Sophie burst out laughing. “Yeah, you probably could.” She sobered. “You wait until you see his house. It’s like this stunning, architectural, perfect palace. And when I say perfect, I mean … magazine perfect. Like Vogue Living ready all the time. It’s … just … so much.”
“But honey, you knew when you married him that he had this kind of money. What’s the problem?”
“It’s not a problem,” she demurred quickly. “I love Alex.” And she really, really did. No matter what was going on between them, she had every faith it would be a temporary concern. “It’s just … I fell in love with him when I didn’t really have any concept of just how …”
“Nonsense! Everyone knows how wealthy Alessandros Petrides is.”
“Yes, yes. But you read a number in an article and that’s very different to living it. Look at my engagement ring.”
“I did, believe me,” Olivia teased.
“I mean, I can’t even imagine how much he spent on it. It’s like … all this is so normal to him. And I don’t want it! I certainly don’t need it.”
“Then don’t wear the ring. Buy yourself something simple and use that instead.”
“But this is special because he gave it to me,” Sophie pointed out with a shrug. “It’s fine. I’m being silly. It’s just an adjustment.”
“Mmmm. You said that.” Olivia pursed her lips in the style that was uniquely hers. “I like your hair like this.”
Sophie might have laughed at the lightning fast conversation change, but she was used to her sister. “It’s the same as always.”
“No, it’s longer, and blonder.”
“Oh.” Sophie shrugged. “The length is laziness, and the blonde must just be from the sun.”
“It suits you. You look good.”
Sophie’s smile felt almost completely natural. “Thanks. So, are you going to tell me what adventure you’re off on this time?”
Olivia leaned forward, her eyes glinting with excitement. “Vegas.”
“I know where you’re going, but not why.”
“Why?” She scrunched up her nose as though Sophie was asking the most ludicrously simple question in the world. “Because it’s Vegas.”
“But what’s in Vegas?”
“Bright lights. Action. Fun.”
“You only got back from Rome a few months ago. Aren’t you a little sick of all that?”
“Says the girl who married a hot, billionaire stallion about three seconds after meeting him. To say nothing of your decision to up and move to his palatial home in stunning Greece.”
“We haven’t moved here,” Sophie corrected quickly, her tone distracted. “We’re just … staying here for now.”
“You’re missing my point! Your life is all about adventure! You were the first one to leave Celli. You escaped to Sydney as soon as you could and look at what you’ve done since. You’ve travelled with the bloody prime minister of England!”
“I might have been the first to leave home, but you’re definitely making up for lost time.” Sophie crossed one leg over the other with unconscious elegance.
“I know.” Olivia shrugged. “You know me. I get itchy feet if I sit still for too long.”
“What will you do for work?”
“I’ll find something. Or something will find me.” She grinned. “I have a friend who said they’re looking for someone like me.”
“You’re so like mum sometimes, Liv,” Sophie said with a shake of her head.
They were quiet for a moment, thinking of Meredith Henderson, a woman they’d loved so dearly, and had lost so tragically.