LUCA'S POV.I couldn't believe it. Scarlett had succeed in rendering me speechless and all she'd done was just to say that she couldn't hate me. Damn. What was wrong with me?Why did that little confession of hers feel so satisfying? Why did it spread a feeling of warmth in my chest as I thought it over in my head? Just why?Wasn't I supposed to hate the fact that she didn't hate me despite everything I had done to her family? That had been the whole point from the beginning; to be her worst nightmare, so why was the thought of the fact that she didn't hate me as much I thought so satisfying?I had to be going crazy. There was no other explanation for such madness. I cleared my throat, hoping that I hadn't embarassed myself too much with my first attempt to speak. It was unlike me, to stutter in front of anyone, I was stunned. "I'm sorry for confusing you, Scarlett but you need to make up your mind," I trained my eyes on her, saying, "I'm not a good man. I ruined your dad and althou
SCARLETT'S POV. The moment Luca hugged me, I froze. What the hell? It was so unexpected but so so good. The weight of his body around mine was satisfying, it kind of felt like being enveloped by a giant teddy bear, but just not a soft one—one with hard muscles and a taut stomach. Gosh! Luca Nicholas was hugging me and I was liking it. I shouldn't be liking it, I should push him away and punch his annoying face some more just to see if it could help the way I felt about him. I stood there, with my hands at my sides as Luca pulled me in, as if wanting to hold me as close as possible. And I started to wonder if he was giving me or himself comfort. It felt more like he was giving himself, with the way he was breathing into my neck. The hug lasted for a century before I got to my senses and pulled away rather too harshly, glancing up to see Luca staring at me with an unreadable expression. "Why did you do that?" I asked, frowning but deep down my body was already missing his warmth. T
SCARLETT'S POV.I was freaking out. Luca was staring at me like I was a cold bottle of water in a sunny desert, and I was sure I was doing the same. Maybe even looking more hungry. I couldn't believe it. Too many things had happened in such a short time, I couldn't even put my thoughts together. Could it be possible that Luca was feeling what I was feeling too? Could it? Was that why he'd hugged me back then? No way. Luca, still with the heated look in his eyes leaned down and gently pulled a wet strand of hair from my eyes and lifted the corner of his lips slightly when I squirmed.Like squirmed like an idiot. Oh God. Just kill me now. "I have a feeling that you want me, little girl," he said, his tone light an playful. Very unusual. "I ... I ... What? No, I don't want you," I stuttered like a fool and then bit my tongue in frustration. Ugh. He always succeeded in making me look so stupid. Luca chuckled shortly and then released my hair to cradle my cheek. The rain was falling
SCARLETT'S POV. As expected, the ride to the mansion had been long and awkward. Like, super awkward. Luca had been on his face, staring hard at it with all concentration while I just looked out the window, sneaking occasional glances at him whenever he wasn't looking.The driver too had been sneaking glances at me from the mirror, probably trying to understand what was going on. I hadn't missed the way he'd widened his eyes when he saw how drenched Luca had allowed himself get. I couldn't blame him, if I were him then I'd be curious too.I had no idea I'd fallen into sleep until I felt a light pat on my shoulder and opened my eyes to see that the car was parked in the familiar garage of the mansion. We'd reached finally, but wait ... I looked up at the hand that had woken me up and it was the driver's. Luca had gone in without me, not even bothering to wake me up? What did you expect him to do, carry you bridal style into your bedroom? My brain asked me and I realised that I was be
LUCAS'S POV.The moment I got into my bedroom and turned on the lights, I crashed onto the bed, heaving a loud sigh. God, I was tired. Tired and confused.What had happened back there with Scarlett? I'd been so very close to kissing her, and if I hadn't thought about the fact that she still in fact entertaining her boyfriend, and it was just only a physical attraction, I was sure I was going to ravage her right there. I was such a fool. That was such a big mistake. I shouldn't have allowed my lust for her to overpower me so much. I should've controlled myself, should've resisted the temptation of touching her. But of course my body never listened, in fact it had made it so very obvious how much it wanted her. First the hug and then the almost kiss? God, I was so embarassed of myself. As I lay there under the light of the chandelier, my mind transported me back to that road and I felt my whole body heating up. Scarlett's dress had been so damn gorgeous under the faint moonlight and
LUCA'S POV. Scarlett was looking at me with a mix of surprise and confusion and I just stood, unmoving, not knowing what to say to her. We both stared for hours in my head, eyes fixed on each other with intensity. I knew what I was feeling as I stared at her, but I wasn't quite sure what the intense look in her eyes meant."What are you doing here?" She asked, voice sharp and void of any friendliness. Hmm. I guess she was choosing to return back to our usual ways. That was a good choice. I needed her to put in the effort to stop the attraction between us because I wasn't very sure my efforts were going to be enough going forward. "This is my house and my gym," I said, walking further into the room. "I can be here whenever I want." She rolled her eyes and wiped the sweat that had formed on her forehead and neck with a towel and an image of me and her tangled together under the sheets all sweaty and exhausted flashed in my head, and my throat went dry. Stop it now, brain. Please ju
