by Wood, Vivian
Married To My Enemy
A Steamy Enemies To Lovers Romance
Vivian Wood
Contents
Author’s Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
About Vivian Wood
Author’s Copyright
Copyright Vivian Wood 2020
May not be replicated or reproduced in any manner without express and written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to author and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Chapter One
Cate
I will never, ever understand what the big fuss is over Luca Leone.
As I sit across from him in the airport shuttle bus, rocking and swaying with the motion of all the stops and starts, I look at my best friend’s older brother skeptically. I’m wedged into this three person seat, Luna Leone on one side, our other bestie from college Harper on the other. Luna leans forward, looking out the window into the still bright early evening light.
And Luca sits opposite of us with his two closest friends, the three oversized men comically jammed together on this crowded bus. One dark haired, one blond, one ginger. They are quite a matched set. I see dark-haired Luca say something to his friends and laugh, though I can’t hear it. The engine is loud and the bus is packed so I can talk to Luna and Harper without being worried that Luca will overhear.
“Cate! Harper! When we get to the hotel, I call the biggest room. It is my birthday after all.” Luna grins at me and Harper, wiggling her eyebrows.
“No argument here,” Harper says, muffling a yawn.
“Mm,” is my only comment.
I scrunch my face up, studying Luca as he talks to Bradford and Owen. Whatever they are talking about, his expression is sly. Probably making fun of somebody, I bet.
What is Luca’s deal?
He’s tall, yeah. Probably six foot two or three, without an ounce of fat on his big frame. I’ve seen him with his shirt off at the pool; his six pack abs and well-muscled arms are nothing to sneeze at. He’s got dark hair with just a hint of a curl. His angular cheeks have two days of dark stubble growing on them, which is kind of hot.
And then there are his eyes, a gorgeous dark brown-black wrapped in long, dark lashes. His gaze is always penetrating, making me feel like he sees right through me. Sees my darkest secrets and greatest wishes.
Swoon-worthy? Yeah, maybe. But all of that can’t make up for the fact that he is a jerk. He’s always antagonized me from the first moment that I met him when he picked up Luna and me from the mall. He pulled up in his too-expensive car, arched a brow, and uttered the words that would come to define our relationship.
“Honestly, Luna. This is who you think you should be bringing home? God, remind me to count all the silver when she leaves.”
My whole body filled with shame. From that moment on, Luca was the ultra-rich older playboy and I was the girl whose family just scraped by. We were entrenched.
Ugh. His smug smile makes me feel so… so tense. Like I have to be vigilant at all times, to be on my guard in case… well, of what, I’m not sure.
I’ve known Luna and Luca for almost nine years, since my first day of high school. And it has always been like this. Luna is the adorable one, playing younger sister to Luca. Luca is the brooding, taunting one… and I’m the one that is rushing to catch up with them, desperate and flushed while trying to keep pace.
Luna elbows me. “Are you okay, Cate?”
She tucks a strand of dark hair behind one ear, looking flawless as always. She pulls off her bob and her white wrap dress so easily. I flush, looking down at my threadbare jeans. I won’t make a big deal about money, though she has infinitely more of it than I do…
“Yeah, sure,” I say, trying to brighten my tone. “Just worried about work. Javier wasn’t thrilled when I told him I had to take this weekend off. I told him I covered my shift but he gave me this whole lecture about responsibility.”
Her brows lift. “But you’ve never taken a sick day or requested vacation at all in the time that you’ve been working at the cafe! You’re just one barista… what is the harm in you asking for a few days off?”
I wrinkle my nose. “I know. You would think from the amount of hassle he gave me that I’d just asked him to give me a kidney or something.”
Our other best friend from college Harper leans over from Luna’s other side. She’s blonde and pretty, but she doesn’t pull a single punch. “Your job sucks.”
Luna nods emphatically. “It really does. You should make Luca hire you to work at his bar. I heard one of the bartenders talking last week about how much she makes working just three days a week. Can you imagine just working the weekends and making way more than you do now?”
“My kitten Lyra would like if I just never worked again. So much more time to devote to petting her!” I joke. “Will your brother pay me just to knit and pet my cat, I wonder?”
Obviously I am just kidding; the idea of Luca being my boss makes me nothing short of queasy. I know I’m stubborn but the idea of taking anything from anyone is hard. I almost refused when Luca texted me an invite to this weekend.
An all exclusive weekend, all airfare and hotel already paid for? The idea still makes me squirm and blush. I could never afford that, not when I’m only a year out of college and making a whopping nine dollars an hour.
Well, nine dollars an hour plus tips. I roll my eyes to myself. Like that really matters.
