Luca's POV
"What about your ex?" Caleb, my best friend, suggests over the phone."Natasha?" I scoff. "Seriously, Caleb?"That woman is a possessive gold digger. I know she was only with me because it helped her advance in her modelling career.Caleb laughs. "Don't bite my head off, jeez. It was only a suggestion. I think you should pay someone to do the job."Yeah, I've been thinking of that. I just don't want to trust something like that on a stranger."I'm ready!" A female voice announces behind me.Turning, I find Skylar, my PA who I brought on this trip with me for business purposes.Fuck, how long has she been standing there? Did she hear my conversation with Caleb?"Caleb, I'll talk to you later." I hang up the phone, then glare at Skylar in disapproval. "Why do you ladies always take so long to get ready?""And why do you men always complain when you already know what to expect." Skylar shoots back with a chuckle.I roll my eyes at the cheeky reply. Scanning her outfit, I realize she's adorned in a simple and business-like off-white blouse on top of a black tailored skirt. Her hair is tied up behind her head in a neat bun.Well, the time she took to dress surely paid off because she looks gorgeous.I won't deny that I find my PA attractive. But I know much better than to get involved with a woman like her."We'll get to the cafe quicker if you stop staring." Skylar snaps her fingers in front of my face, making me realize I've been staring.I quickly collect myself with a frown. "I came knocking on your door last night. You weren't around. I wanted us to discuss the Bentley project. Where did you go at that time, Skylar?""Um," Skylar swallows nervously. "I was...uh...going for a stroll around the city.""Oh, I'm sure you had a nice walk." I say sarcastically.I'm not stupid. I know she's lying. She didn't go for a walk. She went to get fucked.Yes, I know about her sex life. I know everything about her promiscuity. I know about how she sleeps with a different man every week. I know about how she changes men like she changes her sheets.I don't know how a woman can be so reckless with her sex life. I pity any man who will fall in love with her.I sigh. "Look, Skylar. I don't give a fuck what you do outside work. But I brought you on this business trip. I think it's only fair you tell me whenever you want to go out. Get it?""Yes, 'boss'," Skylar says, skilling tightly.I know she's not happy with my comment. Was I too harsh on her?"Good. Let's go."*****Skylar hasn't said a word since I rebuked her at the hotel. I feel bad about confronting her about it, but some subjects are unavoidable.The cafe we go to doesn't seem too busy. We locate a table in a corner, just perfect enough for us to be able to discuss business without any interruptions.I pull a chair back for Skylar. To my relief, she smiles at me as she sits down, making me know she's not angry with me anymore. I sit down across from her and pull out my laptop from my laptop bag, placing it on the table.A beautiful brown-skinned woman approaches us with a huge smile on her face. "Good morning, what would you lovebirds like?"Skylar looks at me and smiles knowingly but we don't bother to tell the woman that we're not dating. Skylar orders pancakes accompanied by hot, milky cocoa, and I order coffee and some donuts.Our order is served in a matter of minutes. I pull out my laptop from my bag, and Skylar and I discuss business over our steaming beverages.As usual, Skylar shows how good she is at her job. She only started working for me last year and yet I can say she's the best PA I've ever had."Excuse me, I'm just going to visit the ladies." Skylar suddenly announces, getting up to her feet.After she goes to the washroom, I try to focus back on business but find myself thinking about the promise I made to my mum.I only have one day until the reunion and I've still not gotten anyone who will pretend to be my girlfriend.What about Skylar? My subconsciousness suggests for the second time today.Nope. Not Skylar. She's just my PA and I don't want her to know too much about my private life."I can see you're still a workaholic." A familiar voice suddenly says.Looking up, I'm quite surprised when I realize that it's one of my uncles. "Uncle Dennis." I get up to my feet and hug him."Boy, how have you been?""I've been great, Uncle," I reply enthusiastically. Among all my uncles, Uncle Dennis is the one I'm closest with. But we haven't seen each other in a while."Was that her?" Uncle Dennis suddenly asks.Confused, I raise a brow at him. "Was that who?""Ah, please. Your mum has already called me to gush about the woman you'll be bringing to the reunion. I'm afraid she's going to burst from excitement." He smiles affectionately. "I saw a young woman leaving your table. It's her, right?""Uncle, uh..." I swallow nervously.Uncle