“Miss Iris, are you busy?” Iris looked up from her phone where she was reading through her comments on her book in the library. She had been reading and got tired so she decided to go through her comments for the thousandth time.“No Berta, please sit down” She gestured to the empty seat for the elder woman and dropped her phone on the table. “Is everything okay?” Iris asked when she noticed the worried look on her face.“I know it’s not my place to say this but I couldn’t help but notice that things have become more tense between you and Luca. I know things were not that good at first but it’s like he has become more hostile towards you. Did anything happen?”Iris lowered her head in shame as heat flooded her cheeks. She hoped they wouldn’t notice since Luca never said anything to her while anyone was present. There was no way she was going to tell Berta that she suspected that Luca was like that because he probably regretted consummating their marriage. “I don’t know, Berta. Maybe
Iris watched from the top of the stairs as Luca stormed out of the house with a resolve. She waited for his car to drive out of the compound before going down the stairs and out the front door. She looked around to make sure that no one was around watching her before creeping out of the house, grateful that Loren or Ace were nowhere in sight.The guards around the house paid her no mind most of the time so no one questioned or stopped her as she began the long trek to the gate with sweaty palms. She had not been outside the house since she arrived in London and didn’t even know where she was going.All she knew was that she needed to leave the house so she could clear her head and think clearly about how she was going to live her life from now on. Everything in the house reminded her of Luca which was the last thing she needed after the way he had talked to her this morning.“Where are you going?” Iris screamed as Ace’s smooth voice filled her ear and she felt his breath down the side
Iris saw a flash of surprise pass through Luca’s eyes, followed by anger. She may have tried to defend herself before but never had she raised her voice at him like she did just now. She had told herself countless times that she deserved all he told her but she was tired.She couldn’t do it anymore. The abuse, neglect, insults. She was done. She had gotten to her breaking point. She had let Vera and Helen abuse her for years because of the circumstances of her birth but why should she let Luca continue to treat her like this when she didn’t do anything wrong?She had to stand up for herself because no one would do it for her. If she didn’t speak up now, Luca would only continue to treat her worse every day. Today he was doing this in front of their staff, maybe next time it would be in front of thousands of people.“Just stop it” She said again, this time her voice was quieter, tired just as she was. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as she looked at him with pleading eyes.Luca did not
The sun came through the dark curtains, illuminating the room a little and Luca threw the duvet to the side before padding to the bathroom. His eyes were hurting, his head was aching and it was all because he couldn’t get any sleep last night.He had tried to sleep but couldn’t find the peace to close his eyes because whenever he did, all he saw was the pain in her eyes as she poured out her soul to him. He could still feel the raw emotions in her voice as she spoke.The words she said to him, the anger, the pain, they wouldn’t let him sleep until they dragged him to the night they had spent intimately. He could suddenly feel the way her body fit perfectly in his, how she withered with his every touch and how she came alive when he touched her in some places.He thought about her all night, recalling every inch of her skin he had touched and it surprised him how he could remember every single detail he saw just like the dimples on her lower back and how they deepened when she clenched
Iris stared at Luca with shock etched on her face. She was speechless and didn’t know what to make of the sudden offer to work at his firm. It was a total 360 of what she had expected to happen when she came down for breakfast this morning. She had imagined different scenarios in her head but Luca asking her to work for him was far from it, it never crossed her thoughts.“What?” She couldn’t help but whisper as she looked at him, trying to decipher if he was joking or trying to toy with her like he usually does.“I want you to work at my publishing house. We have been looking for someone to manage it and I noticed that you have spent most of your time in the house library. With the number of books you’ve read, I think you would do a pretty good job if you are taught properly and it would be a win for both of us, a double win for you since you’ll keep reading and kill your boredom at the same time”Iris couldn’t help but look at Luca like he was a stranger that had two heads because he
Iris groaned and turned to her side for what felt like the hundredth time in less than an hour. She let out a heavy sigh as she caught sight of the time on the alarm clock resting on the bedside table. It was 4 am in the morning and she had to get up by 6 so she could get ready for her first day at work and yet she hadn’t been able to close her eyes to get a few minutes of sleep.“Go to sleep, Iris” She ordered herself softly “How will you do well if you look like a zombie on your first day” She whined softly in annoyance, screwing her eyes shut and willing herself to sleep.Her eyes felt heavy and she could barely look at her phone screen without wincing at the light which was already at the dimmest it could go. That was how much her eyes were craving some sleep but her body had no way of giving in to the demands of her watery eyes.She opened her eyes shortly to glare at the ceiling. Of course, it hadn’t worked. Her body was so intent on punishing her and ensuring she made a fool of
When they arrived at the conglomerate’s headquarters there in London, Iris felt her jaw drop to the floor at the massive building with a big R on the top. It was the kind of skyscraper that could be seen for miles with its impressive height.Maverick got out of the car and went to open Luca’s side of the door for him. She was about to push open her side when it was opened from the outside and she saw Ace’s standing there with a smirk. Iris felt like it was all too much to be arriving with a lot of security. Even though she had gone out with security a few times already, she had spent more hours at home and had not gotten used to it. She was not the only one who was not used to it as people were starting to stare at her and Luca.She thought Luca came to work with a lot of security every day so she wondered why they were staring at them like it was the first time Luca was coming to work with bodyguards.Luca came around to meet her and shocked her by presenting his hand for her to tak
A knock on the door dragged Iris’s attention from the file she had been working on to the door. It’s been a week since she started working here and she loved every minute of it. She wasn’t an editor but she still got copies of manuscripts to go through and the employees always wanted to hear her feedback on things.Hailey poked her head through the door first before pushing her body through the gap when she saw Iris already looking at her with a smile “Come in, Hailey” Iris called out with a bemused expression even though Hailey was already standing in front of her.“It’s lunchtime. Do you want to eat with me?”“Already?” Iris asked surprised. She could swear she had only just sat down and picked up that manuscript so how come it was already lunch time? “You can go alone, I’m not hungry”“Nope. That’s not going to work today. I haven’t seen you have lunch since you started working here and I won’t allow it any longer. It’s not healthy to be so buried in your work that you have to miss