by Zaydee Rain
He has a fiancée, for heaven's sake. How could he ask me to have sex with him? Yes, sex-not making love or any other fancy term. That was what he told me that day in his office.
I stood up and grabbed my mug of coffee and went to the living room. There, I spied an iMac in a corner. Since no one is around, I thought I might as google this mystery bride-to-be of Luc.
I switched the computer on and quickly opened a browser. I typed "Luc De la Vega" on the search engine. The first link that appeared was the online website of Valiente Group of Companies. I right-clicked that to open it in a new tab.
I wasn't surprised when I saw that Luc have his own Wikipedia page. I opened that one too and decided to read it first.
He was born on a November, twenty-nine years ago; the only child of Diego and Catalina De la Vega. Diego died when Luc was just five, making the little boy a billionaire at a very young age. His mother remarried three times since then that's why Luc now has five half-siblings ranging from age twenty-three to fifteen. Luc was exceptionally smart. He skipped a couple of levels during his academic life. He took over his father's company when he was twenty-one, just a fresh lad from college.
The article continued to mention the awards Luc received for his "giftedness". I couldn't help but snort. I scrolled down the page and saw a small thumbnail showing two cars bumper to bumper. Under the picture, a short caption said: "De la Vega in a car accident last March in Belmonte, Spain."
I gasped. Luc was in one of those cars? Both were a total wreck, for sure. I read the article beside the picture and finally saw what I was looking for.
It was raining when the accident happened. According to police reports, Luc was not driving the car. The paramedics found him unconscious, his head on the dashboard of the Lamborghini he was riding in. Beside him, the paramedics rescued a disoriented, mildly conscious Stella Reveron-his fiancée.
Stella Reveron. Only a caveman wouldn't know that name.
The gorgeous blonde supermodel whose face glossed a thousand of fashion magazines, whose very presence in a catwalk is very much adored. I know Faustine would die if Stella is caught wearing one of her designs.
So she's Luc's soon-to-be wife. No wonder. Gorgeous people only marry gorgeous people. But it is still a puzzle why Luc would ask me to go to bed and move in with him when he has a beautiful woman waiting for him in the wings. Maybe he gets a kick in sleeping with other women and cheating on his partner. I know for a fact that some men are like that. They don't find satisfaction in a monogamous relationship.
I closed the Wikipedia page with a sad sigh. It's really hard to find a man nowadays who could be honest and faithful to you. My heart went out to Stella and all the other women who have a husband or a boyfriend just like Luc De la Vega.
I scanned the Valiente Group of Companies website briefly. Luc, obviously, owns it. He diversified his father's business empire. Diego owned hotels and resorts before but when Luc took over he entered the real estate and computer business. He joined each of his companies to make an internationally-known business realm.
I pushed away from the desk and went over the glass wall of the living room. I was looking out for so long, so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear anybody come in until a pair of arms drew my back to a hard chest.
I jumped and swung around to come face to face with the man I investigated a while ago.
'Don't touch me,' I struggled in his arms. 'You bastard, I say don't touch me!'
Luc immediately dropped his arms and his eyes narrowed. I instinctively felt that every other sense in him that is in working condition is on full alert. That's why even though he can't see, he can still be intimidating.
'I take it you saw the papers already,' He said lazily, as if the topic bored him. 'I did too-I mean, I didn't see it but I was told what was in it.'
I pulled down my nightgown, feeling a little naked in front of this man even though I was modestly covered. 'They're calling me your "new woman."' I hissed, disgusted by the label.
'I have my lawyers working for the papers to retract their article and make an apology,' His hand reached out to me but I brushed it away. He frowned when I did so. 'What's wrong, querida? I thought we agreed to start fresh?'
'Yes,' I said in between gritted teeth. 'But that was before I found out you have a fiancée.' I scoffed and moved away. I was so angry at him, at myself that I was also so scared I might do something I might regret later. 'Tell me, does she know you asked me to live with you?'
'No.'
I laughed, drily. 'Of course. How convenient for you.'
'Lorraine-' He started but I cut him.
'No, Luc, don't even try to explain yourself. You can't even explain yourself to your fiancée. Why should you try to explain to me of all people?' I was working hard to keep my voice even. I want to sound like I don't care, like it didn't hurt. Because, truth be told, it did. 'Besides I already know about the accident.'
When I glanced back at him, I found him standing stiffly, his hand curled around the back of a chair near the window. 'You do? How?' His voice was cold, his knuckles have gone white and everything about him was guarded.
