“You’re making him out to be a monster. You never see his good side.”

“I didn’t say he didn’t have a good—”

“There you are.”

Alex whipped around to the sound of the iron gate closing, Guy striding toward the two of them with a look of barely contained outrage. His crisp ivory suit seemed to reflect every bit of light available in the night sky, glowing with a bluish tint.

“Hi,” Paul said, straightening himself and folding his handkerchief. “I’ll be back up in a minute.”

“What happened now?” Guy asked, checking the time on his phone before slipping it back into his pocket. “And please do not tell me it’s about that stupid dress.”

“It’s a caftan,” Paul clarified, meekly.

“You are unbelievable,” Guy spat. “Do you know how many people are up there right now, wondering where you are? And now I’m spending yet another important event dealing with one of your melodramas. Your caftan got lost. I’m not having a fight about this.”

Alex had never seen the reality of their fights—or, what had been described by Paul as “their fights”—and she felt her heart sink into her stomach at the sight of it. She could feel the blows of Guy’s words landing on Paul, the horrible weight of them.

“Get up,” Guy insisted, blowing past Alex and roughly grabbing Paul by the arm. “I’m not doing this tonight.”

“Don’t touch him,” Alex shouted, surprising herself with the volume of her voice.

Paul looked over at her, shaking his head. Guy turned to face her, his expression full of disdain.

“Don’t get involved.” His voice had a booming finality that scared her.

“I’m already involved,” she said, feeling her hands shake at her sides and clenching them into fists. “And I’m not leaving here without Paul.”

“That’s funny, because you had no problem leaving the boat we paid for.”

She felt a hot flush of embarrassment at the reminder.

“That wasn’t her fault,” Paul pushed back, taking a deep breath and straightening his back. “And she was my guest.”

“Why don’t you marry her, then?” Guy sneered, shooting her a look of pure disdain. “You might as well, honestly.”

She looked between them, the truth snapping into place: of course Guy never liked her. He probably couldn’t stand that they dated first, that they were still so inseparable as friends, that she loved him for exactly who he was. Her stomach churned with indignation of her own she had no time to unpack.

“Leave him alone,” Alex said, reaching down to seek Paul’s hand and pulling him toward the gate. “I’m serious. I’m not going to let you treat him this way.”