SCARLETT'S POV.ONE WEEK LATER. Time had flown by so fast, and before I knew it I was back to school. Asides the fact that, the end of the break meant that I had to sit up and start studying extra hard, so I could keep up with my good grades, it also meant that I was rarely or not going to be seeing Luca at all. I wasn't excited about all the studying that I had to do, but I was satisfied with the fact that I was going to be at school again, breathing fresh air and chatting with Abby and the rest. "Girl, this is crazy," Abby shook her head, face going between confused and amused as she processed everything I'd just related to her about my two weeks with Luca. "Yeah, it is. I can't even lie," I concurred. "And you know the worst part is that I have a strong feeling that this is all a part of Luca's revenge plan. He just wants to mess with my head and humiliate me. Confuse the hell out of me for the fun of it."Abby pursed her lips. "I can understand with you, girl. Even I am hella c
LUCA'S POV. I felt adrenaline in my veins as I walked out of the elevator and towards my office, shooting a salute to Maya on the way. I was feeling pumped because I'd just received the money I'd lent to a businessman I'd met some time last year, and he'd added the required interest—it was a freaking huge sum of money— and coupled with that, Mr Richardson's partnership with me had attracted the attention I was expecting, I couldn't even count with two hands, how many famous billionaire's had reached out to me for an association. It was amazing, really. Business was looking so fucking good now, and I was here for it. Nothing could ruin my mood when business was going well, not even the thoughts of Scarlett and what had happened in the gym. Shit. I'd promised myself that I wasn't even going to remember it. It shouldn't even have mattered to me that she said she was over what had happened, that she was going to tell her boyfriend and apologize to him, but somehow it did. It mattered s
SCARLETT'S POV.The moment Luca's lips touched mine, I melted into a puddle. My knees had gone weak and I feared they were going to buckle soon if I wasn't careful. Damn. The man knew how to kiss. He made sure that he ravaged my mouth with intensity, showing me with the kiss just how much he really wanted me. From my face, his hands travelled to my spine and then all the way back up to my hair and then he pulled. Shit, the force of the action caused a sting, but it was sweet. The pain was delicious. I loved it. He continued to kiss my mouth like his life depended on it until he decided that he'd had enough of it and wanted to taste my neck. Once his mouth touched there, I straight up melted into him, to the point he had to hold me up. "Woah," he laughed, amsued. "I haven't even touched you. You don't even know all the things I have planned for you.""Stop being cocky and kiss me," I demanded, pulling him back to my mouth and he let out a satisfactory growl."You're so damn sexy,
SCARLETT'S POV. THREE HOURS LATER. The party had started to get heated. People were popping in from every corner now. And the place started to get a bit crowded and tight. Many had decided to go out to the garden but it still felt like we were at a concert or something. It had been a bad choice Matt had made to organise the party at the house. The set-up was beautiful no doubt but it was becoming too suffocating. Or maybe it was just my body's reaction to Luca sitting beside me on our table.The rest of the guest looked like they didn't mind at all. Maybe it was just me actually. "So, how has therapy been?" Luca's voice sounded so close to my ear and I practically jumped in my seat, embarassing myself further. "It's been really good," I smiled tightly. "Uhh... The therapist has been really good and understanding. I-I feel like a totally different person now."I could remember giving him the same response some time ago when he'd asked. Shit. Why was I acting that way?And where t
SCARLETT'S POV. Abby arrived not long after and after we were both done getting ready and checking each other out, we said goodbye to mum and headed for the venue in an Uber. Matt's two storey house was flooded with people when we got in, it was crazy that the guy knew that much people. "Shit, this is way more than I expected," Abby said, looking around the garden that was filled with several cooperate looking people. "Yeah thank god that you convinced me to wear this dress," I said, looking at the dresses of the other women aroun. It was like we'd come for some sort of fashion show or something. "Exactly why you should always trust my opinions," she smiled, smoothing down the skirt of her royal blue dress. She looked amazing actually in that dress and her hair slicked back. We both looked amazing actually. "Come on let's go inside," I pulled her hand and we both walked with our heads held high into the house where soft music was playing from the speakers. "Sheesh, nice design,
