by Fariah Zaidi
When I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t help but notice how they looked vaguely familiar like I’d either met him or seen him before.
However, as I opened my mouth to ask him about it, his phone began ringing, blaring into the silence of the room.
He moved back, shoving his hand in his pocket to take out his phone. At once, the warmth of his body went away and I almost whined in protest.
Muttering a curse, he slid his finger across the screen and held the phone up to his ear, greeting whoever it was on the other side in a highly irritated fashion.
I moved away from the wall and walked towards Stefan’s bed, taking in his bedroom, smiling as I reminisce the last time I was here- calling him names and forcing him to eat dinner.
My eyes were starting to feel droopy and in that moment, Stefan’s bed looked most inviting. Disregarding the fact that it was his room and his bed and that he was just two feet away on a call, I kicked off my slippers and climbed on.
The sheets and pillows smelled of him, his heady masculine scent. And I decided that it was the best place to sleep in the moment. Curling myself under the comforter, I closed my eyes, sighing in content.
As I drifted off, all I could think of was the kiss, the pleasurable feeling of his lips against mine.
Sunlight attacked me in hordes the next time I opened my eyes. I cringed, internally cursing whoever left the curtains open. Yawning a little, I turned away, burrowing deeper into my pillow. It was warm and hard and smelled like Stefan.
My eyes snapped open and I froze, blinking away the sleep.
Oh crap! Was I…
I peaked up from under my lashes only to see Stefan looking down at me with an amused smile on his face. He raised an eyebrow, teasing me with his devilish smirk.
There was something too intimate in the way we were positioned. My body was folded into his, our legs entangled and his hand banded across my waist, while mine were on his chest.
Well, this is some morning.
“Buongiorno, Zara.” he whispered, pushing a strand of hair away from my face.
“Buongiorno yourself.” I smiled, though my accent was nowhere near perfect as his.
However, it turned into a grimace when a dull, throbbing ache began settling in my head. Muttering something incoherent, I buried my face in Stefan’s neck, moaning in pain.
“What happened?” came Stefan’s concerned voice.
“Headache.” I grumbled.
“Well, that’s what you get for drinking my whiskey.”
“Screw you, Stefan.” I mumbled, almost drifting off again.
“Get up.” he laughed lightly, “You need to eat something. You didn’t even have dinner last night.”
I pulled away a little, trying to recall the events of yesterday. Slowly and steadily, it all came back to me.
“Do you even remember anything from last night?” Stefan asked, running his fingers through my hair.
“I remember drinking with Ria, then I remember throwing up in front of you.” I cringed, “Then I remember threatening Valentin, the sleaze ball.”
“Nothing after that?” he asked, looking a little disappointed.
I didn’t have to be explained to know what he was talking about. The warm blush that crept up my cheeks was an answer itself.
He let out a laugh and I closed my eyes against the feeling of his hand massaging my scalp.
I groaned when another bout of pain invaded my head.
“You need to get up, eat something.” Stefan admonished.
“Fine.”
It was then that I felt something hard nudging against my thigh. Without thinking, I reached down, placing my hand on the bulge.
To my utter surprise, it jerked between my fingers. And so did Stefan.
Realization dawned on me and I pulled my hand away like it was on fire.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Oh my God!” I screeched in embarrassment, “Is that your penis?”
I didn’t even have the guts to look at Stefan again. Mumbling ‘sorry’ over and over again, I moved away from him. Embarrassment practically slapped me in the face as my cheeks turned the brightest shade of red.
In a haste to get away from him, I tried to climb off the bed. Except my legs got entangled in the sheets and I fell head first on to the floor.
I lay there, sprawled half on the carpet and half on the cold floor. Blinking a bunch of times through my daze, I wondered what the hell happened in the last few seconds.
A loud, boisterous laugh filled the room.
I raised my body enough to place my elbows on the mattress. Stefan was practically rolling on the bed, clutching his stomach in laughter. It was so joyful and exuberant that I couldn’t believe it was coming from the same person who had a permanent frown etched to his face.
“It’s not funny, Stefan!” I yelled, “I just touched your thing!”
“That look on your face…” his words dissolved into another bout of chuckles.
He wasn’t even listening to me! The nerve of him. I watched as he wiped away tears from his face, still grinning cheekily at me.
“That’s it!” I mumbled, standing up.
