8 days left
• The Valtieri Mansion •
After greeting him with forced smiles, the Valtieri couple walked into the mansion with their bodyguards right behind them.
Théo gave the two a small but polite bow in acknowledgement. He wasn't sure if he should say "good evening" since it was well past midnight. The guards backed off once Mr. and Mrs. Valtieri reached the living room, and then the staff walked out and shut the front door.
Théo listened in while Hugo Valtieri continued speaking to someone on the phone about a business deal, with his wife standing beside him and refraining from scowling again.
"Théo, give us a minute," Hugo said to him with a raised finger, and then the don got busy again talking to someone on the phone.
"Of course, Sir." Théo took a couple steps backward while Mrs. Valtieri stood beside her husband in the spacious living room lit by expe
•Théo peeked at the tall, glittering stage props as he backed away from the stack of audio equipment. He slouched right by the sound engineer's corner, watching while his smiling and elegantly dressed ex-girlfriend re-arranged her keyboard's wires.Her hair had less wavy curls today. Multi-hued strobe lights made them appear azure and sometimes pinkish.Sunset had just passed, and the crowd just grew thicker now that the band was almost ready to perform.The curly-haired guitarist was already settling into his seat on the right side; the other band members were positioned on the far left of the stage.Théo stood along the sidelines and glanced past a sea of diversely aged, mostly casually dressed people excitedly waiting for the next performance. The fans in the VIP section looked pretty still in their seats, and, odds-on, just too psyched to see their favorite artists play beaut
•What the heck? Did she really just ask if he wanted to give it another shot? If he wanted a baby?What's going on? Why was she asking him if he wanted a baby?Théo watched her pretty face while she seemed to be restraining the palpable sadness welling up in her eyes.But he knew she wanted nothing but an honest answer from him. Otherwise, she wouldn't even think of posing the question. Not Veronica. She never liked the "marriage with kids", "let's try raising a baby" talk."A baby?" he repeated, still dumbfounded. "Right now?""Yeah." Veronica nodded faintly, her voice almost a whisper."No," was his short and muted reply as she stared into his eyes. He squeezed the side of her smooth and slim waist, her hands now resting on his shoulders, her dainty fingers touching the wet hair above his nap
•If looks could kill, by now he should've been dead flat on the floor, face-first and choking on his own blood.Veronica stared at the guy sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her with a frown, his dark brows furrowing at her weak attempt to seem totally unemotional at the moment.Despite the worsening pain, embarrassment, and compounding anxiety making her chest hurt like a bitch, she had to put on a straight face.At this point, her pride and what little self-respect she had left just forced her to show him anything but weakness.1. She had already made the effort. "Efforts" to be exact.2. She had swallowed her damn pride more than twice and flew all the way out here for him. Just for him.3. She also used work as an excuse just to see him and talk to him again because he'd been avoiding her like the darn
× WARNING! ×× GRAPHIC CONTENT BELOW NOT INTENDED FOR YOUNG READERS ×× READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION ו7 days left• Rome, Italy •"No."Just no. Not even a second of hesitation. He answered her question before she could even brace herself for what he had to say.Of course he would say no. It was obvious he wanted to sleep with her again, so of course he would tell her what she wanted to hear."You still want me?" Veronica held in a sigh and let him kiss her neck, the exposed skin above her collarbone, and then her lips again. Despite her misgivings, she couldn't push him off of her; she just couldn't find it in her to stop him.It would be plain hypocrisy if she said she didn't want his affection, or that she wanted him to sto
× WARNING! × × GRAPHIC CONTENT NOT INTENDED FOR YOUNG READERS × × READ AT YOUR OWN RISK × • It might have been half an hour ago when she stepped into the bathroom to wash up. She had to get rid of the unmistakable smell of sex and his familiar scent that was stuck on her skin. To her surprise, Théo followed her inside the bathroom to check on her. Maybe to make sure she wasn't going to throw up again or anything. A mild frown made his lips pout as he stood by the sink, his muscular arms partly covered by his shirt. Although she was still having a hard time moving on from the total mess that just happened back on the bed, Veronica let him linger while she washed up in the tub with her feet bare and her hair in a loose bun. She had to crumple the hem of her thin dress below her navel while she watched the faucet run. When s
7 days left• Rome, Italy •It was probably still dawn, but when a faint buzzing noise beside his head drew him out of his much-needed sleep, Théo quickly sat up on the bed.Hotel room. With his tired ex still asleep beside him. Not even sunrise yet.He rubbed his eyes for a second and recalled the tasks on his to-do list, despite the groggy haze his brain was still fighting off. He glanced to his side.Veronica snuggled to her pillow, her breathing light and steady, the thick covers hiding her slender and lithe body from the waist down.With caution and care, he pulled the covers
7 days left• Rome, Italy •It wasn't supposed to be Raffaele. The agency didn't say that the son was the target. Well, the guy was one of the subjects of interest, but Théo certainly recalled he wasn't tasked to dig up dirt on Raffaele Valtieri that would put the guy in jail or prison.He wasn't supposed to focus on Raffaele, but now he felt absolutely triggered to find enough incriminating evidence to rattle the jerk's cages.Although his mission objectives didn't say he should focus on Raffaele Valtieri and temprorarily put the magnifying glass away from Hugo, the patriarch, Théo now felt compelled to keep investigating into Raffaele's recent affairs. He had to gather evidence to prove that the Valtieri heir wasn't the squeaky-clean golden boy or the overachieving firstborn his family portrayed him to be.His gut feeling wasn't enough. Gillaume's bosses didn't care fo
•It shouldn't be easy.After all that happened, she shouldn't expect everything to turn out okay overnight. Relationships were never that easy. They both knew they weren't going to solve their pre-existing issues just by sleeping together again.Nothing but unrealistic optimism would be a good enough band-aid solution for now. It wasn't even a solution...more like, a temporary distraction from the harsh truths of their situation. She just had to look forward, like her mother always said.Veronica sighed to herself. She had the answers to her questions, so now she had to go back to her normal routine: make music with the band, play music, tour around the world to earn a living while trying to deal with her personal life, and then repeat.Whatever Théo had to in the coming days and weeks and months...she had no control over it. The way she saw it now