'I googled you.' I said, a little bit uncertain this time. The anger was slowly draining out of me.
He hissed and tensed some more. 'You googled me?' Luc growled.
I was baffled. 'Why? What's wrong with that? I didn't know what else to do!' I told him but he was relentless.
'You could've asked me!' I was frightened by his roar. 'But you just couldn't wait for me, can you? You went behind my back instead!'
'I don't know why you're so angry about this... I mean, most of the people would do that too if they were in my place.'
He pressed his forefinger and thumb on the bridge of his nose. 'That's the point. Most of the people would do that and I thought you were different!'
The way he said it made my heart sink. I slowly walked towards him but stopped when he turned around.
"Tell me what you know,' He whispered. I didn't really want to talk now. However, I was forced to when Luc's voice rose again. 'Talk!' He ordered.
'You're an only child,' I started shakily. 'Your father died when you were just a child. You have graduated-'
'I meant about the accident!' He snarled, revolted by my narration of his life story. 'Don't try my patience, Lorraine!'
My whole body was trembling but I forced myself to talk composedly. 'It was raining. You were in some Spanish countryside and your fiancée, Stella Reveron, was driving. You collided with the car on the other side of the road after S-Stella lost control of the vehicle.' I paused to take a deep breath. 'T-then you were found unconscious by the medical team who went to the site of the accident. Stella was barely awake...'
There was a pregnant pause before he spoke again. 'That's it?'
I uttered a soft "yes."
Luc only laughed drily. 'I'm surprised.' His tone suggests the opposite though. 'Was Stella's repulsion to my state after the accident not mentioned in the article you read? Hmm, interesting. I wonder why they left that out. It's the most important part of the story.' Again, the sarcasm. 'Stella didn't suffer any permanent damage. Just a few cuts and bruises while I was comatose for the better part of two weeks.'
I gasped but he paid me no attention.
'When I finally woke up, it was to the darkness. I couldn't see anything though I knew there were doctors hovering beside my bed.' Oh, my gosh. Luc lost his sight because of that accident. I didn't know. It certainly wasn't in the Wikipedia page. I just assumed that he-oh, right now I don't know what I assumed about his blindness!
'Stella visited when she thought I was sleeping.' Luc sat down the long cream couch. He absently passed a weary hand across his face. 'She asked the doctors to explain what happened to me. She listened, argued and cried. She was frantically begging my doctors to do something.' He leaned back and adopted a devil-may-care expression. 'My doctors told her there was nothing they could do to help me. They were uncertain if my blindness would
be temporary or permanent. Only time will tell.
'After saying that, Stella used her vicious tongue on them.' For the second time, Luc laughed without humor. 'I remember her words. It was something like, "You have to bring my Lucas back. I don't want him to be blind. You have to do something. Or are you two nothing but incompetent pretenders? Can't you cure him? Tell me now so I can find someone who can really make him well."'
Stella was obviously had a hard time accepting the fact. Who wouldn't, right? If someone you love got hurt, you would fight for them. But why isn't she here now? Why isn't she with Luc, overcoming this new weakness with him?
Luc gave me the answer in no time. 'When I heard her tirade, I thought to myself that she must have really loved me. However, that bubble burst when she followed her words by saying, "I want the old Lucas back, the one who could see! What use is a blind man to me? I can't marry a blind man! I don't even want to live forever with someone who can't see!"'
My heart broke. It must have been hell hearing that after waking up to nothing but darkness. The earlier understanding and empathy I felt for Stella was gone in an instant. It was replaced by anger and contempt. How could a person do that? Only a heartless shrew would have the stomach to say those things.
'So you see, I don't have a fiancée anymore. The media is wrong because they're not updated.' Luc waved, back to his indifferent self. 'They weren't told that Stella left me in my time of need.'
Underneath his apathetic facade, there lies a hint of misery. Luc must have really loved Stella Reveron. 'They don't even know you're blind?' I asked quietly.
He shook his head. 'Only a few people know. I do business now by the use of phones and computers. I hardly meet with my associates personally anymore. They accept this since their money still profits.'
I made my way to the couch and sat beside him. 'I'm sorry.' I touched a hand to his arm.
'You don't have to be sorry that I'm blind, querida.'
I was a little glad when Luc didn't refuse my touch. 'No, what I meant is that I'm sorry for going behind your back-though I'm sorry about that too. I should have asked you first but I don't know. I lost my head and I wasn't sure if you would tell me the truth.'
He caught my hand in his and laced our fingers together. I watched, with some fascination, as his big, tanned palm engulf my pale one. 'Do you want to leave me?'
