Bound By Her Ring

by Nicole Flockton

  Jasmine wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she thought Lukas seemed distant. They’d been travelling in silence for a while before he spoke.

  “I need to go into the office. Once the car has dropped me off, the driver will take you home.”

  The news that Lukas had an office in Perth surprised her and rallied for top position with the disenchantment his words brought.

  He was sending her home.

  “I didn’t know you had an office in Perth. Is it temporary?”

  “No,” he said as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and started pressing various buttons.

  Jasmine glanced at the stranger next to her wondering where the man who had comforted her on the plane had gone. It was as if the moment they’d landed, Lukas had to become the cold businessman again, like he didn’t want to let anyone know how considerate and loving he could be. His words were now short and clipped and no nonsense. His demeanour untouchable.

  If he could switch to cool businessman, she could do the same. “I’d like to go to my office as well. There are a couple of things I need to check up on.”

  Lukas glanced up from his cell phone. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

  “Well I don’t care if you think it’s a good idea or not. I had to push everything aside to rush away with you. Now I’m back I need to make sure everything is running smoothly.”

  The car stopped and Jasmine saw they were out the front of the Palazzo Regent, the place where it all started.

  They had come full circle.

  She looked up at the cement and glass structure, its lavish portico shining in the sunshine. A group of people had gathered clearly meeting to have lunch in one of the many restaurants. She wondered what they could be celebrating. Less than an hour ago she wanted to celebrate a new beginning.

  Lukas got out of the car and she made to follow him.

  His cell phone rang and he went into instant business mode. Answering the phone and asking the caller to wait. He then turned his distracted attention back to her. “Seeing as you are so keen, Ken will drive you to your office. I’ll see you later on.”

  He closed the door on her before she had a chance to voice her opinion.

  Anger infused her. How could he treat her like she was just a minion? She was his wife.

  She taped the glass that separated her from the driver. “When it’s safe to do so, can you please turn around and take me back to the Palazzo.”

  “I’m sorry, Mrs Morelli, Mr Morelli said to take you to the office. That’s what I’m going to do.”

  She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Of all the high handed actions by he-who-must-be-obeyed, that just took the cake. She much preferred the man she had woken up with this morning to the man she had just left at the hotel. Where had he gone? What had happened between the plane landing and getting into the car?

  She seethed the whole way to the office, and when the car stopped she didn’t wait for Ken to open the door, she opened it herself and obtained little satisfaction from slamming it shut.

  She stormed into her office, marching past her bewildered assistant. She stood behind her desk and gazed out at the view, trying to absorb some of the tranquillity from the river cutting a swathe through the city.

  A clearing of a throat had her glancing over her shoulder. Her assistant hovered in the doorway, surprise etched all over her face. She started to speak, “I wasn’t…”

  “Expecting me back for at least another week, yes I know. Let me just say my plans changed.” Jasmine turned fully from the view and sat behind her desk, switching on her computer. “Is there anything urgent that needs my attention?”

  She spent the next couple of hours getting up to speed with the happenings of all the hotels. Reservations were at an all time high across all the hotels. It seemed being aligned to Regent Hotels and Morelli Corporation proved to be a very positive connection for business.

  Her assistant left her with the latest brochures and marketing material for the upcoming holiday promotion that needed reviewing. She was making corrections, oblivious to how much time had passed, when her assistant buzzed through to her.

  “Yes?”

  “There’s a man by the name of Ken here, he says he’s come to pick you up?”

  “Kindly tell him I’m busy and will make my own way home.”

  “Sure, Jasmine.”

  She had no doubt Ken would’ve heard her but she knew Pamela would make sure the message was conveyed in a manner which Ken would understand clearly.

  After ten minutes of silence she was feeling very pleased with herself. Hopefully Lukas would get the message she wasn’t going to be pushed around to suit his needs.

  The door being thrust open and a cry from her assistant had her head shooting up so fast she was sure she had given herself whiplash.

  “Lukas,” she gasped as her eyes clapped onto who had thundered into her office.

  “Your workday is done, Jasmine. It’s time to go home.” His tone brooked no argument and the fire in his eyes flared out engulfing her with their intensity.

  “Really?” she replied archly. “Well I still have a few matters that need attending to.”

  “They can wait,” he strode purposefully around to her side of the desk. “I said it’s time to go home.”

  He took her handbag off the coat rack, placed it in her lap and lifted her easily from her chair.

  She spluttered in shock. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

  He didn’t answer her question, just strode past a stunned Pamela, into the waiting elevator. He didn’t release his hold until they’d reached his car.

  “I demand to know where you’re taking me, Lukas.”

  “Where does it look like I’m taking you? I’m taking you home.”

  Anger had the words, she’d longed to ask when they’d landed at the airport, spewing out of her mouth. “And whose home am I going to?”

  “We’re going to my home, tesoro mio. Mine.”

  Chapter 10

  His home.

  It was the answer she’d wanted to hear. She was going to Lukas’s home, but would it be for one night or forever?

