by Marian Tee
“We’re on our way to Mummy now…”
Vivian jerked. “W-what was that again, Eula?” Had she heard the little girl correctly?
“You heard her right.” Luca’s dulcet tone slid in without missing a beat, and Vivian realized Eula had been talking to her on loudspeaker the whole while.
Fuuuuuuuuuuudge.
Vivian backtracked on her conversation with Eula in her mind, frantically trying to recall if she had said anything embarrassing.
“Are you still there, cara?”
Vivian glared at the phone, but she managed to say cheerfully, “Still here.” It was important Eula didn’t think she was upset about the little girl spending time with her birth mother.
The sound of Luca’s chuckle traveled down the line, caressing her ear, and she couldn’t help shivering. It was just no use, Vivian thought helplessly. Even when she was upset with him, she still found every little thing he said or did too sexy by half.
“Did you miss me?”
“Of course!”
“And will that answer change if I tell you Eula’s no longer listening to our conversation?”
Fudge!
“She’s on her headset now.” The billionaire’s smirk was more than evident in his tone, and Vivian’s teeth gnashed. Fudge, fudge, fudge.
“About Maria…”
Hearing Luca utter his ex-wife’s name made her chest tighten, and Vivian cut him off rashly, “I don’t need to hear it.” She was startled and devastated by how much it hurt just thinking about her husband spending time with Maria, hated how it made her feel so weak and insecure.
“Vivi---”
Afraid that he would insist on talking about how much fun he was having with his original family, she changed the subject, saying the first thing that came to her mind. “You s-shouldn’t put me on loudspeaker without telling me.”
There was a pause, and then Luca asked mockingly, “Why are you mad about it? It’s not as if you have something to hide – do you?”
She found herself glaring at her phone again, snapping, “Maybe you’re the one with something to hide.”
“About what?”
“About that woman, who else?”
“Ah.” Her husband’s tone became silky. “Jealous?”
Yes! But since she couldn’t say that, she simply kicked an empty beer can out of the way out of sheer frustration. Unfortunately, the can struck the wall with a loud clanging sound---
Fudge!
“Are you by chance throwing a tantrum, cara?”
The amusement in Luca’s tone made her feel childish and pathetic, and she snarled, “Not at all. I’m having lots of fun, actually.” And unable to help herself, she said with exaggerated cheer, “So you have fun there, too. Let’s all have fun. You’ve got Maria there, and I’ve got…I’ve got other boys---”
“The hell you do---”
“So go have fun,” she yelled, “because I’m going to have fun, too!” Furiously ending the call, she stalked out of the bathroom, breathing hard. Vivian didn’t actually mean a word she had said, but Luca didn’t have to know that. Right now, she just wanted him to hurt the way she was hurting.
Her phone started ringing soon after, but she stubbornly ignored it while looking for Donald. The way she was feeling, she was liable to do something stupid if she didn’t leave.
Her phone vibrated again, but this time it was a text message, and Vivian couldn’t stop herself from reading it.
Luca: Answer your phone.
Vivian furiously finger-punched her screen in response.
Vivian: Don’t mind me. Just have fun with your ex.
Luca: I’m only with them because I don’t trust Eula with her.
Vivian: Oh sure. I think it’s the other way around. You don’t trust ME. You didn’t even tell me about Maria attending Eula’s school play.
Luca: She was already there when I arrived, and I didn’t tell you right away because you were too upset that night.
Vivian: So it’s my fault you lied to me? CLASSIC. And what about Maria being in Tuscany the same guys you are? Why didn’t you tell me right away about it? Because I’ll be upset again?
Luca: This is also her hometown. Have you forgotten?
Vivian: EXCUSES.
She was about to type another text message when arms went around her from behind, and a familiar voice slurred in her ear, “Found ya, babe.”
Fudge.
Slipping her phone back in her dress’ pocket, she tried getting out of Donald’s hold without making too much of a fuss. “Let go, please.” She managed to twist around to look at him and grimaced. If he had been just a little drunk earlier, he was completely wasted now. His shirt was undone halfway, and several fresh lipstick smudges marked the side of his neck.
This time, she didn’t even bother to ask him to let go, simply shoving him away and then pretending to stumble when his arms slackened in release. “Sorry,” she yelled. “Someone pushed me from behind!” And in an effort to distract him, she asked, “Where’s Kay?”
“She already left!” Donald shouted something else, but when she only looked at him dumbly, unable to hear what he was saying, his hands made a cupping gesture over his chest, his face contorting in an expression of pain.
Oh. Right. Vivian remembered Kay telling her about her breast implants and how they tended to cause her pain once in a while. “Is she okay?”
Donald frowned. “What?”
“Is she okay?” she shouted more loudly.
Donald gestured towards the kitchen. “Let’s talk there!” At Vivian’s nod, he quickly turned around before she could catch a glimpse of the excitement he was sure was written all over his face.
Now was the time, Donald crowed in his mind, to prove the world that Luca Valencia was nothing in the bedroom compared to him. He was younger and he knew how to have fun. Intoxication had made Donald’s already oversized ego even bigger, and he was convinced he only needed five minutes to make Vivian moan his name.