My heart cracked a little bit more by the way he asked. 'Will you let me?' I know it was dumb to answer him with a question too but I didn't know what else to say.
His thumb was caressing my inner wrist. 'No,' He said truthfully. 'Tripp described your apartment-if you could call it that-to me. It was a shovel.'
I chuckled and ignored the hitch in my breathing. 'You mean a hovel.' Then I realized that he was insulting my home. 'And it wasn't a hovel, you oaf. I made a lot of improvements since I moved in there.'
'But not enough if Tripp's description is anywhere near the truth,' He murmured. 'You called me an oaf. No one has ever called me that before.'
'Maybe because they were scared of you.'
He grinned, looking like a little boy. I'm beginning to crave for each of his smiles. Oh, my. Did I just say that?
'And you're not afraid of me, muñequita?'
I didn't know what prompted me to do it-maybe it was his lazy caress on my hand, maybe it was grin or maybe I was just feverish-but the next thing I knew was I was back on his lap, like last night and I was drawing his head down to mine.
I crushed my lips to his. I felt him break off his initial shock and respond to me. His tongue darted out to lick my bottom lips and I shivered with anticipation. It didn't take long for him to coax my mouth open. I was so consumed by desire for Luc. It was exhilarating and scary at the same time. I've never felt this kind of emotion of somebody else.
'Luc...' I moaned his name when he bit my lip gently.
'You excite the hell out of me, querida.' But instead of doing what I excepted him to do, he set me away from him.
'Luc?' I brought my hand to his cheek. He smiled a little and kissed my palm, just like he did last night. Since I was still feeling brazen, I crawled from the other end of the couch back to him. 'Kiss me again, please.' I bit the lobe of his ear.
He groaned, said something in his own language and turned his head to plunder my mouth again. My hands pulled at his hair and while his went to my hips and behind.
We were both breathing heavily in just a few seconds. There was a delicious clenching in my stomach and I had the satisfaction to feel Luc's hard body shudder when I slid my hands under his suit jacket. I encircled his waist with my arms, pulling him closer to me.
Because his head was free, he was able to pull away his lips from mine. 'I think we should talk.'
'No,' I protested like a little girl. 'We talked already.' My lips found his again.
'Lorraine,' He groaned. 'Let me breathe. I won't be accountable for my actions in a few moments if we continue kissing.'
'I'm not going to blame you.' I said, kissing his freshly shaven cheeks and jaw.
Luc was still breathing hard and fast, like he ran five miles. 'Don't you want to know why I brought you here?'
'No,' I quickly denied. Then it hit me. He was finally going to tell me what my job would be. 'On second thought, yes.' I conceded but still kissing him.
'You're going to work for me.'
'We've established that since I broke your jar.'
'Vase,' He corrected.
'Whatever. So what will my position be?' I remembered his quip about that. 'Is it going to be "horizontally?"'
'Where the hell did you get this attitude overnight?' He questioned with a flabbergasted tone.
I considered answering him but decided to evade him. 'You were telling me about my job...' I reminded him. God, he smells so good.
'Yes, well, you... Lorraine!' He groaned was muffled. 'Stop licking my neck!'
'Then kiss me now!' I said in a mock reprimanding tone.
This time he determinedly pushed me away. When he was finished explaining my job description, I was confused, surprised and amused.
'What? You want me to be your nanny?'
Chapter 8
Luc looked as if he could happily strangle me. 'I didn't say you are to be my nanny.' He announced sternly. 'I only said that-'
'You want me to look after you.' I slotted in with a grin.
His eyes narrowed. 'No. I don't need someone to look after me.' He replied heatedly. 'I just said I want someone to take over the penthouse.'
'Ah, so you want me to be the cleaning lady?' I know I sounded insulted, which unsettled Luc more. I pressed a finger to his lips when he would have argued. 'No, don't talk. I understand. So where should I start? Would you like me to scrub your bathroom?'
I pretended to struggle to get off his lap but his arms tightened around me. 'Muñequita, I don't think you really understand.'
'Now, I'm stupid?'
He cursed under his breath. 'What is wrong with you? Why are you putting words into my mouth?' He asked in exasperation. 'I didn't say you are stupid. I also didn't say I want you to be the cleaning lady. I only-' He suddenly stopped then his eyes narrowed once more. 'Are you playing with me?'
I burst into fits of giggles and he growled. 'Oh, Luc, the look on your face was priceless!' I managed to choke out in between my laughs.
'I don't like being made fun of like that.' He said icily.