In a fit of annoyance, I picked up one of the pillows and with all the strength I could muster and brought it down on Stefan. His laughter got muffled under its weight as the pillow slapped him in the face and chest.
“Hah!” I gloated, “Take that Esposito!”
And then I froze. Oh God, what had I done?
When I pulled away, the amusement on his face had completely wiped off. Instead, he looked pissed off and ready to murder.
“Oh boy.” I mumbled, stepping back from the bed.
He slid off the bed and began advancing towards me.
“Stefan, I’m sorry.” I held my hands up, “But you deserved that.”
And then I bolted.
I ran towards the door, throwing it open and running out. He called my name but I didn’t turn back. Instead I jogged straight to my room and locked the door behind me.
“Zara, open this door right now!” he banged his fist on it.
“No way in hell, Stefan.” I replied, walking backward into my room. My heart hammered in my chest, afraid that any moment Stefan might break down this door and come murder me.
“You’re going to pay for this.” he warned, “One way or the other.”
I waited with bated breath and then sighed in relief when I heard him walk away. Still grinning at my small victory, I jumped into the shower, desperate to satiate my growling stomach.
I walked into the kitchen to see Ria seated on one of the stools, nursing a mug of coffee. Her appearance was quite similar to mine- tired eyes, droopy posture, hair tied in a messy bun and dressed in sweats.
Judging from the weak smile she shot me, it was clear that she had a headache too.
My eyes then shifted to Mama Bella, who sat opposite to Ria, a disapproving frown etched across her face. However, she turned around and got up to take mug from one of the cabinets. She poured in a generous amount of coffee and slid it my way.
I gave her a grateful smile. The aroma of the coffee wafted to my nose and my stomach grumbled loudly, making me realize how hungry I was.
“I’m making pancakes.” Mama announced, turning away from us. She busied herself with taking out plates and pans, as I took a big sip of my coffee, closing my eyes and moaning a little at the taste.
“I am so mad at you two.” she grumbled again, pouring batter on to the pan.
“Because we got drunk?” Ria asked her.
I shot her a look that said ‘duh’.
“No,” Mama muttered, “I’m mad because you got drunk and you didn’t even invite me.”
I blinked.
Ria and I looked at each other a moment and then burst out laughing.
Of course, the headache made hadn’t died down and it made us grimace, but it was worth it. She was actually mad at us because we didn’t invite her to drink.
“Don’t enc
ourage them, Mama.”
We turned around to see Stefan walking through the door, hands casually shoved in his pockets. He came to stand behind me and like the creep I am, I closed my eyes for a second as his scent surrounded me.
“The next thing you know, they’ll have raided the entire cabinet of the alcohol.” his chest rumbled as he spoke in his deep voice, and I felt its vibrations on my spine.
His hand came to rest on my waist and I instinctively leaned into his body. That right there was the best cure for a hangover.
Someone cleared their throat and I opened my eyes. Ria and Mama Bella were looking at me with raised eyebrows. A blush warmed my cheeks at their inquisitive stares and I straightened up, begrudgingly moving away from Stefan.
The man is question looked down at me, his fingers still lingering at my waist.
“I need to talk to you. Come up to my office after you’ve had breakfast.”
With that, he turned around and walked back out the door.
“Uh, did we miss something?” Ria asked at the same time Mama Bella asked, “Did something happen between you two?”
My response was instant as I took a large sip of my coffee, “No. Nothing. Why would you say that?”
The looks on their faces told me that saw right through my lie. They just stared at me, waiting for my response.
“Alright, fine.” I threw up my hands, “We kissed last night.”
“What?”
“When?”
I looked at the two women and then sighed, “I don’t know if you know this but Valentin called last night. And I was slightly buzzed when I went to talk to him. I even threatened him, challenged him to come for me.”
Again the two of them looked at me with shocked expressions.
“Stefan and I went to his room after that.” I continued, “And there we sort of made out.”
“So what does this mean?” Ria asked, helping herself to the pancakes.
“I don’t know.” I told her, following her actions and piling three on my plate, “We haven’t talked about it.”
“Do you want to?” Mama Bella asked, pushing the chocolate syrup towards me.
“I don’t know that either.” I said, moaning at the heavenly goodness in my mouth, “But for once in a long time, I am happy. So I am just going to go with it.”
I smiled widely, and carried on stuffing my mouth. And it remained so till the end of breakfast.
