“Did your grandmother specify why she demanded my attendance tonight?” Valentina asks as she steps into the car. I blink in surprise and sneak a look at her. I’ve gotten so used to her icy silence whenever we’re in the car together that her words startle me. Unless there’s something to discuss with regard to work, she no longer speaks to me at all.
“No,” I admit. “But the last time she called all of us together in this way was when she announced that Hannah broke off her engagement with Ares.”
I feel her gaze on me, the silence between us filled with both of our worries and countless unspoken words. She knows as well as I do what my grandmother will be announcing tonight. If she wants Valentina there, whatever she has to say will be about me. Grandma has always included her when it came to me, whether I like it or not. How would she respond if the announcement I’m expecting is truly what I think it is?
Valentina smiles as we walk into the dining room, catching me by surprise. I haven’t seen her smile in so long, and it hits me right in the heart. I missed her more than she’ll ever know.
“Rave!” Valentina calls before rushing over to my sister-in-law. It’s clear they haven’t seen each other in a while, when they used to be so close. Did I truly do that? Am I the reason she’s been staying away from Sierra and Raven?
Raven hugs Valentina tightly before stepping back to check out her clothes. “I love this dress on you.”
Valentina twirls around with the biggest grin on her face, showcasing the dress that Raven clearly designed for her. “I only wear the best of the best, and this designer? She tops them all.”
So it’s Raven I have to thank for my rapidly devolving sanity. Every fucking day, my mind wreaks havoc on me, imagining her on my desk, her clothes on the floor. I can’t look at her without wanting her.
“Kids,” Grandma shouts, her eyes moving over all of us. “As you may have guessed, I have an announcement to make.”
The room falls silent, each of my siblings as tense as I am. The only exception is Ares, who has his arm wrapped around his wife, his expression unfazed.
Grandma smiles, her eyes briefly settling on Valentina, and then on me. My heart sinks before she even says my name. “Luca.” My spine straightens, and I nod in resignation. I was hoping I was wrong, but deep down, I knew this meeting was about me all along. “Your engagement has been decided.”
I feel my siblings’ burning gazes on me, but somehow, it’s Valentina I seek out. She stares at me wide-eyed, and for a moment, I’m convinced I see a flash of agony in her gaze.
I take a deep breath before speaking up. “Who is it?” I ask, resigned to my fate. I always knew I’d end up in an arranged marriage, so why do I feel so wronged? This is simply another business deal, and nothing more.
“Natalia Ivanov, daughter of Nikolai Ivanov and heiress to an oil empire. Oil is an industry we have yet to enter, and this will be our in.”
My stomach drops. “Natalia Ivanov?” I repeat, my head snapping up. “The socialite? She’s a spoiled, materialistic airhead.”
Grandma throws me a chastising look. “She’s your soon-to-be fiancée. She’s a sweet girl, Luca. You’ll see.”
I stare at my grandmother for a moment, my heart heavy. The words she spoke at Ares and Raven’s wedding run through my mind, adding insult to injury.
You know that everything I do is for you and your siblings, right?
How could this possibly be in my best interests? Natalia is my polar opposite in every single way. I could never be with a woman like that. I can’t even imagine being in her presence for over ten minutes without being at risk of losing some brain cells. If this marriage had been arranged with me in mind, the one I’d be marrying would be someone like… Valentina. Calm, sophisticated, intelligent, and as cold as I am in daily life, yet blazing hot when I have my hands on her.
I shake my head and walk out of the room, needing a moment to myself to digest the bomb Grandma just dropped on me. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. I always thought I’d accept the news calmly, yet I can’t deny the aching of my heart.
Natalia Ivanov. Why her? Out of everyone it could have been, why did it have to be her? She’s bitchy, whiny, and fucking spoiled. I could never be friends with her, but somehow, I’m supposed to marry her?
