by Marian Tee
Everything right now was just strange and wonderful, and she wanted…more.
Even if this turned out to be a dream, she wanted to experience as much as she could before she woke up.
Surely that wasn’t too much to ask?
She tried to tug her hand out of his hold as they ascended the short flight of stairs leading to the entranceway, but his grip only tightened.
“I’m not used to this,” she said awkwardly under her breath.
He glanced at her, puzzled. “This?”
“Holding hands,” she whispered.
Ah. Charmed at the admission, he bent his head and whispered back, “I’m sorry to hear that, but…I’m not letting go.” Smiling at the way her eyes widened, he said in amusement, “It is something you must learn to get used to, sooner or later, if you are to be my wife.”
After a beat, she said in an uncharacteristically guarded tone, “I haven’t agreed to a-anything yet.”
“I know.”
“Y-you can’t force me to do anything.”
His lips curved. “Ah, but you know I won’t have to, cara. Yes?”
“Because of my debt?”
The double doors in front of her were suddenly flung open, and a dark-haired girl came running out. “Papa!”
To Luca’s credit, he didn’t let go of her hand even with her daughter approaching. Instead he bent down, expecting and receiving a warm hug and a sweet kiss on his cheek.
“I missed you, Papa.”
“I missed you, too, principesa.”
As Luca pulled away and straightened, the little girl turned her attention towards Vivian, and she found herself holding her breath.
“Green eyes,” the child suddenly breathed.
Luca grinned. “Yes.”
His daughter took a step towards Vivian. “Do you clean?”
“Umm…” She glanced at Luca in bemusement.
“My daughter is asking if you clean for a living.”
Oh. Unsure whether it was a good or bad question, she slowly made herself nod, unwilling to lie about her job. To her surprise, she saw a smile break over the girl’s incredibly lovely face, dimples flashing, her slightly open mouth revealing a chipped tooth.
“Vivi,” the girl whispered in seeming awe, and she moved even closer to Vivian. Her small hand curled on her pants, tightening around the fabric as she said, “Princess Vivi?”
What?
But there was such hope shining in the girl’s eyes that Vivian heard herself say, “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “I’m Princess Vivi.”
And from that moment, Luca’s daughter took over, tugging her hand as she pulled Vivian into the house. “I am Eula,” she said with adorable seriousness. “I’m going to be your daughter when you marry Papa.”
Her eyes flew to Luca in shock, but Luca had his hands in his pants’ pockets and was gazing down at the patterns on the carpet with extreme fascination.
Eula tugged her hand. “This is our castle.”
“It’s, umm, very beautiful.”
Eula beamed. “You like it?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Then you’ll live here?”
And she so walked into that one, she thought ruefully.
“Vivi?”
“Umm, if I could.”
“You can!” Eula pointed to the grand staircase at the left. “If we go up, you can see my room.”
“You can show Vivi her room later,” Luca interjected then. “But for now, I think it’s time for dinner. Would you like to have Vivi join us?”
Eula nodded eagerly and turned to Vivian. Luca also turned to her, and she found herself the subject of two pairs of identical light blue gazes. Utterly defeated by the charismatic duo, she said cautiously, “I’d love to have dinner with you.” And when Eula beamed, she realized with a pang that it was feeling dangerously addictive, doing things just to earn a smile from a little girl.
Was this really the same four-year-old terror that Luca told her about? How could this beautiful little girl be anyone’s worst nightmare?
“Will you tell chef that we have a visitor dining with us, Eula?”
“Okay!”
As the little girl half ran down the hallway to their right, he called out, “And wait for us at the dining room, si?”
“Si, Papa!”
When Eula was out of earshot, Luca turned towards her with a raised eyebrow, and she didn’t hesitate, asking accusingly, “Were you just trying to scare me off by making her sound like this horrible brat?”
He laughed. “I’m flattered you find my daughter that charming, but trust me, cara. There’s a monster behind that angelic face.”
“Impossible.”
“You’ll see.” He paused. “Even so, I would like to express my gratitude this early on for being understanding of my daughter’s willfulness and…impertinence, if you will.”
“She wasn’t impertinent at all,” she said honestly. “But…” Vivian bit her lip. “Can you just honestly tell me why she seems to know me and really thinks I’m going to be her mom?”
Luca inhaled heavily, saying, “That is my fault. Two months ago, about a week after we met, I received a call from her school. I learned that her classmates had been bullying her for not having a mother, which I never knew. Apparently, one day she lost her temper and---” He paused.
More than intrigued now, she asked, “And?”
“Well, she has a vivid imagination, you see, and quite the temper like I mentioned, which she unfortunately inherited for me. Also, her favorite cartoon is Alice in Wonderland, so that day, she pretended she was the Red Queen, made herself sound scary, and she told the girls who were bullying her, ‘Off with your heads!’ And it was effective.” But instead of looking disapproving, Luca appeared proud and satisfied. “She actually managed to scare the other kids away and made them believe that they were going to suffer some kind of divine punishment that was inescapable---”
Vivian’s laughter spilled out.