The kiss from last night was ingrained in my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I could feel him, his lips and his body pressed against mine.
My blissful daydream however, was cut short when Rafael walked into the kitchen, his face holding an urgent expression.
“Zara,” he breathed, “Stefan wants you upstairs, right now.”
Without a word, I followed him, ascending the staircase and towards Stefan’s office. When I walked in, Stefan was seated behind his desk, and Enzo and Vincent were there too, their heads bowed over their respective iPads, eyes squinting in concentration.
“What is it Stefan?” I asked, walking up to him, “What’s wrong?”
He sighed deeply, and I could see the troubled expression in his eyes as he rounded the desk and came to stand in front of me.
“One of our informants just called us with some news on Valentin.” he answered.
He sounded puzzled, and somewhat confused.
“What did he say?” I asked impatiently.
“He said that Valentin is planning his wedding.” Stefan said, looking me right in the eyes, “He is planning to get married to you.”
Chapter 16: Agreement
Zara
“What the fuck?”
My response was instant and colored in shock. Did I hear him right? Did he actually just say that Valentin wanted to get married to me?
“Wh… why?” I stuttered, at a complete loss of words, “What? Why does he want to do that?”
Enzo got up from his seat, placing the iPad behind him, “Apparently, there is an old Lombardi document, a contract that allows Valentin to take over the Lombardi fortune once he gets married to you.” Stefan explained.
“It reminded us of the call that your adoptive father Theo had made us the day he was shot.” he continued further.
“What was it about?” I asked.
“Theo called us that morning and said that he had acquired an old agreement and some documents that he needed us to see.” Rafael said, leaning against Stefan’s desk, “He said it was extremely important, but since we were in another state, we told him to keep it safe until we returned.”
“Now the problem is that he died before he could give us the papers, and now we have no idea where to find them.” Stefan finished, sighing in a frustrated manner.
“I know this is a long shot, but did you come across any papers after his death?” Rafael asked.
I pondered over the question, pretty sure that I would’ve noticed if I came across any such contracts.
But then I remembered something.
“What about the vault?” I asked, referring to the room behind my basement.
“What vault?” Stefan perked up.
“You don’t know about it?” I asked.
“We don’t.” Rafael said, glancing at others for confirmation.
“Well,” I began, “the day I came here, I met with my father er- Theo’s lawyer at the restaurant that I worked at. He gave me a safe deposit box and told me that it was in my father’s will that it be handed over to me once I turned twenty-one.”
The surprised and confused looks on the four men’s faces told me that they were completely unaware of this.
“Inside the safe deposit box was a letter, two bundles of money and a key.” I continued, “In the letter he told me how I was adopted and stuff. It also said that the key belonged to something that was inside the basement of my old house.”
I went further on about the room, the money, the weapons and the files.
“I wasn’t able to see much because I heard a noise and when I went upstairs, Valentin, well, he kidnapped me.” I finished, wringing my fingers together, hating his name on my lips.
The next thing I know, Stefan was already putting on his suit jacket and telling Rafael to get the car around.
“Where is the key?” Stefan asked, tapping on his phone.
“It’s in my room. I’ll go get it.” I said, leaving the office and heading into my room.
I walked into the closet and opened the small chest of drawers. Taking out the jewelry box that Ria had given me, I opened it and picked up the chain with the key dangling at the end.
The day I came here, I had taken proper measures to keep it safe, not knowing when it might come to use.
Quickly shoving the chain in my pocket, I put on a sweater and made my way downstairs. There was no question of me not going along with them. I was the only one who knew where the vault was located and how to open it.
As we settled into the SUV, Rafael started driving, heading out the long driveway and out the gates. My eyes scanned the surroundings. It was the first time I was stepping out in a couple of weeks and it felt slightly weird.
We passed another gated house. Before I could ask, Stefan spoke up beside me, “That is where the rest of the Esposito family lives. I’ll take you to meet them all someday.”
The house was huge. It looked even slightly bigger than Stefan’s. On looking closely, I saw men and women walking in an out the door, cars were lined up beside the drive where some people were kicking around a ball.
By the time we neared my old house, my right leg was bouncing in nervousness. I still couldn’t get it out of my head that Valentin wanted to actually get married to me. And once again I came with zero answers when I tried to think why.
As the car came to a stop, everyone stepped out. Without a word, I led the four men up the drive and to the front door.
However, we were surprised to find it wide open.