by Marian Tee
The billionaire had already doubted her once, and he had almost lost Vivian because of it.
He would not make the same mistake again.
Chapter One
Two weeks later
“Congratulations on your first week back in university!” The words came from Arianna Palazzo, who was Vivian’s date for lunch. A lovely green-eyed brunette, Arianna was married to Rafael Palazzo, another Italian billionaire who also happened to be good friends with Vivian’s husband.
Vivian’s cheeks turned pink when the older woman presented her with a beautifully wrapped gift. “Thank you, Ari. But you really didn’t have to---”
“It’s nothing extravagant,” Ari assured her friend with a grin, “just a little thing I picked up at a bookstore when Rafe and I were in London.”
“Tell me more about your trip,” Vivian invited eagerly. Arianna and her husband were pretty much the definition of relationship goals, and she loved hearing every little thing about their fairytale romance. “It was Rafe’s birthday gift for you, wasn’t it?”
Arianna nodded. “My trip to London had been scheduled long ago because I was invited to be a guest lecturer at Oxford. I wanted him to come with me, but he said he was busy. That bummed me out, but when I arrived at Heathrow, well---” The brunette blushed. “There he was, and it was one of the happiest days of my life.”
“That’s so sweet!” Vivian was sincere thrilled for her friend, but at the back of her mind, she couldn’t help wondering if St. Francis would have accepted her if she had been a little more like Ari.
Unlike her, Arianna Palazzo hadn’t only a college degree under her belt but the other woman had also graduated with honors from Stanford. In the short amount of time that she had been teaching, Arianna had also managed to carve a respectable name for herself in her chosen field.
If she were as accomplished as Arianna, Vivian pondered glumly, maybe fewer people would question Luca’s decision to marry her.
Vivian’s thoughts were interrupted when the restaurant’s redheaded receptionist, Coral, stepped forward, saying, “Your room’s ready, Mrs. Valencia. This way, please.”
As Coral led the way for the two billionaire’s wives, the receptionist made every effort to entertain her most important guests. She described the restaurant’s Art Nouveau interior in great detail, and when they reached the function room Coral quickly summoned waiting attendants to pull out chairs for their guests.
“A special menu has been prepared by the chef, Mrs. Valencia, Mrs. Palazzo, and we’ll be serving it in ten minutes.” Coral then added with a wink, “If there’s anything else you’d like, please just let me know.” Her two VIPs nodded and smiled, and Coral thought appreciatively, How wonderfully discreet.
She winked one last time at her guests, saying meaningfully, “Anything and everything, just let me know.”
Vivian waited for the door to the private function room they had reserved before glancing at Ari in completely bafflement. “W-what was that about?”
“You’ll get used to it,” Ari sighed. “She was basically offering us special services, the kind that’s not on the menu.”
Vivian still couldn’t get it. “What kind of special service?”
“Drugs, male escorts---”
Vivian’s jaw dropped.
“Basically anything and everything we’d like and be willing to pay for,” Ari finished. “I was stunned speechless the first time someone offered me that, but now I just shrug it off.” Ari wrinkled her nose, adding, “It’s all part of the package that comes with being married to men like Rafe and Luca, I’m afraid.”
“I s-see.” Or rather, Vivian should see and understand that these offers would indeed be a normal part of her life for as long as she was married to Luca – but she didn’t. Over half a year had already passed since she married Luca, and yet the feeling that she wasn’t suitable to be his wife still hadn’t completely left her.
And maybe it never would, she worried uneasily.
“Is everything okay, Viv?” Ari asked, noticing the look of dismay that had crossed her friend’s face.
“I was just thinking I wish I could be more like you,” Vivian confessed.
Ari made a face. “Is this about the St. Francis thing?” At her friend’s nod, she said firmly, “You should stop wasting your time and emotions on that issue. It’s made you think too little of yourself---”
“But maybe they’re right, you know? I’m literally nothing compared to Luca. If I were more like you---”
“I’m also the same woman Rafe considered only worthy of being his mistress at the start, Viv,” Ari reminded her friend ruefully. “Let’s not forget that.”
“I think how you and Rafe fell in love makes a great love story,” Vivian avowed in a rare instance of tact.
Ari laughed. “No need to whitewash it. We both know Rafe had been a jerk in the start---”
Vivian couldn’t help grinning back. “Well, if we both have to be honest, so was Luca. He hired me to be his wife, remember?”
The door to the function room opened, servers walking back in with their appetizers and both Arianna and Vivian automatically avoided speaking of anything too personal in nature. Even so, the rest of the meal was enjoyable as the two caught up with each other’s lives.
When they walked out of the restaurant’s function room, still laughing and chatting, the other patrons marveled at the sight, thinking that it was rare for two beautiful and wealthy women to get along so well.
While waiting for their rides outside the restaurant, paparazzi swarmed towards them, eagerly taking photos even as they shouted one intrusive question after another.
How was it being married to a billionaire?
Was it true that Italian men were like insatiable stallions in the bedroom?
What would they do if the rumors about their husbands having mistresses were true?
“Have you heard, Mrs. Valencia? Your husband’s been seen playing hooky with his ex-wife.”