Luca grinned. “Now, do you believe me when I tell you she can be a person’s worst nightmare?”
Still giggling, she nodded. Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, she revealed, “I can’t imagine her looking so terrifying, but I believe you. What happened afterwards?”
“I gave her a stern talk, of course, and there had to be a punishment so she would remember her lesson.”
“You punished her? Really?”
The horror in her voice made Luca shake his head. “You will be a pushover with her if you remain too softhearted like that.”
“But she was being bullied---”
“Which she chose not to tell me about, and that is something I do not wish her to do so ever again. I had to make her understand that problems could not be solved without proper communication, and not allowing her to see her puppy for one day drove that lesson home loud and clear.”
Vivian slowly nodded, realizing that he was right – and that she clearly had much to learn about parenthood.
“That night, in an effort to cheer her up, I told her that I was close to marrying, but that I couldn’t make up my mind. I wanted someone to make both of us happy, so I told her about several women.”
“Including me?”
“Yes.”
“Were the others made up?” She flushed when Luca glanced at her in surprise, as if asking her why she would even think he had a need to make up such things when he was so darn eligible.
“I hope you do not take offense to the fact that you weren’t the only woman I was considering.”
“Of course not.”
Luca’s lips curved. “Perhaps with a bit more practice, that can sound sufficiently convincing.”
“Whatever,” she mumbled. “Just tell me what happens next.”
After one last amused look, he obligingly continued, saying, “So I told her about the four of you, and in the end she didn’t even hesitate. She just chose you.” His eyes softened as he remembered how excited Eula had been that night. “She kept mi
spronouncing your name that night, so finally I told her to just call you ‘Vivi.’”
Her lips parted in sudden understanding. “That’s why you call me Vivi, too.”
He nodded. “After that night, she would ask me endless questions about you, and---” He recalled her question in the car. “Oh, so that’s what you meant.”
She asked straight to the point, “Did you do a background check on me?”
“I did. I wanted to know every little detail, and I think I know enough.” His lips thinned. “I only wished I had the foresight to have asked the men to check if there were any men of your acquaintance who could have been or remained interested in you.”
Which means he’s really jealous, she thought.
“I’m not being jealous,” he snapped.
“I didn’t say anything,” she protested.
“Your eyes were practically crowing the words out loud,” he said disapprovingly.
Oops. She changed the subject quickly, asking, “What kinds of questions did Eula ask?”
“What did you look like, how old were you, why was it taking me so long to bring you here – and she also asked about your job, so I told her that you worked as a cleaner, and that’s when she told me you were like Cinderella.” Luca noticed the way Vivian’s lips started to tremble. “Is something wrong?”
“Nope.” And there wasn’t. She was just having trouble holding back her tears, but other than that, it was fine. After the humiliation the receptionist had subjected Vivian to, the fact that someone thought her job made her a princess like Cinderella sounded like music to her ears, or like a fairytale coming true.
One of the doors at the end of the hallway opened. “Papa, Vivi, let’s eat!”
Luca raised a brow. “Shall we?”
She nodded.
Inside the dining room, which was as breathtakingly luxurious as the rest of the house, Vivian found herself sandwiched between father and daughter. Luca was at the head of the table, she was on his right, and next to her was Eula. Just looking at the girl made her heart squeeze, and knowing that the girl – for whatever reason – had chosen her over the others, had actually wanted Vivian to be her mother, made her feel sort of warm, funny, and ticklish inside. It was almost like she was a kid again, and she already knew what Santa was about to give her. The only thing left to do was to wait for the moment she could hold Santa’s gift in her hands.
“Do you want soup, Vivi?” Eula was on her knees in her seat.
“Y-yes, please.”
Eula filled the ladle with frowning concentration, but when she poured the soup into Vivian’s bowl, some of it still spilled on her lap, and Eula stiffened in realization.
“S-sorry, Vivi.” Eula looked like she was about to cry of shame.
Knowing she had to act very fast, she said, “It’s okay.” After patting her pants dry with the napkin, she told the little girl in a confidential whisper, “Do you know, Cinderella did the same thing, too, with her mother?”
Eula gasped. “She did?”
“Uh huh, and I did so, too, with my own mother. And you told me I’m like Cinderella, right?”
Eula nodded.
“So do you know what this means?”
Eula shook her head.
“You did something only princesses could do!” She clapped her hands. “Yay!”
Caught up in Vivian’s excitement, Eula dropped the ladle back into the bowl and clapped her hands as well. “Yay!”
Eula was much more relaxed afterwards, and dinner with the Valencias proved to be the most delicious and fun affair she had for ages. Following dinner, they went to the private living room, where Eula flawlessly played several nursery tunes.
“Has she been taking lessons?” Vivian asked, even more impressed now.
Luca nodded. “At her insistence, too.”
“She plays wonderfully.”
“Thank you.”
And then it was time for Eula to wash up and change for bed, where she insisted on Vivian’s company instead of her father’s. Vivian was also the one who tucked her into bed, and although her eyes were already drooping sleepily, Eula said, “I want you to tell me a bedtime story. Please?”