I tense when I hear the telltale sound of Valentina’s heels clicking behind me. “Not now, Valentina,” I warn her without looking back.
For weeks, I’ve been craving her presence. Day after day, I found myself staring at her through the glass wall in my office, trying to think of ways to build a bridge over the hole I dug between us.
Had it been any other day, I’d have slowed my stride until she falls into step with me, but I can’t be near her tonight. Somehow, she’s the one person I can’t be around right now. Just seeing her fills me with regret I don’t have the heart to analyze.
I expected her to stop and turn around, but instead, the sound of her heels follows me all the way back to my condo. I walk in without holding the door open for her, but that doesn’t dissuade her. She simply unlocks it with her fingerprint and follows me in.
I sigh as I head to my liquor cabinet and pour myself a drink. “Make it two,” she says, her voice soft.
I look up at her, my eyes roaming over her beautiful face and settling on those lips I’ll never taste again. I tear my gaze away and make her a martini, her favorite drink. For so long, I wondered how long it’d take for her to walk into my living room again. Never in a million years did I think that the day it finally happened would be a day like today.
She takes the glass from me with another one of those fake smiles of hers, and I grit my teeth. “I fucking hate it when you do that,” I snap.
Her eyes widen a fraction. “Do what?” she asks carefully.
“Those blatantly insincere smiles. Fucking hate them.”
She throws me another one of those smiles and raises her brows. “What? This? You don’t like my customer service smile?”
I blink in confusion. “It’s got a name?”
She laughs and sits down on my sofa. “You wouldn’t understand,” she tells me, “because you’ve never had to swallow down your dignity, but most of us common folk have a fake smile we’ve perfected.”
I sit down next to her and sigh. She’s so beautiful when she laughs. It’s bittersweet that I’ve finally made her laugh, and it’s on a night like tonight. “There’s nothing common about you,” I tell her, my voice soft. “Not a single thing.”
She stares at me and shakes her head. “That might well be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
I look into her eyes, a profound sense of loss washing over me. “I’ve said nice things to you before. I always compliment you on your work.”
“Yes,” she admits. “But you’ve never complimented me as a person. The only time you ever commented on my character—” she shakes her head and takes a sip of her drink instead. “It doesn’t matter.”
I turn to face her and take her drink out of her hand before placing it on the coffee table. “It does matter,” I tell her. “I never intended to hurt you, Valentina. What I said to you at Raven and Ares’s wedding was inappropriate and unacceptable, and I…” I bury my face in my hands for a moment and inhale deeply. “Valentina, I genuinely regret saying and doing what I did. I lost my temper and acted like a fucking fool. I didn’t mean to hurt you, or to make you feel inferior in any way. You aren’t. Hell, we both know I’m nothing without you.”
She shakes her head and picks her drink back up. “Let’s not talk about that, Luca,” she says, shaking her head. “I promise you that it’s fine. We’re fine. Tell me instead how you are. Are you okay?”
I run a hand through my hair and inhale deeply. “I’m not sure. I didn’t… I didn’t see this coming.”
Valentina takes another sip of her drink and nods. “Natalia is stunning,” she says, her voice soft. “The two of you will look great together.”
Bitterness settles deep in my stomach. I expected her to be somewhat hurt or jealous, but she isn’t.
“I know she’s young, and she seems somewhat immature, but that’s the beauty of marriage, isn’t it? You’ll grow together. The two of you will adapt to each other’s lives. It’ll all work out, I’m sure. Your grandmother would not have chosen her for you if that wasn’t the case.”
I should be grateful that she’s finally talking to me again, that the atmosphere between us is the same as it used to be, but I don’t want it to be. Not under these circumstances. I don’t want her to console me — I want her to be angry and jealous. I want her to lash out at me so I can pull her close and kiss her until she melts into me.
I look into her beautiful hazel eyes, my heart aching. Is no part of her bothered by the thought of me marrying Natalia?
I suppose not.
Why would she be?