Vivian frowned when she saw Donald insert a key to unlock the kitchen door. Following him inside, she asked, “Why is it locked?”
Pulling the door close, he pointed towards the kitchen table with a grin. “Because of that.”
Her eyes widened as she took in the packets of pills. Drugs, she realized dumbly. “Donald---” She whirled around, about to ask him what was he planning, only to find out that he was standing right behind her.
The hairs on Vivian’s neck stood up at the look on Donald’s face, and when he wetted his lips, her stomach twisted into knots. He started to reach for her, and in his eyes she saw that he wouldn’t care about whether she wanted this or not.
Desperation slashed at her, and instinct took over.
Vivian shoved Donald away, taking him by surprise, enough to force him to fall back. As she made a run for the door, she saw Donald scramble to his feet in the corner of her eye.
Her heart smashed against her chest, and she thought, Please God. Please---
But just as Vivian reached for the knob, Donald managed to grab hold of her hair and yanked her back forcefully.
She screamed.
Chapter Six
“Mi dispiace, signore.” Mario, the head of Vivian’s security, spoke in a grave voice. “Mr. Donald Crane has been arrested. We did get to the signora in time, but the paramedic believes she’s suffering from mild shock.”
“And the situation there?”
The bodyguard reversed the video chat’s feed, activating his cellphone’s rear camera to show what was happening around him.
Luca saw his bodyguards still on alert, thrusting reporters away every time they tried to get nearer to his wife, who sat at the back of an ambulance with a blanket draped over her shoulders. “Has my wife been cleared to go home yet?”
“Un momento, signore.” After speaking to the paramedic, Luca’s head of security gave the affirmative. “Shall we take her back to the house, signore?”
Luca nodded curtly. “But make su
re that a physician is on standby, just in case. And as soon as you have her in the car, I’d like to speak with her.”
“Si, signore.”
As soon as the call was terminated, the older man moved to assist his employer’s wife. “Signora? We have been asked to take you back to the house.”
“T-thank you.” Vivian swayed slightly as she came to her feet, but she shook her head when Luca’s men immediately lunged to help her. “I’m okay,” she insisted, doing her best to ignore the way her lower lip continued to tremble in the aftermath of her ordeal.
Her head of security fell into step with her, walking just a step behind.
Looking at him over her shoulder, she whispered, “Mario?”
“Si, signora?”
For a moment, all she could see was Donald’s crazy, leering face looming over her as she felt herself falling to the floor, and her chest tightened, remembering the way despair had strangled her.
For just one second, she had thought that was it.
But then the door had burst open, Luca’s men coming in to throw Donald off her.
She looked at Mario, saying fiercely, “Thank you for coming to save me.” Vivian swallowed hard. “I don’t know what would happen to me if he---”
“We should have come sooner to your aid, signora,” Mario admitted heavily. “We had beefed up our numbers at il signore’s command. All new faces that you would not recognize and would be able to work undercover.” A grave look crossed the older man’s face. “Unfortunately, those who had been able to make it to the premises were unforgivably complacent. One of my new recruits had seen you enter the kitchen alone with Mr. Crane, but he chose not to call it in.”
The way the bodyguard avoided looking directly at her spoke volumes, and she realized with shame that some of them had probably seen Vivian allowing Donald improper advances towards her – and misinterpreted her actions.
Luca had warned her about Donald, but she had refused to listen to him.
And now---
More police cars arriving at the scene with sirens blaring momentarily distracted Vivian, and she looked at Mario in dismay. “Is this all because of me?”
“No, signora.” When she turned to him in confusion, he elaborated quietly, “Numerous students apprehended in the vicinity were underage – and found in possession of either alcohol or illegal substances.”
And as if to emphasize the bodyguard’s point, police officers walked past them, dragging sobbing and struggling university students whose hands were cuffed behind their backs. When they noticed her looking at them, one of the girls spit at Vivian.
“This is all your fault,” the girl snarled. “We’re all in this mess because you played around and you couldn’t handle your shit!”
“If I get kicked out of varsity, I swear to God I’ll kill you,” a red-faced boy slurred.
As more invectives were hurled her way, Mario hastened to usher Vivian inside the Rolls Royce, and as the car sped away, she could only stare blindly outside the windows, unable to count the number of arrests being made.
There were so, so many – and were they all because of her?
“Signora?” It took Mario several times of calling out to his employer’s wife before she turned to him with haunted green eyes. “Signor Valencia wishes to speak with you.”
She took the phone with shaking hands. “H-Hello?”
“Are you okay?” Despite the tautness of her husband’s tone, the worry that threaded through it was unmistakable, and she choked back an involuntary sob, feeling like she didn’t deserve to have Luca worry about her.
He had warned her, but she hadn’t listened to him.
“Luca---” Her voice caught, as her eyes stung with tears that burned with the need to be shed.
“Tell me you’re okay,” her husband gritted out.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca exhaled sharply. “Just tell me if you’re okay first, per favore.”
