 

"Ariana is with her, she is here," Cristiano said peeking over at the ambassador's table, he frowned watching Christina complain about the fact that Briana had disappeared and wasn't serving them. 

It wouldn't be long before the woman would be kissing Briana's ass wanting her to arrange perfect marriages for her other two children; Cristiano couldn't work out why they treated Briana like dirt. 

There was no denying that Briana was related to the four of them and yet Carlos continued to refer to Briana as his assistant when she was clearly his daughter. 

Lionel sighed sipping on his own drink, he looked around the room trying to spot Briana and knowing that Cristiano was right; she would be fine with his cousin looking out for her. 

His eyes moved up the stairs and he choked on his drink at the sight of a very familiar figure, Lionel couldn't help but stare making Cristiano grin and pat him on the back. 

"Lord have mercy," Lionel whispered not being able to look away from Briana, everyone had turned to look at her as she walked down the stairs. 

The red cap sleeves A-line lace sequins long evening dress suited her so well and Lionel couldn't believe how much she looked like an angel; he suddenly felt so lucky to have a woman like her as his mate. 

"You should go and get her before someone steals her away," Cristiano teased taking the drink from him before Lionel had a chance to drop it, he was slightly impressed with what his wife had managed to do in the space of twenty minutes.

***

Briana wanted nothing more than to disappear when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she had seen the enraged look on Christina's face at the sight of her wearing a gown and she didn't understand why Ariana had wanted her to wear it. 

The only thing that Briana wanted was to sneak back upstairs and get changed back into her own clothes; she felt so out of place in this fancy dress and she doubted that Christina would ever let her hear the end of this. 

"You look beautiful," said a voice making Briana jump a little surprised, she turned slowly to find Prince Lionel stood behind her and she suddenly wanted the ground to swallow her up. 

The last time that Briana had seen him had resulted in her being locked away in her room for a week; she couldn't imagine how long she would be locked in there this time and she wished she'd had the chance to restock her food. 

"Thank you," Briana replied politely not quite sure why a prince had come to speak with her, she could feel Christina's glare burning into her back and she doubted that it would be long before she came to collect her. 

Briana only hoped that whatever Ariana had been planning had been worth it, she was probably going to spend the next month locked away in her room for this. 

"Are you feeling better?" Lionel asked smiling to Briana, she seemed so nervous and he guessed that she wasn't used to being the centre of attention; she was an assistant who would be used to spending time behind the scenes. 

Lionel was just grateful that Briana was here, he peeked over at his parents who were watching with smiles on their faces; the first dance would be soon and he knew that it would be a moment to remember.