CHAPTER 95

“You've been declining my calls”

“I thought you were mad at me”

“Really? You want to bring that shit up now? Have you any idea what is going on?”

“No, enlighten me—”

There was a long silence

“Your brother, he convinced your grandfather to limit your administrative control—

“I can live with that”

“I'm currently on the run”

“You can take care of yourself till I get back”

“He found out—”

Luca's voice grew cold

“About what?”

“He knows you're in love with her—”

Luca groaned silently

“So much for my Italian paradise”

He looked at Sharon, to confirm if she was sleeping

We're going to leave Italy in a few days. I can't risk losing her here. At this point, I need to settle things at home if I'm to be ensured of her safety. I need to keep her in my mansion, under my protection

Luca didn't need to know the details, to know that his brother had drawn blood. It was Donald, he knew it was Donald. He balled his fists, as he tried unsuccessfully to control his anger

He had tried to let go of his cold, dark dangerous side, in order to love Sharon. But he needed it back. Because he was going to protect her

“How are things with Sharon?”

Arman asked, in an attempt to stifle Luca's anger

Luca turned to look at Sharon on his bed. She was still in her wedding dress. She had been stuffing her face with food, and she slept off in the process

Some particles were stuck to her cheeks, and some littered her dress. She was in the most hilarious sleeping position ever.

“I would send you a picture, but I don't like other men fawning over what's mine”

Arman coughed through the phone

“I'm confused here, doesn't she hate you?”

“You're behind by about three months, Arman. She loves me so much she married me twice”

“You're kidding”

“Nope”

“What did you do? How did you do it?”

“Let's just say I told you so”

****************

Sharon could feel the unease leave her slowly. Her hair was loosened, and she no longer felt the pang of headache

She couldn't tell what was happening, but she knew that she felt comfortable

She felt someone unzip her dress. It brought her relief, a lot of relief

Somehow, the dress had gotten tighter. She recalled stuffing herself with food at some point.

She slowly opened her eyes, to comprehend her surroundings

The warm light hit her, and she realised she was still in her wedding dress. Only —

Luca had zipped it down to enable her breathe

Her veil was folded on the table, next to the bed

Her bouquet was in a vase, on the same table

And she could feel him next to her

“Lu— Luca?”

She stuttered, as realisation began to hit her

She was now aware that they had just gotten married, and she was embarrassing herself

She had plans for their wedding night, candle lit dinner, sexy lingerie, maybe music in the background

But she had eaten to stupor, and slept like a fool, and messed up everything she had planned.

She didn't even get to change

Luca placed his hand on her face

“How do you feel”

Sharon moved away from his embrace, to try to collect her thoughts

“What time is it?”

“It's 3am”

“You're kidding”

“Nope”

Sharon palmed her face in embarrassment

“So you mean we didn't—”

“Didn't what?”

Sharon gave Luca a look, and he looked at her like he had no clue of what she was saying

“I mean it was our wedding night—”

“And?”

She folded her arms in front of her

“You didn't get to do anything—

You just ended up taking care of me again. It's like I'm a burden to you”

Sharon attempted to fix her hair

“I wanted to make you happy—”

“You need to sleep Sharon. You're talking down on yourself again—”

He dragged her closer to himself, and placed her head on his chest

“ I might be tempted to begin your punishment earlier than expected”

“Luca”

“Yeah”

“When did you realise you didn't hate me?”

Luca groaned

“Do you really want to know that?”

“Yes”

It's a bit complicated, but I fell in love with you, over and over again. It was like at some point, I realised that the intense hatred I had for you came from something else, something soft

Believe it or not, I enjoyed teasing you, I enjoyed making you angry.

I enjoy you

So much that it hurts

Luca pondered for a moment. He was telling her the truth. But he was leaving out the fact that if it were just an arranged marriage, with no strings attached, with no one year tenure—

He wouldn't have been so cruel

Everything he did, he did it to convince himself that he didn't love her

That was why he had to behave that way—

Remember when you confronted me, shortly after our wedding

And I kissed you, and bit you—

Sharon nodded, as the memories came flashing back. She had cried that day

“I felt it Sharon, I felt something”

He cupped her cheek

“And I hardly feel anything”

Sharon touched the back of his hand, and ran her fingers over the veins on his wrist

“So when you did those kind things to me in public—

You were not completely pretending”

“That's correct”

Sharon smiled at him coquettishly, and bit her lips

“Your turn

When did you realise that you didn't hate me?

Sharon held his hand in hers

“It was when I poisoned your coffee—

And I couldn't watch you drink it”

Sharon had just casually let him in on sensitive information, very sensitive information. She just confessed that she had attempted to kill him!

She expected him to react, exude surprise, or anger maybe

But he stared into her guilty eyes, without a single trace of hatred

“Did I hurt you that much?”

Sharon nodded

“Promise me something Sharon—

If ever I switch up on you, and treat you like I'm an asshole—

He carried her, and placed her hand on his neck

“You'll kill me”

Sharon burst out laughing, even though she knew Luca was dead serious. For about a minute, she laughed her heart out, at the most serious sentence he had made

“I couldn't kill you when I disliked you, I don't think I can, when I'm in love with you—”

Luca placed a kiss to her forehead

Italy had done things for them. He knew she