Dennis doesn't let me finish speaking. "Wow, she's gorgeous. You're just like your uncle. We've both got fine taste.""Damn right."I freeze as soon as I say that. Uncle Dennis is now going to believe that Skylar is my girlfriend. Why did I have to say that? My heart skips a beat as Skylar appears, walking towards our table."Oh, we have company." She says curiously."My God, you look even more stunning this close. My nephew says you're his girlfriend."My heart begins thumping inside my chest, and I close my eyes. Fuck, Skylar is going to expose me. My mum is going to know that I lied.However, Skylar completely shocks me with her with her reply."That's right, sir. I'm Skylar Simpson, Luca's girlfriend."Hey guys,This has been a long journey of a little over three months, and I know that reading this story must've been a bit frustrating because of my unscheduled updates where you never know when to expect the next chapter in a day. But y'all stuck with me, and I'm so grateful for that. Thank you so much for the patience.There were times I wanted to give up because writing was so stressful but all your comments kept me on my toes, along with all those beautiful gems you gifted me. They're truly appreciated.A few of you might not agree with some directions I decided to take, but I realize I can't satisfy everyone. I do believe in second chances as long as the other person is remorseful and willing to change. And I tried to be as realistic about the whole thing as possible.That being said, this is my first story on here, and I'm not perfect. There's always room for improvement for my future books, so do let me know; Where did I lack? What could I have done better? Were there issues yo
The first clue read: YES! YES! I KNOW THAT YOU'RE A DAY OLD, SO LOOK FOR THE FIRST TREASURE WHERE THINGS GET COLD.So Skylar did remember. Grinning like an idiot, Luca figured the first one out easily. It was obviously the fridge. But they had two. One in the kitchen and another at the corner of the wall near the dining table. He took a chance on the one near the dining area, and he was right.His first treasure was there, a somewhat rectangular gift wrapped up so that he couldn't see what it was. Attached to it was the second clue.It read: A MAJESTIC THRONE THAT NO ONE WANTS, YET WE ALL HAVE TO RULE OVER EVERY OTHER DAY.His brows drew together. A throne? Since he was standing around the dining table, his eyes went straight to the chairs there first. But the clue said no one wants it, so it definitely couldn't be those chairs. It took him five minutes of running all around the ground floor before he finally figured it out. When he did, he burst out laughing. What the heck? So the t
ONE YEAR LATERLuca was pissed.The day hadn't gone exactly how he'd envisioned it, and he'd been complaining the whole evening. The unfortunate listeners of his lashing out were Caleb and Abhishek.“How could she just forget?” He grouched. “Everyone remembered. My mum, Ella... Heck, even you guys remembered. And she forgets?”“Uh, with all due respect, your highness, your mother gave birth to you. She's the most inclined to remember when it's your birthday.” Abhishek had the very salient idea of mocking him, becoming the recipient of Luca's very unhappy glare.Caleb wasn't fazed though. “Dude, why are you making this a big deal? I'm sure Skylar had stuff on her mind and things to do, and she must've forgotten. Just remind her when you get home. No big deal.”Luca transferred his glare to the other man. “No big deal? It's not like we're 60 or something. We've just been living together for a year! How the hell does she forget my birthday? She didn't have to remind me when it was her bir
Licking her tongue down his neck, Skylar groaned along with him as she stroked his hard-as-granite dick. God, she loved how his dick felt in her hand. So warm and meaty and hard and just so damn good. She found herself salivating, her mouth's wish to get reacquainted with his delicious member.Without hesitation, she dropped to her knees, sliding his pants and boxers down to the middle of her thighs. His erection bounced out, the huge member bumping against her face Grabbing it, she licked him from the base up to the tip, reveling when he let out a sharp sound of pleasure."Fuck, Vanilla." He groaned. "Open that mouth of yours. Just like that."Taking the tip in, she swirled her tongue around it for a bit before taking him further. Just like she remembered, she could only get half of him in without gagging, but almost four years of not doing this didn't mean she'd forgotten how to work within her limits.She had Luca groaning and gasping for air as she bobbed her head up and down, let