Realizing she was only making it harder for him, she struggled to get her composure back and worked hard to keep her voice from shaking as she answered him. “I’m fine n-now. They c-came just in time.”
“Bene. It’s what I needed to hear.”
“Luca, I---”
“We’ll talk when I get back.” His tone was still taut, but it was also cold now, and it hurt.
Did he blame her for what happened?
She would understand if he did.
“Eula and I will leave for the airport---”
Unable to help it, she cut him off, asking tremulously, “Luca, are you mad at me?”
Silence.
Vivian bit her lip hard.
Finally, her husband said, “No, cara. I’m not. I love you, and I’m thankful that you’re safe.”
A tear slipped down her cheek. She knew in her heart he wasn’t lying, but somehow hearing the words still hurt, and she didn’t know why.
When she arrived back home, the silence in the house felt too eerie and oppressive at the same time, causing her to toss and turn in her bed. It was almost eight in the morning by the time exhaustion forced Vivian to sleep.
Vivian had vaguely wished that she would feel somewhat better the next day but upon waking up in the afternoon it was the opposite that happened, with her mood swinging from lethargy to anxiety, self-pity and terror.
Like anyone else, she heard of stories of sexual attacks from the news every day but even so she had foolishly believed it was something she would ever suffer from---
Until last night.
The sensible part of her knew what happened wasn’t her fault, but the irrational part of her couldn’t help pointing inwards in self-blame.
Luca had warned her, but she had ignored it.
She had seen the signs herself, but she had ignored it.
Didn’t that mean she was to blame for Donald’s attack?
Even knowing it would be read as an act of cowardice, Vivian decided on the last minute not to attend her classes that evening. She just wasn’t ready to face the world yet, and she didn’t at all look forward to the prospect of having to confront Kay about what her boyfriend did.
In an effort to distract herself, Vivian decided to check on her email while praying silently in her mind that she wouldn’t see her inbox flooded with hate mail.
When she opened her eyes, she realized that reality was worse.
One of the new unopened messages in her inbox was from Maria.
I’ve made mistakes but I’ve learned from them. I would have stayed away if I thought you deserved them. I only wanted a chance with Eula. But after what happened last night, I knew it wouldn’t be right for me to simply stand and watch and do nothing.
If you really love Luca and Eula, then please do what’s best for them.
Below the message was a download link for a folder of videos.
She clicked the first one, and Vivian paled when she saw that it was a recording of Luca and his ex-wife when they were still in high school. They looked young and innocent, happy, and completely besotted with each other.
The second video was of Luca and Maria’s wedding day, and Vivian could feel more blood leeching off her face as she watched her husband---
Her husband!
He was her husband, so why was he kissing another woman?
And the kiss was so damn passionate, so painfully torrid---
The force of his kiss had his ex-wife bent backwards by the waist, and even with Maria trying to shove him off, Luca wouldn’t let her up.
Luca just didn’t want to stop kissing Maria!
And like a sick fool, Vivian couldn’t stop watching it.
She replayed it over and over, unable to care even knowing that it made her masochistic and pathetic.
Luca.
Luca.
Luca.
But no matter how many times she cried his name out in her mind, it no longer sounded…hers.
Chapter Seven
Vivian tried to get a handle of her nerves as she watc
hed the limousine bearing Luca and Eula roll down the driveway. She had hoped to surprise them by waiting for the two at the airport, but security had prohibited her from even making it to the front door.
Il signore had requested that she rest for today, Mario had explained to her.
It had left her no choice but to acquiesce, Vivian not wanting to cause trouble to the very men who had come to her rescue the night before.
Eula was the first to step out of the car, and the little girl hurtled herself into Vivian’s arms the moment she saw her stepmother.
“Vivi, I missed you.”
“I missed you so much, too, principesa.” Vivian hefted the little girl up in his arms, hugging her back just as tightly. As she placed a tender kiss on the girl’s hair, she watched Luca’s powerful form emerge, her heart thundering against her chest.
He looked magnificent as always – beautiful, elegant, and out of her league, even when he was married to her.
His light blue eyes captured her gaze, and she wondered numbly what those eyes saw when they looked at her. Did Luca still see her as the woman he wished to spend the rest of his life with? Or had she become his biggest mistake?
“H-hi.” Her greeting came out choked.
Luca’s veiled gaze swept over hers. “Are you feeling alright?”
She nodded.
“I am glad to hear that, cara. But still, you must not push yourself.” As he spoke, he took Eula from her and when the little girl’s head drooped, Vivian realized that Eula had already fallen asleep in her arms.
“She must be exhausted,” Vivian worried.
“Nothing that uninterrupted sleep won’t take care of. You know how she is when flying.”
A tentative smile touched her lips. “She thinks every flight is an adventure.”
“Exactly.” His glance moved to the doors behind her. “Shall we go in, cara?”
“Oh, y-yes,” she stammered, flushing.
Vivian followed him up the stairs, knowing that she should say something about the other night but unable to. She also knew she should bring up Maria, but she didn’t have the courage for that either.
She was practically burying her head in the sand with her silence, but right now she didn’t care. As long as it meant she could stay with Luca, she might just be willing to do anything.