“Of course.”
“The pink book please.”
“Umm, okay, give me a moment…” Rising to her feet, she searched for the shelves in Eula’s bedroom for a pink book and found it tucked behind all the others bearing the same logo.
LV.
Did that mean LV also had a publishing house?
Going back to Eula’s side, she showed the book to the little girl. “Did I get it right?”
Eula nodded.
Vivian opened the book, and the first thing that caught her eye was the title page. Had she really read this right? Clearing her throat, she said, “The Story of Eula’s Lost Mother.”
Eula nodded again.
Once upon a time,
In a far away land,
There lived a king and a queen, who had a baby girl.
The girl’s name was Eula.
They were once very happy,
But then one day, lightning struck and thunder roared.
Flash! Boom!
And the queen became scared.
She ran and ran,
Past the forest,
Over the mountain,
And finally she dived into the ocean.
Down, down she went---
Until one day, she turned into a squid.
Vivian paused. “Maybe this is wrong. Maybe the queen turned into a mermaid.”
Eula shook her head. “Nope. I also asked Papa if the queen can turn into a mermaid, and he told me this is the real story. The queen is now a squid.”
“A squid,” she echoed doubtfully.
“Yes,” Eula said patiently. “A squid.”
Vivian cleared her throat. “Okay, a squid.” She turned to the next page.
Now that the queen was a squid,
She was no longer scared.
In the ocean, she would not be able to hear the storm coming.
There would be no lightning or thunder.
No flash! No boom!
And so she lived happily ever after.
As for the king and the princess,
Their new story begins in another book,
When the king finds a new queen,
And the princess finds a new mother,
And they, too, will live happily ever after.
Vivian closed the book. “The end.”
“Did you like the story, Vivi?” Eula asked.
She nodded. “Yep.” It was extremely odd, but it had been a fun read.
Eula nodded and yawned, saying, “I’m glad.”
Vivian kissed the little girl on the forehead. “Good night, principesa.”
Eula’s eyes glowed. “Night, principesa.” And then her eyes fluttered closed, and after a minute, her breathing evened.
Tiptoeing from the bed, Vivian headed back to the shelves and returned the book. After a moment’s hesitation, she pulled out another volume, a blue book this time, but one that also bore the LV logo.
The Story of Why Papa Has to Go to Work.
She pulled out another book.
The Story of Why Grandma Lives in Italy
Just as she was about to pull a third book out, she heard Luca murmur in amusement, “Having fun?”
Almost jumping in her shock, she turned towards him and found Luca leaning one shoulder against the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, and a smile playing on his beautiful lips.
“She, umm, had me reading her a bedtime story,” she whispered.
“I heard.”
Her face heated up, Vivian feeling inexplicably embarrassed at the thought of Luca listening to her while she had read the story she now realized he had personally penned. It had to be him. No one else could be so sweetly devious.
After kissing his daughter goodnight, Luca drew her out of the room and quietly pulled the door shut.
And then they
were looking at each other, neither of them saying a word.
Butterflies started fluttering its wings in her stomach, and she couldn’t stop herself from swallowing audibly. She wished he would say something, anything, but Luca only continued to gaze at her with gleaming light blue eyes that seemed to mock and seduce her at the same time.
I know what you want. You know what I want.
Give me what I want, so I can give you what I want.
She wetted her dry lips and was startled to see his nostrils flare. When she saw the heat now glittering in his gaze, she realized in shock that such a simple thing had actually aroused him. She wetted her lips again, and he stilled.
“Are you trying to seduce me, cara?”
His voice was silky, his Italian accent more pronounced than usual, and Vivian had to consciously will herself to keep breathing. It was just too sexy! When she could make her vocal chords work, she choked out, “N-no.”
“Then…” His head cocked to the side. “Perhaps you are trying to tell me something?”
She nodded.
“What is it?”
And again, there it was, the promise in his gaze, but oh, it was so much more sensual now, so much more possessive.
Vivian whispered, “I will be your wife.”
Chapter Five
Tuesday. It might be the second day of the week, but as far as Vivian was concerned, today – and not yesterday – was the beginning of a new chapter in her life. A chapter that, this time around, revolved completely around Gianluca Valencia and his adorable daughter, a family that she would soon be a part of---
She pinched her cheeks, and it hurt.
She knocked her head against the vanity mirror mounted over the sink, and it hurt, too.
Pulling away, she stared at her reflection, thinking, I’m not dreaming then.
She said out loud, “So that’s that, soon-to-be Mrs. Luca Valencia.”
A tumultuous mix of joy, fear, and excitement struck her at hearing the words she had spoken, and Vivian could feel herself redden even if it was just her---
From the hallway, Maggie called out laughingly, “Did I hear you just refer to yourself as---”
---and her roommate.
She cut Maggie off in embarrassment, groaning, “Don’t!” Wet hair flying behind her as she hurried down the hallway, she saw Maggie already waiting for her beside the table, still in her pajamas but with a Cheshire smile on her face.