by Nikki Ashton
“Ssh, I’m guessing that Martha is in there,” she whispered pointing at Luke’s bedroom door.
Luke grinned cheekily. “How did you know?”
“I’m old, not deaf.”
Luke groaned. He’d told Martha to be quiet, but when the sex was that good; it was a surprise that the Police hadn’t been called because of the noise.
“Just come downstairs, now.” Lucia strode off with Luke trailing behind, bemoaning the fact that he should now be enjoying some quality time with Martha.
“This better be important, Mamma,” Luke said with a laugh.
As he entered the lounge Lucia stood to one side and pointed towards the sofa.
“Is that important enough?”
Luke’s mouth fell open. “Rachel, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Hi baby, have you missed me?” Rachel drawled, a huge smile on her face.
“I think Luciano asked you a question, Rachel.” Lucia shook her head and sighed. “What are you doing here?”
Rachel smiled and looked past Luke and Lucia. “Oh hey Martha, so nice to see you again.”
Chapter 19
Martha couldn’t quite believe her eyes when she walked into the lounge. Her last few steps lost the bounce that they’d had coming down the stairs. Luke had told her that he’d finished things with Rachel, for good. Yet here she was lounging on the sofa calling him baby.
“I asked you a question,” Luke demanded.
“Did you forget that I was coming?” Rachel asked getting up and walking slowly towards Luke.
“No, I told you it’s over.”
“Oh you think it is, you always do, but you always come back to me.” Rachel snaked her arms around Luke’s neck.
Luke reached up and pulled them away, pushing Rachel away from him.
“It is this time; for good. I told you that so why the hell are you here?” Luke moved away and stood in between Martha and Lucia. He figured that it was safety in numbers, and if he knew Martha and his mamma, they would fight like lionesses to save him from the big bad hunter.
“Rachel I think you should leave,” Lucia said in a much more measured tone than her son. “Luciano obviously didn’t invite you here.”
“He did, he told me when you were coming and said it’d be great if I joined you.” Rachel pouted, in a false, practised way. It was obviously a move that usually got her what she wanted.
Martha, who had stayed silent, suddenly realised that she hadn’t taken a breath in a while and let out a huge sigh. Luke glanced at her and caught hold of her hand that was hanging limply at her side.
Rachel’s eyes dropped to Luke and Martha’s joined hands. “Oh please, tell me that you’re not shagging the maid.”
“Rachel,” Luke snarled. “Be very careful what you say. Martha and I are together, but what the hell it’s got to do with you I have no idea.”
“I do wonder about you at times Luke.” Rachel started to giggle. “You have some funny ideas. Look, let’s forget about whatever has happened here,” she wagged her finger between Luke and Martha, “and concentrate on us. I can forgive you.”
“There is nothing to forgive, now please just go,” Luke said. He let go of Martha’s hand and moved towards Rachel, took hold of her elbow and started to steer her in the direction of the door.
“Be careful, Luke. I’m pregnant!”
Lucia and Martha gasped in unison. Martha thought that she was going to be sick, while Lucia held a hand to her chest. Luke was impassive and simply started to clap slowly.
“Ha, fucking ha,” he cried. “You are unbelievable. For one I know that you are on the pill, and for two I have never, ever, gone without a condom with anyone, least of all you. Even my sperm aren’t good enough to get through double wrapping.”
Martha’s eyes shot towards him and she gave a little smile. He had never used one with her.
Rachel sighed and crossed her arms over her pert breasts. “Alright, I’m not, but I had to say something. Please Luke, I have nowhere else to go. I’ve just got the last flight in, so unless you want me to camp down at the airport for the night I could do with a bed.”
Luke looked at Lucia, who shrugged. “It’s not up to me,” she said.
“Martha, babe?”
“It’s not my house Luke, it can’t be my decision.” Martha pulled her hand away from Luke’s. How could he possibly ask her if it was okay for Rachel to stay when she’d just called her ‘the maid’ and been a total bitch?