  Peak hour traffic made the journey excruciatingly slow. Lukas made no attempt at conversation and neither did she. Jasmine had no idea where Lukas lived, and wondered whether he might’ve taken over the Presidential Suite at the Palazzo. After a few minutes in the car, she realised her assumption was wrong.

  They finally got out of the heavy city traffic and headed south down the freeway. The route they were taking was familiar to her, and as they exited off the freeway her curiosity was in overdrive. Eventually they turned into a tree lined street, in an affluent suburb. She recognised the area vividly.

  It was where she grew up.

  “I would’ve thought it would’ve been cheaper to stay at the hotel rather than renting a house here.”

  “I’m not renting. I own the house.”

  She didn’t say anything more until they had drawn to a stop. The house was magnificent. It was a modern Mediterranean design, standing three stories high. The warm sand color of the structure glowing in the evening sun. All animosity towards Lukas was lost. She itched to go inside and explore the interior.

  It was all vaguely familiar. Maybe she had seen it in a magazine.

  “It’s beautiful, Lukas.”

  And for the first time since they’d arrived back in Perth, he took her hand and raised it to his lips, brushing her palm softly.

  “I’m glad you like it. I’d hoped you would.” He opened the door and stepped out. “Let’s go inside.”

  Jasmine eagerly got out of the car. From the house’s location she suspected the view from the back and interior of the house would be superb. She waited impatiently, tapping her foot, while Lukas unlocked the door. When they got inside, she wasn’t disappointed. The smell of fresh paint and new carpet assaulted her. The house was as exquisite on the inside as it was on the outside; a feeling of welc
ome engulfed her from the moment she walked in. There was nothing pretentious about the décor, it was simple and elegant. The walls were painted soft white and created an open feel.

  As she’d thought, the view from the back of the house was spectacular. The builder had made full use of the block’s location. The back walls of the house were completely made of glass, a combination of windows and bi-fold doors. She could see herself working in the kitchen, gazing out to the city while being able to watch her children as they laughed and screamed and played outside.

  “Like what you see?”

  She hugged herself, enjoying the image she’d created. “Absolutely, I can’t believe it’s turned out exactly as you said. You told me to picture it and I did, but I never thought it would turn out this unbelievable.”

  She halted and let her mind open up to the thought crowding her mind. A kaleidoscope of images, her looking over countless fabric samples, showing Lukas various paint chips, making love surrounded by magazines.

  “This is our home, isn’t it?”

  Lukas came up behind her and pulled her gently so her back rested against his chest. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the brief moment of closeness.

  “Yes, we were due to move in after we got married.”

  She broke away from Lukas’s hold, moving in hadn’t happened. Had he moved in here without her?

  “You’ve been living here the whole time? Since our wedding?” Anger quickly replaced the peace she had felt since she’d walked into the house. “And not once did you come looking for me?”

  “I went back to Sydney after I tried to see you in hospital. The only night I spent here was the night before we left for Broome.”

  She could see he wanted to say more but she held up her hand. “You expect me to believe that?”

  His jaw tensed and his eyes clouded to an opaque black. “I was doing what I believed was in your best.”

  There was something about the way he spoke and how his eyes shifted from hers that warned her something wasn’t quite right. What was he hiding? Why had he just meekly walked away? It didn’t fit his character to just give in so easily.

  “Do you honestly expect me to believe that? That you thought it was, how did you say, in my best interest if you didn’t see me? You are my husband; beside your wife is the place you needed to be, not on the other side of the country.” She took a breath before continuing her tirade. “Who on earth would advise you to stay away from your wife?”

  “Your father,” he said bitterly. “He gave me reason to believe that if I wanted you to fully recover, then I should leave you alone and give you time to heal. I, being your husband, counted for nothing according to your father.”

  All of a sudden something struck her that should’ve been so obvious to her after she’d dreamed about her car accident. Her father had known about their marriage all along. Yet, whenever she’d asked him about it, questioned him until she was blue in the face, he had denied all knowledge.

  Her father had lied to her.

  He had done everything in his power to keep them apart. Why? Why had he thought it necessary to keep her and Lukas apart? Why couldn’t he have seen that instead of helping her, he had been hurting her all along?

  “I can’t believe my father would do that to me?” she said while thinking, or that you would agree to it. “I need to go see my father.” Anger was boiling like a hot spring through her.

  As if Lukas could sense all the questions and turmoil going through her, he grabbed her by the shoulders as she made for the front door.

  “Confronting him won’t help you, cara.”

  “Why not, he deliberately kept you, your name and the knowledge of our marriage from me. And I’m going to find out why.”

  She tried to shrug out of Lukas’s hold but he wasn’t letting her go. He led her to one of the soft leather couches in the main sitting area. “Jasmine, he won’t tell you anything now either. Remember, we can’t tell you about your past, you have to remember it for yourself.”