Luca looks up at me. His casual smile falls just a little and he cocks an eyebrow. What are you looking at? he seems to say. I blush, darting my gaze away. When I glance back for a moment, he is focusing on what his friend Owen is saying.
“I can’t believe we are actually in Vegas for the weekend,” Luna says to me and Harper. She grins excitedly. “I might actually start my day tomorrow at the pool. Try to soak up all the sun that I don’t get at home in Seattle.”
“I can’t believe your brother paid to fly all of us out here,” Harper says. She eyes Luca, who sits between two of his best friends. She sighs wistfully. “What a birthday gift. He’s paying for the flight, the hotel, and basically everything else? I am so jealous that you have Luca.” Dropping her voice, she whispers the last bit. “And having your brother and his two hunky best friends to stare at doesn’t hurt, either.”
“Mm,” I say again, giving her my most disgruntled expression. “Luca’s hot, but so rude. No offens
e, Luna.”
She shrugs. “None taken. I know my brother can be a tool.”
“Well, I’m totally gonna get drunk tonight,” Harper declares. “And so are you, Miss ‘My Birthday Isn’t Until Tomorrow’ and Miss ‘I’m Catholic And Perfect’.”
She casts an eye over us. Luna laughs. “It will technically be my birthday at midnight… can you believe I’ll be twenty-five?”
“You’re so old,” I tease, elbowing her in the ribs. “I won’t be twenty-five until April.”
“We should do something for our birthdays again this year,” Harper says. “Yours is the 14th, right? Mine is April 20th.” She looks thoughtful.
The shuttle lurches to a stop and Luca stands up, clearing his throat. “This is our hotel. Come on, everybody off.”
The next few minutes are taken up by struggling off the shuttle bus with our bags. Our huge hotel and the Vegas strip are a blur as we lug ourselves through the fancy marble lobby, receive our keys, and head up the elevators. To my surprise, Luca has booked two enormous suites on the same floor, one for the girls and one for the guys.
I use my keycard, stopping in my tracks with wide eyes as soon as I burst into our suite. It has an enormous window at one end, two stories high, looking down on a fancy white kitchenette and a big white living room. Everything is white and lavish, without a doubt.
“Come on, let us in,” Harper says, gently pushing me aside with her shoulder.
“Sorry,” I say, nervously moving out of the doorway. “This place must have cost Luca a small fortune to rent for the weekend. And there is one like it for the guys too?” I whistle.
Luna shrugs, looking around. “He said he got a deal. Where are the bedrooms?”
Harper is already making her way down the little hallway tucked away almost out of view. “Over here.”
“Yesssss,” Luna says, rolling her suitcase over. I drift behind them as they go down the hallway, opening bedrooms doors. She launches herself into one of the rooms, jumping up and down on the bed. “This bed is so nice!! Oooh and look! Complimentary champagne…” She grins at me. “We are gonna be so drunk before dinner.”
Smiling, I shake my head at her. Finding my identical room, I wheel my luggage in.
Harper yells from her own room. “It’s time to change for pre-dinner drinks!”
“And Cate, do not come out of that room wearing jeans!” Luna calls. “I mean it! Wear something a little daring for once in your life.”
No one is around to see my blush. The girls like to rib me about how I dress conservatively, about how I don’t usually drink or do drugs. What can I say, I was raised to be a good, God-fearing Catholic.
Like a go to Mass on Wednesdays kind of Catholic. A visit the cemetery to talk to Mom and Dad even though it makes me super sad kind of Catholic.
So when I step out of my bedroom in a new black lace dress that barely covers my butt, Luna and Harper look at me with a fair amount of surprise. Harper pulls off a pink jumper perfectly, and Luna looks amazing in a sparkly silver dress that hugs her curves. I tug on the lace sleeves of my dress, embarrassed.
“Is it okay?” I ask.
“Oh my god!” Harper cries. “I’ve been trying to get you to dress like this for my whole life, I feel like.”
“That dress fits you perfectly,” Luna says. “It’s gorgeous.”
When I walk over to her, she hugs me, taking care to tuck the price tag of the dress back into the nape of my neck. I blush again; I didn’t want Luna and Harper to know that I’ll be returning this dress first thing on Monday morning.
“Thanks,” I say, bowing my head. She hugs me for a second longer, her eyes sparkling when she pulls away. She winks at me.
Harper is already popping a bottle of champagne. It spills over while she pours a little into each glass, delighting her. “Get your glasses!”
We rush to grab our champagne flutes from the bar, toasting.
“To Luna,” I say. “May you be blessed and fruitful in the coming year.”
Harper holds her glass up. “And may you get so drunk that you can’t see tonight… but not spend all night puking. Happy birthday, love.”