Luke looked down at his empty hand and then up at Martha. Her arms were now folded across her chest and she was looking at him with cold eyes. Instantly Luke knew he’d made a mistake even asking if Rachel could stay.
“No, I’m sorry Rachel,” he said. “But you’re going to have to suffer the plastic chairs at the airport for the night.”
“Please Luke,” Rachel wailed. “It’s the most miserable airport in the world. There’s not even a decent duty free.”
Luke shook his head. “No, you need to go.”
Rachel’s bottom lip started to tremble and her eyes covered in a sheen of tears. “I promise I’ll keep out of your way.”
“You shouldn’t have come here, so I’ve no sympathy for you.” Luke reached across and pulled at Martha’s arm so that he could take her hand again. “I’ll call you a cab,” he said squeezing Martha’s hand.
“I think bitch suits her better,” Martha muttered.
Luke gave a quiet chuckle and pulled her closer.
“Look I’m sorry; please don’t send me to the airport.” Rachel moved a step closer, her eyes pleading with Luke and Martha. “And I apologise for being such a bitch to you Martha. I saw that Luke had a thing for you when we all stayed at the house, and I guess I was just trying to hold onto him.”
“Martha is not just someone that you can treat like shit, Rachel. She’s my girlfriend and I was never really yours to hold onto anyway.”
Rachel dropped her head and sighed. “I know, and I’m sorry.” She looked back up at Martha. “You’re not telling me you wouldn’t do the same to keep hold of him?”
Martha looked at Rachel’s crumpled face and understood what she was going through. It reflected her own face all those years ago when she thought she was in love with Luke and he had no interest in her.
Martha let out a long breath. “She may as well stay tonight.”
Luke moved to face her, standing with his back to Rachel. “She’ll be fine at the airport, babe.”
“No, it’s okay but she better stay out of my way and promise not be such a bitch.” Martha gave a small smile as Luke’s hand reached up to cup her face.
“You heard her Rachel,” he said still gazing at Martha. “One night and then I expect you to get a flight home. I don’t care if you have to go via Kuala Lumpur; you leave tomorrow on the first available flight. Got it?”
“Yes baby,” Rachel threw a glance at Martha. “Sorry, yes Luke.”
Luke turned to her. “Well we’re going out to my cousins for dinner, so you’ll have to sort yourself out. There’s plenty of food in the fridge and your room is up the stairs, second door on the right.”
Martha heaved a sigh of relief; thankfully she wouldn’t be sleeping at their end of the house.
“What I have to say here on my own?” Rachel asked.
Luke shook his head. “Don’t push it Rachel. Just be glad that I haven’t made you sleep in the barn with the mice. Right ladies,” Luke said turning towards Martha and Lucia, “let’s get going, shall we?”
When Martha walked out on the terrace the next morning, Luke was already there drinking a cup of coffee.
“Hey,” Martha said running a hand through his hair. “Why didn’t you wake me?”
Luke looked up at her with a glint in his eye. “I figured you’d need some sleep after last night.”
Martha blushed. It had been an amazing night with Luke bringing her to orgasm in more ways than she thought possible.
“There’s more coffee in the
pot,” he said catching hold of Martha’s fingertips.
“Any sign of your guest?” Martha sat down at the table and reached for the coffee.
Luke shook his head. “Nope. So much for getting the first plane out. I don’t know what the hell she thought she was doing coming here.”
Martha shrugged. “She obviously didn’t get the message when you ended it…you did end it didn’t you?” Martha looked at Luke warily. It had crossed her mind that maybe he’d lied about finishing things with Rachel.
Luke pinned her with a gaze that made her gasp. His eyes were narrowed, an intensity shone from the emerald pools.
“Of course I did. I’ve done a lot of shit things where women are concerned, Martha, but I’ve never cheated.”
Martha couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “Really?”
