Inceptive

by M. D. Melai

  Emilio laughed. “And I’m sure he will appreciate that.”

  “I'm sure he will. He told me not too long ago that mani-pedi’s were off limits.”

  “I can understand that.” Emilio smiled as he handed me the box. When I opened it, I found my locket was as good as new. I couldn’t even tell where Lucas had damaged it.

  “There’s a new tracker in there,” he said. “I have a new device too. Apparently the cell phone GPS on it wasn’t such a good idea.”

  “Maybe not now, but you didn’t know they would take your phone. How will you stalk me now?” I laughed.

  “It’s a secret,” he whispered.

  “Like that isn’t creepy or anything,” I giggled.

  “The less people who know, the better,” Emilio said almost serious, but still playful at the same time, like he was trying not to scare me.

  We were both quiet for a moment after that. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but I could tell we were both trying to figure out what to say next.

  Emilio spoke first. “Are we going to talk about today?”

  I shook my head for a moment. I didn’t want to, but I knew we needed to.

  “Is that how you feel? That Lucas is better than you? Do I make you feel like that?”

  “Yes,” he said non-apologetically. “And I meant every word I said about it to.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you obviously don’t trust me.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “It’s true. You’ve made it clear you don’t trust me with your life—much less your heart. So why would I be the right choice for you when you don’t?” He wasn’t being mean or raising his voice—he was just stating facts.

  “That’s not true. I’m sorry for what I did. I should have never gone behind anyone’s back and did what I did. It was a huge risk, but I swear in a million years I never thought I would be putting the guys lives in so much danger. Heinrich is completely insane. I know that now. I get it. I’m so sorry.” And I was, truly and sincerely. He could see that.

  “I know you are, Lily, but you’re so impulsive, you never stop to think of the outcome of any situation. You just do it and the consequences be damned. That was… is what I love about you. When we were younger and back in Toronto, when you did impulsive things, those days were some of the best days of my life, but here, right now, it’s a different—you can’t be that way. At least not right now—not until we can get a handle on everything Heinrich related.

  “It’s not always going to be the way it is right now. We have the same goal. All of us would do anything to finally make you safe—even if it means bringing Faith and Nikolas in to help us.”

  “I thought you didn’t trust them,” I rebutted.

  “I don’t, but I trust you and your judgment. So if you say they’re good, then I’m willing to give them a chance.”

  With that, he kissed me on top of my forehead and started to walk down the stairs towards his office.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To pack my things and go home. I’ve been here for a week now, it’s time to head back,” he said with a shrug.

  What? Wait. No.

  “Stay,” I said before I could stop myself.

  Emilio turned and looked at me, his eyes showing a glimmer of hope in them.

  “Move back in,” I said almost at a whisper. “Please, I miss you.”

  He walked back up the stairs, not taking his eyes off of me, and stood so close to me I could feel the warmth of his body almost pouring over mine.

  “One on condition,” he said, putting his hand on my cheek.

  “What’s that?” I asked my voice shaky.

  “You have to trust me, and you have to trust that your brothers and everyone else will take care of you. Do you?”

  “Yes,” I breathed out.

  A smile spread across his face, and my heart skipped a beat.

  “One more thing,” he said as he ran his thumb across my scar. “Just because you can’t see that there is something going on right in front of you doesn’t mean something isn’t at work in the shadow.” That one statement made me feel like he was talking about much more than just the Heinrich situation.

  I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him, even if I had wanted to.

  “Do you agree?” he whispered as he leaned in so close I could feel the warmth of his breath on my ear.

  “Uh huh,” I managed to say as my heart skipped a beat, and I lost all train of thought.

  “Do you forgive me?” he said quietly as he moved so our eyes could meet.

  “For what?” I asked, almost not being able to get out.

  “Yelling at you, and leaving you crying on the steps. I was mad and upset, and I let it get the best of me, like I always do.”

  “Yes,” I said as my voice quivered with the anticipation that was filling the room. “I…forgive you.”

  “Good,” he said, his eyes never wavering from mine.

  We both stood there and looked at each other for what seemed like forever before I couldn’t take it anymore, and my body took over and my mind lost all sense of sanity.

  I crashed my lips to Emilio’s and wrapped my arms around him before I could even get the idea out of my head. His strong arms grabbed me and pulled me up into him—my legs instantly wrapping around his waist. My back crashed hard into the nearest wall, but I felt nothing from it. All I felt in that moment was the electricity, good or bad, that seemed to follow Emilio and me around everywhere.

  “Damn!” Dante’s voice rang out, bringing us quickly back to reality.

  Emilio dropped me to my feet so fast that I lost my balance. He had to grab my arm to steady me. Dante was looking at us with a devious smile spread across his face.

  “I’m so excited we booked the hotel ballroom. It’ll make things so much easier this year!” Violet said as she was walking into the kitchen from the garage. “Don’t you think the Masquerade party…?” She stopped speaking as she rounded the corner and took in Emilio and me. “Oh my God,” she mouthed.

  “I think Lily is going to love the idea,” Lucas’s voice said right before he rounded the corner and our eyes met.

  I want to die, like right now.