  “Rubbish, that’s meaningless now. I’m remembering things now. What he has to answer to is why he told me time and again that I wasn’t married and he didn’t know your name. When, in reality, he knew all along.” The tears she’d tried to hold back burst forth. “I’ve spent the last couple of months in a state of limbo all because I didn’t know why I was wearing these rings.” She held them up for Lukas to see. “He could’ve told me something. Anything, even if just to ease my mind.”

  Luciano was silently seething at the way Thomas had handled his daughter’s accident and the aftermath. If he could see Jasmine’s distress now, would he be happy with the way he had acted? Of course he would, he was a man who thrived on control.

  Thomas had deliberately used his authority as the only known next of kin to ensure Jasmine returned to his fold. Doubts about everything Thomas had told him were starting to appear in his mind. If he could lie to Jasmine, could Thomas have lied to him about what Jasmine had done?

  Her tears had started to subside, but he still kept a tight hold on her, wishing there was some magic pill he could give her that would enable her memory to return.

  “Cara, your father is still away. I wanted to meet with him today and was given that information by his assistant. He is, supposedly, due back sometime next week.”

  “Well that’s convenient isn’t it?” He could feel the derision coming from her, it was no different to how he felt.

  Luciano knew he could easily use this moment to twist things in his favour. Turn Jasmine’s mind against her father, it wouldn’t take much, but he wasn’t as conniving as Thomas.

  He cared.

  “Jasmine, if you confront him now you’d say things I’m sure you’d regret.” He placed a soft kiss on her head. “Use the time, until he returns, to get yourself acquainted with our house. Let’s start to build a life together.”

  He felt the stillness permeate her. It was true; he did want to start to build a life with her. He was starting to, slowly, trust her again. The past couldn’t be changed, or forgotten, but he could forgive and a new future for the both of them could be constructed.

  “You still want me to stay?”

  “Of course I want you to stay. Why wouldn’t I?”

  Jasmine disentangled herself from Lukas’s hold. The words he spoke thrilled her—he wanted to start over. But at the same time, anger at what her father had done to her still consumed her mind.

  She was so confused. Who did she believe?

  An all too familiar ache started behind her eyes and she reached up and rubbed her scar. It had been days since she’d had a headache.

  “I think I need some time alone,” she whispered as tiredness engulfed her.

  “No you don’t. What you need to do is stay here. You’re not leaving.”

  She dropped her hand and faced Lukas. “No, what I need is for you to stop trying to control me. I’ve had enough of it. I’m my own person and it’s time the men in my life started to realise that.”

  She withstood the probing look Lukas projected in her direction. To her, it seemed he was going through a list of pros and cons on whether or not to let her go. As if coming to a decision he gave a small nod.

  “Fair enough, but don’t be too long and don’t go too far.”

  She was taken aback. She had expected to have to argue her case more. “Just like that, you’re not going to continue to try and talk me out of it?”

  “No, I realise it’s what you want and I respect your need to sort your mind out.” He reached out and brushed his thumb across her scar, imitating her action of before. “You’ve been handed a lot of information again today.”

  Words took a while to form in her mind. He was right; she had been sideswiped with the knowledge of the house and her father’s actions. With all that she had experienced over the last couple of days, why was her memory still being stubborn and not returning? How much more was she going to have to take in before nothing would be a shock anymore?

  �
�You don’t have to worry; I’m not going too far. I think I’ll head upstairs and take a bath.” She gave him a small smile. “Baths always help me to relax and regroup.”

  She didn’t wait for a reply, just walked out of the room and headed towards the staircase. At the base of the sweeping circular stairs she paused and closed her eyes. She blanked out her mind and tried to see if she could visualise the direction of the bathroom.

  She sensed the moment Lukas moved behind her and she waited for him to speak. When he didn’t she started to move.

  Slowly but surely she climbed the beautiful sweeping staircase, letting her fingers trail behind her on the warm wooden rail. She reached the top of the stairs and stopped.

  The house called out to her, embracing her, welcoming her back and she moved to her left down the hallway. At the end of it lay a set of French doors. As she reached the doors, through the glass she could see a wall which had a small recess in it. Mounted at the back of the recess was a picture. She opened the doors, the smell of fresh paint lingered but her eyes were drawn to the scene in the picture, two people laughing at each other as, the woman lovingly rubbed lipstick off the man’s lips.

  A bride and groom sharing a special moment in time, captured with the click of a photographer’s finger.

  Her and Lukas.

  She reached out and traced a finger along the glass, mimicking the action in the photo.

  “We look so happy. I look so happy,” she dropped her hand. “If I was so happy, why can’t I remember us?”

  She waited for the answer to pop into her mind; instead there was nothing but blankness and pain. She despaired that she would never remember, regardless of the increase in flashbacks she had been experiencing.

  She walked away from the wall and further into the room, the luxuriously thick carpet muffling her steps. Lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice the beautiful colours or furnishings of the room.

  Her feet took her to the bathroom. It was as large as a hotel room. No expense had been spared. Glass and white marble everywhere. It should’ve been over the top, but it had been created tastefully, the room breathed space and tranquillity.