“Really.” Luke leaned forward and stared into her eyes. “I admit I’m a shit, but never once have I been with someone when I’m with someone else.” If Luke had chosen to ignore much of his papa’s advice, this was the one thing he hadn’t. “My papa always used to say ‘you can’t ride two horses with one arse Luke, and any man that tries deserves to be thrown off’. A crude way of telling me never to cheat. He hated cheaters and liars.”
“He sounds like a good man,” Martha replied with a giggle.
“He was. Unfortunately I fucking failed him big style in many ways, so the least I can do is honour one of his values.”
“Well, I just don’t want to be made a fool of Luke,” Martha said. “That’s all.”
“I don’t intend to make a fool of you, babe. I promise you, I told her it was over.”
“I assume that you’re talking about me.” Rachel smiled as she strolled languorously past Luke and flopped down onto the chair next to him. “Look sweetheart, he did tell me we were finished, but I just thought it was Luke getting scared as usual.”
“What the hell are you talking about Rachel? I was getting scared?”
“Oh come on Luke, we all know you don’t do commitment and things had been getting pretty intense between us recently.” Rachel nudged Luke’s leg with her foot.
Martha’s heart thudded against her chest at Rachel’s comment. She didn’t expect any guarantees about her and Luke’s relationship, it would be stupid to think past anything but the amazing sex at this stage, but it still jolted her that if Luke was scared of commitment then no matter how good they were in bed together this could only ever be a short term thing.
“The bullshit that comes out of your mouth amazes me,” Luke cried angrily. “All that was intense between us was the arguing.” Luke looked at Rachel and wondered how he’d put up with her for a whole year. How had he been so blinkered to how shallow and fake she really was?
“Didn’t you promise not be such a bitch, and to stay out of our way?” he said caustically. “Looks like you failed on both accounts. I’m going for a shower; then when I come back down I’ll get you a flight, so I suggest you get your stuff together.” Luke strode away, pausing only to kiss Martha on the top of her head.
“So you think you’ve got enough to keep him interested then?” Rachel asked once Luke had disappeared into the house. She didn’t look at Martha but instead examined her finger nails.
Martha thought for a second, trying to come up with a smart answer for Rachel, but damn it she was just going to be honest.
“Who knows,” Martha replied. “I hope so, but we’re just enjoying what we have now, and if it doesn’t work out then I’ll know it’s because we weren’t meant to be together.”
Martha held her shoulders back and looked Rachel directly in the eye. She’d sounded confident and brave, but inside she was scared. Scared at how deep her feelings for Luke were becoming, scared at how quickly it was all happening but most of all scared that it would all end just as quickly.
“Well don’t get too comfortable sweetheart, you’ll be back to being Cinders before you know it. One thing I know about Prince Charming in there, he gets bored quickly and let’s face it other than some mediocre food and a clean house, what else do you have to offer him?” Rachel flashed a smile at Martha, but it was a smile that didn’t make it to her eyes, which were cold and hard. “Right,” she sighed. “I’ll go and get my things together.”
Once Rachel had left the terrace, Martha let out a huge breath. She fisted her shaking hands and sat back in her chair. Rachel was right, what did she have to offer the great rock star? She was just an ordinary single mother who happened to be able to bake a great cake. She was normal, but what was wrong with normal? And she was damned if she was going to let Rachel Donovan intimidate her.
“You’re joking right?” Luke groaned as he paced up and down his bedroom. “Okay, Noah let me know as soon you can get her a flight. And I don’t give a shit where it lands, as long as she’s out of Italy.”
Martha sat on the edge of the bed and watched Luke. She didn’t know exactly what Noah was saying, but she got the gist that Rachel wouldn’t be leaving any time soon.
“Fuck!” Luke roared as he flounced down next to Martha. “Noah can’t get her anything until tomorrow.”
“There’s nothing at all?”
“No, not even with a transfer. There was one from Florence with a stopover in Zurich but when he got to the payment screen the website crashed, and it’d gone by the time he got logged back in.” Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not staying here with her all day. Pack a bag up babe and we’ll go to Pisa for the day.”
“What about your mum? I’m not sure she’s up to trailing around sightseeing again.”