  Lucas turned around quickly and walked straight back out the kitchen door. If I hadn’t watched his every move as he left, then I would have missed his exit.

  Within milliseconds, I felt the guilt wash over me. The look on Lucas’s face was haunting. It killed me to have done that to him, and my heart sank at the thought of hurting him. I instantly regretted what just happened.

  “I’ll go check on him,” Lorenzo said as he took off through the kitchen and out to the garage.

  The entire house was quiet, and I turned around to see Violet, Dante, and Emilio looking in my direction. Telepathically, I could tell Violet was asking if I was alright. The answer was no, I wasn’t alright. I had not only hurt the man that I loved, but I also felt guilty for kissing the other one I loved just as much.

  Emilio excused himself and headed down to the basement with Dante following quickly behind. Violet took a few steps toward me and asked if I was okay.

  How could I be okay? This entire situation reeked of humiliation. If I could have crawled into a whole and stayed there, then I would have.

  “I have to go check on him,” I responded.

  “Go ahead, I’ll cover for you,” Violet said as she turned on her heel and raced down the steps to join Emilio and Dante.

  I took a deep breath and grab my coat as I headed into the kitchen and towards the door. There was a slight chill that hit my skin, and I noticed that the door was open. I couldn’t see anything as I peered out the door into the walkway that lead to the garage door, but I could hear voices.

  Tiptoeing as quietly as I could, I made my way over to the door that lead into the garage. Luckily, the door was cracked and I could hear what they were saying. Was eavesdropping on them a bad idea? Probably. Did I feel bad for doing it? No. I had already do
ne it once today. Twice wasn’t going to kill me.

  “Are you sure you’re okay man?” Lorenzo asked Lucas.

  “Yeah,” Lucas responded. “I shouldn’t get this upset over it. I did break up with her. It’s just that I love her so much, and when I see her with him, it hurts.”

  “Why do you think that is?” Lorenzo asked.

  Lucas paused for a moment as he thought about his answer. At this point, my heart was pounding as fast as lightning and my gut hurt with betrayal as I awaited his answer.

  “It’s actually something I’ve thought of recently,” Lucas said. “Like an epiphany finally struck me. I’ve never loved anyone this much in my life. I haven’t had anyone to love since I was twelve. My parents died before I ever felt the true sensation of it. So when I fell for Lily, I fell hard. It’s been a completely different experience than I have ever had. I’ve been around the Heinrichs most of my life, and you know they lack any sense of emotion.

  “But with Lily, it was just—easy to love her. She has made me into such a better person that I would go to the ends of the earth to thank her and make it up to her. She has made me into the man I am right now.”

  “I’d say so,” Lorenzo said. “No offense man, but before you met Lily and started this whole triangle, you were kind of an ass.”

  “Can you blame me? Look at Viktor.”

  “No hard feelings here man. Just pointing out the obvious,” Lorenzo responded. “You have come a long way.”

  “This is still new to me. I just wish I could show her everything I’m feeling.”

  “So why don’t you show her exactly how you feel?” Lorenzo asked.

  “I have a feeling I’m already too late,” Lucas responded.

  No, you’re not. Please don’t think that.

  “It’s hard to break the bond that those two share,” Lucas continued.

  “Do you think you’ll ever be able to change that?”

  “It’s possible. But one thing I know for sure is, a part of her loves Emilio, but part of her loves me too, which is why I’m not giving up. I know I’m important to her—just like she is to me. I’m going to fight for us—even if it’s a losing battle. I’ll fight around this earth, until I fall off.”

  “Dude,” Lorenzo laughed. “The world is round.”

  “My point exactly!”

  “Well, get ready man, it’ll be the battle of your lifetime,” Lorenzo said.

  I could see a grin slowly creep up Lucas’s face as he thought about how to respond to Lorenzo’s statement.

  “She’s worth it,” Lucas said seconds later.

  Chapter 17

  I spent most of the next day thinking about the night before. Violet didn’t have anything helpful to say about my situation last night either. She gave her two cents on what happened with Emilio, and gave her opinions about Lucas and Lorenzo’s conversation. Neither thing she had to say was helpful at all.

  I could tell that she was already getting tired of my constant back and forth, and at this time, so was I. But the only way to end that would be to make a decision. The only problem was that I didn’t know which one was the right decision. The only thing that I really had to go on was how my life with Lucas was back in Europe—it was wonderful. But that didn’t mean that a life with Emilio wouldn’t be just as amazing. We had lived together for the past two years, and while we had some hard times, our good times were just as great.

  Elle wasn’t very much help either. The first thing that she did to me this morning was tease me about my lip-lock with Emilio. She said that she didn’t blame me, and that she didn’t know why I hadn’t done it sooner. According to her, she wouldn’t have been able to last that long. I reacted nicely by telling her that she needed to keep her opinions to herself, and that her input wasn’t needed.

  A sudden knock broke my concentration and I spun in my desk chair to face my door. Violet came inside cautiously, before taking a seat in her respective chairs.

  “We need to talk about the party,” she said as she sat down on the chair in front of my desk.

  Violet thought that instead of a regular Halloween Party, it could be a Masquerade Ball.

  I thought it was a good idea.