When Vivian paled, Ari hurriedly said under her breath, “They’re lying, Viv. This is what they do for a living, and they’re just baiting you to give them something juicy for tonight’s news.”
Vivian managed a smile. “I know.”
Ari’s chauffeur-driven limousine arrived first, but the other woman hesitated to leave, seeing her friend’s still-troubled expression. “Are you sure you’ll be okay, Viv?”
“Yep,” she said brightly. Too brightly, Vivian thought with an inner wince, seeing Ari’s frown. “Seriously, Ari, don’t worry about me.” She kissed her friend on the cheek goodbye, promising to return the favor and visit San Francisco soon.
Vivian’s own ride came up a minute later, and her worries momentarily faded at its sight. When Luca had explicitly forbidden her to use any mode of public transportation for her daily commute to university, she had pleaded with her husband to at least let her use his most “ordinary” car, all in hopes of reducing unwanted attention from the other students.
Vivian’s driver opened the door for her, and she got inside the Rolls Royce, which her husband had considered commonplace since it wasn’t the latest model.
Her husband might be one of the smartest men in the world, Vivian thought in amusement, but there were just some things he was completely clueless about.
“Shall we go straight to the university, Mrs. Valencia?”
“Yes, please.” As she leaned back against the seat, the thought that she had forgotten something nagged at her. She tried to remember what it was, but nothing came to her and she was forced to set the thought aside by the time she reached the university.
In Vivian’s quest to be an ideal wife, she had decided to take up a business course, and so far---
She hated every minute of it, Vivian acknowledged with an inner grimace as she entered the classroom.
Talks about profit margins bored her and the mechanics for conducting SWOT analyses confused her. But even so, Vivian was determined to see this to the end. Come hel
l or high water, she would be the kind of wife that her billionaire would be proud of.
“You made it to TMZ again,” Kay Norton sang out gleefully as Vivian claimed the seat beside her. A perky twenty-year-old sorority blonde, Kay was the only girl in university who seemed indifferent to Vivian’s instant notoriety as a billionaire’s wife.
“And how cool is that?” Kay’s boyfriend Donald appeared at Vivian’s other side and threw a casual arm around her shoulders. “Gossip blogs are how you measure where you are on the list, you know?”
“Riiiiight.” She did her best to laugh at Donald’s quip while casually shrugging his arm off. Kay’s boyfriend was every inch the quintessential quarterback: tall, muscular, good-looking, and possessing an overabundance of ego.
When Donald tried to put an arm around her shoulder again, she jumped to her feet, unable to bear his touchy-feely attitude. “I, err, need to go out for a minute.” Maybe most other girls thought nothing about Donald’s actions, but every time they came into contact her skin crawled.
“I’ll sign your attendance for you,” Kay called after her as she walked away.
“Thanks, Kay.” She flashed her friend an awkward smile over her shoulder, thinking that Kay deserved better than an excessive flirt as a boyfriend.
Inside the restroom, Vivian turned the tap on and splashed cold water on her face. When she was done, she caught her reflection on the mirror, and only one question came to mind.
What am I doing here?
Vivian hurriedly shook the thought away.
Of course she knew what she was doing here.
She was going to be the kind of wife that no other charity board would turn down, the kind of wife that Luca would have every reason to be proud of.
She scowled at her reflection. “Got that?”
Turning away, she left the restroom, and the thought that she had forgotten something once again nagged at her.
Vivian’s brows furrowed as she tried to recall what it was.
Could it be something Luca had asked her to do? Nope.
Could it be something she had promised Maggie, her friend and former roommate? Nope.
Could it be---
Vivian stopped dead in her tracks.
Eula!
Oh my God, Eula!
Chapter Two
“Did you have fun playing the princess?” Luca asked as he shampooed his daughter’s hair.
“It was easy.” Eula’s voice was matter-of-fact. “Because I’m really a princess.”
He laughed. “And so you are.” Lack of self-esteem was definitely not something his princess suffered from. After rinsing her hair, Luca allowed his daughter to spend a few more minutes playing in her pink marble tub while he went back to her bedroom to fetch a change of clothes.
“Do you want the pink princess pajamas or the Sponge Bob thing with a skirt?” he called out as he pushed the sliding doors of her walk-in closet open.
“Pink princess pajamas,” his daughter yelled back from the bathroom.
Luca shook his head in wry amusement, thinking that it was a miracle he had been able to raise Eula to be girly despite lacking any significant feminine influence in her life. Luca’s own mother tried her best of course, but there was only so much she could do when she lived in a different continent from her granddaughter.
Since it was still pretty early in the evening, Luca gave his permission for Eula to play games on her iPad while he took out her textbooks to see if there were any homework or lessons they had to work on.
It was at this moment that the door to Eula’s bedroom burst open, and father and daughter looked up.
Vivian stood framed by the doorway, her dark hair a messy riot of waves around her face. She had a frantic look on her face and she was panting loudly, like she had run all the way home.
“Vivi,” Eula exclaimed excitedly upon the sight of her stepmother.
The Italian billionaire’s lips curved in a warm smile. “Welcome home, cara. Did you miss us?”