“I’ll get the car to take her to Uncle Gio’s for the night.” Luke jumped off the bed. “Come on, let’s get going, Rachel is not spoiling my day.
Chapter 20
Luke and Martha had spent the day in Pisa away from the house, thus avoiding Rachel, when late in the evening Martha stormed through the front door and slammed it behind her. Almost immediately it was swung open and Luke came in, banging it shut again.
“Don’t walk the fuck away from me,” he shouted.
“I can’t even speak to you Luke.” Martha turned around and held her hand up to him. “So, don’t come near me, you overbearing, idiot.”
“What did you expect me to do? If you stopped being so childish we could at least sort this out.” Luke threw his hands up in the air.
“I’m childish? Says you.” Martha shook her head and turned towards the stairs, but stopped when she saw Rachel coming down them. “Oh bloody great!”
“Trouble in paradise?” Rachel gave a sly smile. “Please don’t tell me that it’s over already.”
“Oh just…just…fuck off Rachel,” Martha screamed. “I’m going to bed; ask Luke why he feels the need to be such a dickhead.”
“Luke baby, why are you such a dickhead?” Rachel asked folding her arms across her chest.
“What does she expect me to do when some slimy arsehole decides it’s okay to feel my woman’s tits while I’m actually holding her hand?” Luke was exasperated at Martha’s attitude. “If some woman had done that to me you’d have gone ape shit,” he cried.
“I wouldn’t have hit her you stupid Neanderthal. You’re lucky he wasn’t seriously hurt the way he banged his head.” Martha’s eyes were brimming with tears of anger and fear at the trouble that Luke could have found himself in.
“His skull was too thick to have been hurt, the stupid prick.”
“So how did it make you feel when you hit him Luke?” Rachel inclined her head and looked earnestly at Luke.
“Very funny 'Dr Rachel,” Luke spat. “Please Martha, see it from my point of view.”
“I get that you were annoyed, but give me some credit for being able to handle it myself. I’ve done perfectly well dealing with knob heads like that before you came along.” Martha started to walk up the stairs. “And don’t bother sneaking into my room either because there’s no way you’re getting laid tonight, and don’t call me ‘your woman’ either.”<
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“Oh dear,” Rachel sighed. “I do believe that round goes to Martha.”
“Oh fuck off Rachel and go to bed.” Luke snarled as he flicked a hand at her and stalked off to find himself a drink.
Luke stirred as Rachel pushed the sheet to one side and straddled his naked body with hers. .
“Luke, baby. I knew she wasn’t right for you,” she whispered into his ear as she started to grind herself against him, before reaching behind her to stroke him.
As her hands touched his growing erection Luke smiled and moaned.
“Oh shit babe, that’s nice.”
“I know, we’re so good together.” Rachel purred as Luke’s hands reached up to fondle her breasts.
Suddenly Luke’s eyes popped open and he sat up. “What the fuck?” He pushed Rachel and bundled her onto the floor. “What the hell are you doing?” he asked as he turned the bedside light on.
“Luke?” Martha cried, appearing from under the sheet, her hair all messy and with sleep filled eyes. “What the hell?”
“Shit, Rachel.” Luke looked down at Rachel sprawled across the floor. “Cover yourself up.”
Martha leaned across him and stared at the sight of a naked Rachel, legs akimbo, and everything she was about to offer Luke on display.
“What are you doing in here?” Rachel asked as she scrambled to her knees. “I thought you were in your own room.”
“Well she’s not is she?” Luke cried.
Martha started to scramble out of bed. Now she understood how Luke had felt earlier.
“I’ll kill you, you bloody bitch,” she cried struggling to extricate her feet from the cotton sheet.
“Don’t you dare touch me.” Rachel tried to stand up, but kept sliding on the tiled floor and landing back on her backside. “I’ll sue you!”
Martha scrambled onto her knees and was just about to launch herself over Luke to get to Rachel, when Luke grabbed her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“Babe, no. She’s not worth it.”