Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 56

Clearly afraid Stella would reject him outright, Julius hung up the moment the words left his mouth, refusing to give her a chance to say no.

Stella stared at her phone, utterly unbothered.

Since when did Julius get to make decisions for her without her consent?

When Julius arrived home, the gown was still sitting exactly where he had it delivered, but Stella was nowhere to be found.

Assuming she had eaten dinner and gone for a walk with his grandmother, he didn't overthink it and went straight to the bathroom to shower.

When he came out and she still wasn't back, he wandered down to the first floor to grab a quick bite.

He waited another half hour until Nadine finally returned.

But it was only Lisa and Nadine. Stella wasn't with them.

"Nadine, where's Stella?"

"Stella? Oh, she headed out right after dinner. What did she say she was doing again? Lisa, where did Stella say she was going?"

"Nadine, Mrs. Blackwood said she was going out to meet a friend."

"Right, right! Stella went to see a friend. Julius, she barely has any friends in the city. Don't you dare call her and demand she come back."

Lisa helped the elderly woman back to her room, leaving a highly agitated and frustrated Julius standing alone in the living room.

How dared she stand him up?

In his entire life, no one had ever dared to stand him up!

And what did Nadine mean, don't call her back?

He was going to call her back right this second!

He yanked out his phone and dialed Stella's number.

Predictably, it rang straight to voicemail.

Fuming, he stomped upstairs, changed his clothes, and left the manor alone.

He had organized the gathering; he couldn't exactly not show up.

He'd severely underestimated the situation. Dealing with Stella was apparently harder than negotiating a billion-dollar merger!

But Hammer nailed it. He had been thoroughly stood up.

Technically, he couldn't even blame Stella, considering he had hung up before she ever actually agreed to come.

It was a tactical error on his part.

Marsh had tracked her location to this exact bar, which was the only reason Julius had abruptly changed the venue.

Now, surrounded by his friends and their dates, he was facing an interrogation.

"She bumped into a friend," Julius lied smoothly. "She went to say hi and will join us later. Go ahead and start without me."

In reality, he had no idea if she was even still here. He hadn't spotted her in the main lounge when he walked in.

He figured he'd sit tight for a bit, then do a sweep of the place. If he couldn't find her, he'd just use the 'she had an emergency' excuse and bail.

At that exact moment, Stella emerged from the restroom and slid back into her booth.

Sitting directly across from her was a remarkably handsome young man.