Once Alex left, Luca refused to talk about anything having to do with him. He claimed he wasn't upset, but his actions afterwards proved contrary.He drove her to her house so that she could get dressed for work, but he barely said a word to her.Laura was horrified when Skylar told her about what Alex did, but the nanny ended up also concluding that Alex definitely didn't have bad intentions. That only seemed to tick Luca off some more.He drove to the company in brooding silence and didn't even give her a goodbye kiss when he parted to go check out some issues with Brandon Wood, the new branch CEO.Then again, Skylar was definitely not prepared for any PDA that would blow up the secretaries' group chat with gossip. She knew most of the people in the company thought she climbed up too quickly and had always linked it to her having an affair with Hector Lancaster. She didn't want them seeing her with Luca and making all sort of bullshit up to suit that narrative again. Luca didn't say
Alex caught the swaying of Nicole's body before she let go, so he had enough time to react and catch her in his arms."Hey. Nicole? Nicole?" He called out softly, realizing she'd passed out.Lowering her onto the couch, he held her cheek in his hand and tried to shake her gently, but she didn't react in any way.Panic shooting through him, he gathered her into his arms, ready to take her to the hospital. He didn't know what was wrong with her, but he wasn't about to take the chance of waiting for her to wake up first.Getting out of the apartment, he was just heading towards the elevator when she finally stirred in his arms."Nicole, you're awake. Thank God!" He said but he didn't stop the journey to the elevator."Alex, where are you taking me?" Nicole groaned."To the hospital.""I'm conscious now. I don't want to go to the hospital." She said and began squirming in his arms just when they got to the elevator, wordlessly demanding to be placed down.Alex obliged and placed her on her
Chewing on a bowl of popcorn, Nicole sat on her couch, fast-forwarding through scenes of the K-drama she was watching on her TV. There was only so much of the goofy, cute banter she could enjoy before she got tired of the lack of story progression.Just when she got to a scene that looked to be exciting enough, her doorbell rang. Pausing the film, she set her bowl of popcorn aside and went to get the door.Her heart nearly leapt out of her chest when she opened the door to find Alex. Partly because she hadn't expected him and secondly because his face looked like a mess. He had a black eye, other bruises, and stitches marring his face."Hey, Nicole." He flashed her smile and winced like it hurt him to do that."Alex, what happened to you?!" She exclaimed, scanning his face in horror."Uh, I got beat up?" He chuckled a bit, obviously trying to deflect the gravity of the situation with humour."I can see that!" She said, "But who did that to you?""Can I come in first?""Of course, of c
The muffled sounds of a screaming match yanked Skylar out of her deep sleep. Groaning, she snapped her eyes open and tried to focus on the altercation. She couldn't hear much, so she slipped out of bed and approached the door, the voices getting clearer the closer she got."You have some fucking nerve showing your face here, you imbecile!" That was Luca, and he sounded very angry.The sudden sound of screeching couches and painful groans snapped Skylar into action. Realizing she was just in her underwear, she quickly grabbed the dress she remembered wearing yesterday which had been thrown on the bedroom sofa and slipped it on. Opening the door, she rushed out of the bedroom and came to a startled stop at what was going on.Luca was beating the hell out of Alex who was lying helplessly on the couch. His body was vibrating with aggression, and he seemed to be channeling that aggression into every punch. Alex's face already looked like a bloody mess, yet his blows were so heavy that she
Before the tentacles of doubts could bury its roots inside his mind, Luca held himself firm and shook his head, slicing through it until it was completely dead.No, he refused to believe it. He refused to believe that Skylar had done this to him. It just couldn't be.She loved him. Over the weekend, she'd shown him that with so much passion he'd felt it within his soul. There had been nothing like uncertainty about her love.Besides, during their fight regarding his marriage proposal, she'd told him that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him too. She wouldn't have never said anything like that if she didn't mean it.And he believed her. He wasn't going to make the mistake of jumping to conclusions again. He'd been there before, and where had that landed him? In hell, for four fucking years. There was no way he wanted to go back there.There had to be some plausible explanation as to why she was in Alex William's house sleeping in his arms in that state. An explanation that