“Yes.” And as soon as his wife choked the word out, she promptly burst into tears.
****
It was already ten in the evening by the time Luca stepped out of his office at home, and upon reaching the second floor he was surprised to still hear his wife’s soothing voice, reading a bedtime story.
When he made it to Eula’s room, he saw his daughter snuggled up next to Vivian, fast asleep. Upon meeting his gaze, Vivian signaled to him to keep quiet even as she continued with the story.
“And so the princess lived happily ever after with the king and queen, happy and secure in the knowledge that a new adventure awaited her.” Vivian closed the book and whispered, “The End.” She placed a kiss on the top of Eula’s head before gently and carefully easing herself out of the little girl’s bed.
Upon reaching her husband, Vivian almost let out a shriek when Luca suddenly swept her up in his arms. “Hold on to me,” he whispered into her ear, and she obliged, arms and legs tightening around him, as Luca pulled the door shut.
Out in the hallway, he pushed her against the wall and crushed her mouth under his without warning. Vivian kissed him back eagerly, her body easily turned on like it always was.
When the billionaire lifted his head, she moaned softly in protest, the sound making his lips curve in amusement. “Does that mean you want more?” he teased under his breath.
Her eyes flew wide open at Luca’s words, and her cheeks flushed pink at the way his startlingly blue eyes gleamed down at her.
“Ah, cara. Whatever happened to your promise to be less, err---” A thoughtful look crossed Luca’s handsome face. “What was that word you made up again? Blushable?”
Oh, fudge. “Stop reminding me of that,” Vivian cried out.
Chuckling at the way his wife had turned even redder, he stole a quick hard kiss from her lips before carrying her down the stairs. Seeing her bemused look, he asked wickedly, “Disappointed?”
“No!” But she was, actually, since she had thought he was taking her to their bedroom.
A devilish grin slashed on the Italian billionaire’s lips at her oh-so-obvious lie, and he purred, “Anticipation makes all things better.”
Even as her heart skipped a beat, she managed to insist weakly, “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” But the way her voice quivered in the end completely betrayed Vivian, and she could only hide her hot face at the crook of his neck as Luca’s powerful body rocked in silent mirth.
When he lowered Vivian back to her feet, she was stunned to realize he had taken her to the kitchen. She spun around to face him, puzzled. “Are you hungry?”
“No, cara, but I bet you are.”
The truth in his words dawned the moment he spoke, and her stomach further compounded the fact by releasing an embarrassing growl.
She let a mortified squeak, but Luca only said, “There’s no guessing about it.”
Normally, her husband’s gently reproving tone would have made Vivi feel bad.
Normally.
But right now her husband, who was dressed elegantly in a long-sleeved V-neck shirt and slacks, was putting on an apron---
An apron!
“What are you doing?” she gasped.
“What do you think?” Her beautiful Italian billionaire smirked, and Vivian couldn’t help pinching herself as she watched him loosely tie the apron around his waist.
This couldn’t be happening.
But it was.
Her mind whirled.
Luca. Apron. Luca. Apron.
At that moment, there was nothing sexier in the world than the black apron Luca had on, and butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she stared at the way the apron strangely served to accentuate the billionaire’s lethally perfect form.
Too sexy, she thought dreamily. Too, too---
Luca bent down to take out a foil-wrapped from the fridge, and she hurriedly pinched herself again, thinking that if this was a dream then she just wanted to keep on dreaming.
When Luca started to expertly toss pasta with his pan, she gasped, “Are you cooking?”
Luca couldn’t help grinning. “And you’re only realizing that now?”
Eeeeeeeeh.
Her toes curled hard, and she could only stare at him in a completely besotted fashion. How had life become this amazing again? Sometimes, it just seemed like yesterday that she had been alone and ridden with debts she had incurred because of her father’s death. But there were also times when she could barely remember what was life before Luca.
Her husband and Eula had become her world now. They made her so, so happy. Vivian just wished she could be sure she made them as happy, too.
A soft chuckle escaped the billionaire when he saw the way Vivian was gazing at him. Most other women would have given him such a look only if he had bought them something fancy, but with his wife---
It was always the little things that got to her, and it was one of the many reasons why she had managed to steal his heart.
Luca pointed to the stools around the kitchen’s center island. “Sit there, cara,” he ordered. When he was done cooking, he placed a plate of aglio olio in front of her, and she inhaled deeply as if wanting to savor the scent of the pasta.
When she looked at him again, it was as if she was about to swoon, and a grin tugged at Luca’s lips. “Eat up,” he urged.
“What about you?”
“Later.”
Vivian wondered what that meant even as she started to dig in. The pasta tasted as good as it smelled, and she couldn’t help closing her eyes again, savoring every bite. When she was halfway done, she saw that Luca still hadn’t eaten, and she asked, “Aren’t you going to join me?”
“I want something else.” Reading the question in her green eyes, he said silkily, “I want you, mia moglie. I plan to eat every inch of you---”
Vivian choked on her pasta.
“Would you like some water?” Luca asked politely, straight-faced. She glared at him even as she nodded, and he had a harder time keeping himself from smiling as he offered her a glass of water.