Arranged love

The party has started to die down. Checking my Rolex watch, I see it’s a little after eleven p. m. I haven’t seen Haven since she found me with my pants undone in my office. And no one has bothered to ask me where my future wife went. To most of these men, women are insignificant. To them, her absence is just her way of obeying my commands. As though I ordered her to go and wait naked in our bed until I was ready to fuck her.

“Nice play, Luca.” My father slaps me on the back. He looks to the left as Bones walks past us. He smiles to himself, conjuring up a plan in his mind. He wants Kingdom, and he knows exactly what to do to get it. “I look forward to this business plan of yours.” He’s referring to my marriage. And I’ll die before I allow him to fuck it up. “But I still think Maria would have been a nice fit to the Bianchi family.”

I fist my hands at his words but give him a smile. I’ve been trained to stay silent when you don’t agree with him. “Where is Mother?” I ask, changing the subject.

“She left earlier.” He tips back his champagne flute and eyes one of the waitresses who works for the catering service I hired for the evening. She’s currently talking to Titan who is eye fucking her. “Wasn’t feeling well.”

I bet she wasn’t. She doesn’t want me to marry Haven. She’s disappointed in me and felt that such a sweet girl deserved better. I don’t disagree with her.

“I got a call last night,” he says. “Heard that Rossi’s wedding chapel was hit. And Anthony is missing.” Diaz’s son.

Matteo snorts from beside him. “They won’t find a body.”

“I did what needed to be done,” I offer.

I expect my father to argue, but instead, he just takes another drink.

“I’m off to bed,” I tell him and turn to Nite who walks up next to us. “Kick everyone out and clean it all up,” I order.

He gives me a curt nod.

I make my way upstairs to the master suite. I enter, not surprised when I don’t see Haven in our bed. But she’s mistaken if she thinks I’ll let her ignore me tonight. I’ve allowed her to sleep downstairs for two nights now. That’s more than enough.

I undo my tie and rip it out from the collar of my white button-down. Laying it over the chair that sits in front of the bay window, I undo my shirt and shove it off my shoulders and then head into our en suite bathroom.

Opening the door, I find her standing by the whirlpool tub in the corner of the bathroom. She lets out a growl as she tries to reach around and undo the zipper on her dress.

“Would you like some assistance?” I ask.

She spins around to face me. Her watery brown eyes narrow on me, but she says nothing.

“I’ve been looking for you.” Lie.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Get out,” she orders, then goes back to trying to reach the zipper again.

“Let me help you.” I walk across the bathroom, but she shoves me back when I get close.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” she shouts, looking me up and down with disgust. “You think I’d let you come near me after you fucked that whore?”

She’s drunk.

I know it. She knows it. I told her no alcohol, but I know she spent an hour down in the wine cellar. Nothing happens in this house that I’m not aware of. I could have stopped her, but I chose not to. A bottle of wine wasn’t going to hurt her. And I needed the time to put my plan into action.

“Do you really think I fucked another woman in my office at our engagement party?”

“I know what I saw.” She seethes, slapping me across the face before heading for the door. Stomping the heels of her Jimmy Choos so hard that I fear they may break.

“You saw what I wanted you to see,” I say calmly, feeling my cheek throb from her hand. It wasn’t as hard as it could have been. The alcohol’s making her weaker, but I like the way it feels. It tells me that she cares.

She slowly turns to face me. She blinks. Once. Twice. I can see the words turning in her mind. The shock evident on her face. “No,” she says roughly and shakes her head.

Fuck, I wanna bend her over the counter and fuck her from behind. It’s been too long since I’ve had her. Felt her. Heard her scream my name. I want to remind her what I do to her. How I made her feel. We can get past this, if only she would let it go.

“I saw her … the blonde, walk out of your office, then fix her hair and makeup. Then you came out of your bathroom with your pants unzipped.” She swallows. “The used condom … you even confessed you fucked her.”

I shake my head. “I did no such thing.”

“Luca …”

“I made you believe that I fucked her because that’s what I wanted you to think.”

Her shoulders begin to shake. “Why?” she croaks out, and a tear runs down her face.

“For this reason, right here. To prove that you still love me.” I walk over to her, and she doesn’t pull away when I reach up and cup her wet cheek.

“I don’t love you,” she whispers, biting her bottom lip.

“Lie,” I say, dropping my hand lower to grip her hip. Deep down, she knows I’d never hurt her. Not like that. I have loved this woman for as long as I can remember. How can she think that would just go away? That I could ever walk away from her if it wasn’t for a good reason? Haven isn’t the kind of woman you forget. She’s the kind you never stop thinking about. She’s in your daily thoughts and even in your dreams.

She sniffs. “Why would you do this?”

I sigh. “I needed to know that what we have is real.”

She shoves me away, her face growing hard. “This isn’t fucking real. You’re forcing me to marry you. And this fucking dress …” She trails off, her hands trying to reach the zipper, but it’s too high.

I spin her around, grip the expensive fabric, and rip it apart. The soft pink lace gives way along with the seam. She gasps as it falls to pool at her feet.