We cheers, sipping the bubbly brew. When we’ve downed that glass, Harper refills our flutes. “Thank God for your brother, Luna. Whatever possessed him to plan this trip, I’m so glad to be here.”
Luna snorts. “I think it’s more of a sign that he is over getting dumped by Madisyn than an homage to me, honestly.”
That makes me sit up a little straighter. “It’s been almost three months,” I murmur. “It’s about time he got over her. I can’t believe they were almost married! She was just so… awful.”
Harper cocks a brow. “Really? Even you didn’t like her? I thought you were all, ‘everyone is nice, sometimes we just can’t see it’ or whatever.”
An image of the gorgeous brunette with her designer clothes and sky-high heels pops into my head. Even in my mind, she has a bitchy expression. I pull a face. “She was awfully rude to me. And to Luna, even. You can say anything you want to me, but don’t you dare talk bad about my friends. After that, I couldn’t help but develop a distaste.”
“Well, well.” Harper grins. “Welcome to the dark side, Cate. It’s nice here. We have the best cocktails.”
Luna looks down at her cell phone screen. “Luca says that we are leaving for dinner and a show in ten minutes.”
“That’s enough time to put on our shoes and have a third glass of bubbles…” Harper says, her eyes sparkling mischievously.
“Wait, will one of you please do my eyeshadow?” I plead.
Luna looks between us, grinning. “I have a good feeling about tonight. We are going to have the best time, girls.”
As Harper fills up my glass again, I bite my lip. Here in our hotel room, I’m fine. It’s just when I get outside, when people are looking at me… that makes me anxious. No, let’s be honest. The very idea of doing something stupid while Luca looks on, judging me…
That makes me shake.
Yeah, I’m going to have to drink a lot more to make that okay. I down my third glass in a single gulp and hurry to get my shoes from my room.
Chapter Two
Luca
“Are you having a good time?” I shout in Luna’s ear.
She is seated beside me at the dance club, wedged into the semicircle of a booth while we watch the lights flash. We’re on the second floor, a little removed from the noisy dance floor. The music is still loud as fuck, but it’s muffled slightly on the second floor. Above our heads, there is a TV with a stream playing of the semi famous DJ who is spinning records on the stage below.
Luna looks up at me with a grin. “Yes. Thank you, Luca. Bringing me and my best friends to Vegas was an amazing idea.”
“No problem,” I call back with a shrug. “Since I own a music venue, almost everything you want to do this weekend is free for us. I scratch this club owner’s back, he scratches mine. Same with the hotel; I book a few acts that the hotel manager wants to promote, he gives me a discount, etc., so forth.” I flap a hand.
“Well you should get something out of it, since you work like all the time,” she shouts, wrinkling her nose. “You should get way more weekends like this one.”
I shrug again. “I make do.”
A fast-paced song comes on and Luna squeals. “Omigod! I love this song!”
She grabs Harper’s hand and drags her down to the dance floor, leaving me alone in the booth. Owen and Bradford never even made it this far, scooting people that they wanted to flirt with as soon as we got in the door of the club. I sit back with a sigh.
As much as I want to party and get drunk, a part of me is still in big brother mode. I will be vigilant no matter what, which means I’m not going to totally cut loose. Which is fine, because I’m still brooding about my failed engagement.
I try to think of what Madisyn is doing right now. Probably going out to dinner with some guy that isn’t me, batting her lashes and trying to fi
gure out his net worth. Yeah, Madisyn is kind of shallow; she is one of those girls that picks men based on good looks and a fat bank account… but she was very hot and very quantifiable.
What you see with her, you get. End of story.
I glance up from my brooding to see my little sister’s friend Cate sitting down in the booth. I narrow my gaze at her; she blushes and hooks a strand of her long, wavy hair behind her ear.
Sending my gaze up and down her figure, I realize that she’s actually pretty. Pretty and extremely short. Her head probably lands a whole foot below mine.
Too bad I can’t stand her. Since I’ve known Cate, she’s been annoying and usually downright unpleasant to be around. I swear, I made one crack about her when I first met her and she’s turned up her nose at me ever since.
But a vague dislike on my part was cemented into a cold, hard hate by the end of the first month that she was friends with Luna.
I’ll admit that I think she’s hot. I’ve seen her in a barely-there black bikini, her tits and ass and legs looking like a million fucking bucks.
One toss of her dark hair. One glance over her shoulder. One glimpse of those big, dark eyes set in her elfin face. And then she bent down in front of me, her eyes flirting even as she reached for the sunblock…
My brain practically melted.
Cate short circuits my thoughts by sitting on the very edge of the seat, looking extremely uncomfortable. I’m entirely sure that if Cate had her way, I wouldn’t be on this trip at all.