  “I like it,” I said. “I think it could be a lot of fun, and it’s different.”

  “Okay good,” Violet said. “Lucas and I found a place the other day. He, Lorenzo, and Dante looked at it last night and thought we could secure it enough to have the party there.”

  I nodded my approval.

  “Elle already booked the caterer we love so much, and I was thinking a black, white, and lime green theme for the decorations?” Violet asked.

  “Sounds good to me. Are we hiring Kay to handle all of it?”

  “Yes. She said she would have us all ready in two weeks. Elle will be overseeing everything.”

  As if right one cue, Elle walked into my office and sat down.

  “Soo,” Elle began, “I have an idea for me and you, Lily. Since you’re so lucky in love,” she laughed, “and this is a Masquerade party, what if we played a little game?”

  “Okay, I’m listening,” I said, looking at her. She had caught my attention.

  “I was watching an experimental video about a scientist who blindfolded a group of kids and then put them in a line to see if they could find their parents. And it made me think of you and your situation. If we were to put on full faced masks, then our experiment would be to see if Lucas and or Emilio could tell you apart from me?”

  “I think we should bet on it too,” Violet said.

  I looked at her like she was crazy.

  “You want to bet on my love life?” I asked.

  “No,” she laughed, and then took in my face. “Okay, maybe a little.”

  I just stared at her—completely flabbergasted.

  “What? I think it would be really interesting. Can you seriously say that you’re not the teensiest bit curious about how it will turn out?”

  Violet had a good point—I was curious. What if neither of them could tell us apart, or both could? What if only one of them knew? Maybe that would help with my decision.

  “Okay,” I said. “We will do it, but we will have to have a few rules. No talking to anyone. I have tattoos, so we will both have to wear dresses and shoes that cover up the spots. Oh, and we will have to change our eye color, because they will see them.”

  By the end of the meeting, we had everything set up and ready to go. We even made bets on how this was going to end up. Violet bet Emilio would know me, Elle voted for Lucas, and I stayed neutral that they both would recognize me. The winner received a full weekend at a spa retreat, courtesy of the other two.

  It was going to be a long two weeks.

  ***

  And it was. Between work and making sure the party planning was going in the right direction, I was actually looking forward to the party in a couple of hours. Emilio had moved back into the house, but I still hadn’t really seen him much.

  He came home last week with busted knuckles and a bruised cheek. At least he looked a lot better this time around than last.

  I didn’t ask any questions either, just gave him a couple of bags of frozen peas and some medicine. Neither one of us brought up the kiss—it was a taboo subject with Lucas as well. I could tell that he was still hurt by what he saw. I was still holding out hope he would show up tonight, though.

  “So, what would you like to do with your hair tonight?” Chelsea asked brightly.

  “Elle and I decided on down with loose curls. That way we won’t have to worry about our hair too much, and it will help hide our ears and frame our masks so we can keep our identities hidden better.”

  “What you two are doing is so devious. I wish I looked like you so I could have a part in it. I would love to see firsthand how it turns out.”

  “I will definitely let you know.”

  Chelsea began to start on my hair, and with each section of hair she curled, my anticipation for the night grew. At first,
I had been cautious about doing this, but then the caution grew to excitement. Just like Chelsea, I was ready to see how the evening was going to turn out.

  Elle and I had decided to put a little spin on my and Violet’s tradition of waiting to reveal our costumes. In this case, it would be our dresses. Elle and I would both enter the room at the same time, and Violet would have to guess who was who. We had also went out and bought our dresses together. I needed help to make sure all my tattoos were covered up, and that Elle’s dress would do the same.

  After Chelsea was done, I couldn’t help but stare at myself in the mirror. It was weird to see me with crystal blue eyes. I had wanted to go with the honey brown again, but then I had realized that Emilio would probably recognize those. Elle and I also wondered what we would look like with blue, so here I was looking at the lightest blue eyes I had ever seen. My makeup was dramatic, and it complemented my eyes nicely. Chelsea even added a swirl design around my eyes that matched my mask.

  I slipped on my electric blue dress next. It was satin with a sheer flowy overlay from the waist down. It had a built on belt that was about an inch wide and solid crystals. The top was a sweetheart cut that would have looked strapless if it wasn’t for the crystal one-shoulder wide strap. My left shoulder, chest, and back were all covered, and none of my tattoos could be seen. My shoes matched the dress and jewels, and hid my foot art nicely.

  Elle walked in not too long afterwards in a stunning dress. She had settled on a red satin one shoulder, with an interesting three cone shaped pattern of crystals on the top half. It hugged her body in all the right places. Her eyes were the same crystal blue as mine were, and if I wasn’t me, I would swear I was her.

  “We look hot!” she said as she came to stand beside me. “I can’t wait to see what Violet says!”

  “Yes, we do,” I laughed. “Speaking of Violet, we need to hurry up and get downstairs before she kills us.”

  We both stood there as we put on our full-faced masks. The masks were made from black metal with diamond accents, and both had a complex, elaborate design that included swirls, waves, and lots of lines. When we secured them and looked into the mirror, the only thing we could see face-wise was our very bright eyes looking back at each other.