SCARLETT'S POV.FIVE MONTHS LATER. This was the fifth time I'd checked my appearance out in the mirror and I was still nervous. God, why did the thought of him still make me so nervous? I finally made up my mind that I looked really good in the dress. It was a red dress that Abby had picked out for me two weeks after I'd been discharged from the hospital. It had been crazy expensive and I'd wanted to abandon it because I couldn't pay, but then Abby had offered to pay, saying that it was a gift to me, celebrating my release from the hospital and the fact that I could finally walk on my own two feet. I'd been discharged from the hospital way earlier than the doctor had expected. The doctor had told us that my case was very special and unusual, and he'd never seen anything quite like it before. He'd made sure that I'd spent another two weeks extra in the hospital just to make sure that there were no further complications. And finally after a whole month and a half of being in the hosp
LUCA'S POV.After Belle left I stayed for a while outside, watching the sky as it got darker and darker. I kept thinking about Isabella and dad, and everything that had happened, but this time I found that the more I thought about it, the more I started to see Belle's point clearly. That was the problem, I was holding onto the pain and bitterness for too long, I didn't even know how to stop doing it. I'd thought I was ready let it all go for Scarlett, but today had made me realise that there was still a part of me that wanted to be mad at her, at somebody for everything. It wasn't fair at all to Scarlett. She didn't deserve to get hate for something that she knew nothing about. After a little more time reflecting, I slapped my palms and decided that I had to go talk to her. About everything. Just let it all out. And see where we can go from there. I made my way back to the room where I saw Marilyn and Scarlett hugging from the glass doors. Abby just stood watching them with tears i
LUCA'S POV. On getting outside, I bumped into a nurse that was carrying a tray and we both let out string of curses. "Shit I'm sorry," I said, getting down to help her pick up her tray. "I'm so sorry."She picked up the last piece of equipment and looked up at me. "It's fine. Why are you in such a hurry anyways? Is the hospital on fire?"I turned down my lips. "No of course not.""Then why did you almost knock me all the way to hell?" She asked, smirking. "And why do you look like a wounded puppy?""I'm just in a really shitty mood, I don't even know how to feel," I said, wondering after I'd said it, why. Why did I just tell her that? The nurse balanced her tray and gave me a look of sympathy. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" I thought about it for a long while and decided, "no, not everything at least."The nurse smiled. She had such kind eyes and an equally kind smile, funny enough, she kind of reminded me of Isabella so much. They had so much similarities in their facial
LUCA'S POV. I wasn't sure if I'd heard properly. Had Marilyn just talked about Isabella? Isabella, my sister. How the heck did she get to know."How did you?" I started but then trailed off, stunned. "You know about Isabella?""Yes I do," Marilyn offered me a sad smile. "Wait... Isabella?"Scarlett questioned, she and her friend looking completely lost. "That's... What did he to her?"I couldn't respond. I couldn't say anything more actually. It was like my throat had gone completely tight and no sound could come out. What the heck was with that reaction?"What he did to all the other girls," Marilyn answered. "She used to work as an intern at the company, and your dad he... h-he was abusing her for the longest time.""Fuck," Scarlett gasped, voice shaking. "How? W-why was she? Oh my God... Dad is such an asshole."Abby looked horrified by the news too, she went over to offer Scarlett some comfort when she saw the was her friend was reacting. This was not good for Scarlett. She didn
LUCA'S POV. "Thanks so much for your time, officer," I reached out to shake hands with Raymond and he reciprocated. "It was my pleasure," he smiled. "I'm kinda pissed though, that that turned out so easy."I smirked at him, thinking the same. "Yeah, that was a waste of so much planning. I thought I was going to get my movie scene moment, but I guess not ..."Raymond chuckled. "Go back to your wife now. You don't want to miss anything, do you?""Yeah, sure I don't," I threw him a salute. "I'll see you when I see you then."I was about to leave but then he stopped me by saying,"Hey hold up."I turned around and rose an eyebrow. "What's up?"He gave me a weird look. "Aren't you a little bothered about what happened though, I mean you guys are related because of Scarlett.""What do you mean?""Ramson Damien?" He questioned. "You haven't heard yet? He's been arrested after several charges that have been pressed against him.""What?" I gasped. "How the fuck did I not hear of that yet?""
LUCA'S POV. "Why are you not scared?" Penelope asked, eyeing me from head to toe. I just shrugged. "You're not really very scary now that I know you're the one.""But you saw what I did to Scarlett," she sounded really pissed. "Wasn't that scary enough for you? I'm pointing a fucking gun to your head actually.""Yeah, I know," I stuffed my hands into my pocket and bounced on my toes. "I'm still not scared of you or that guy. Who is he anyways? Your lapdog?"The guy behind her growled at that and came towards me so fast to throw a punch. He landed the blow, but immediately he did, I got mad and decided that I could actually beat the shit out of him.He landed another blow to my cheek and then he tried again, but I dodged and realised that if I wanted to have the upper hand, I had to find a way to take him down. "You stop that now, tiger," Penelope warned, pointing the gun at the two of us, confused. I used the opportunity I got once the guy turned to look at her to my advantage. Ti