The Temporary Wife: Luca and Valentina's Story(19)

He nods at her. “I suppose we should.”

She throws me a condescending look and glances back at Luca. “Without your employees present,” she adds. “I want her gone.”

I tense and look at Luca, unsure what to do. It’s irrational, and it’s crazy, but I don’t want to leave the two of them alone.

Luca glances at me and sends me a pleading look. “Valentina,” he says, his voice soft. “I’ve got it from here. This is… a personal matter.”

I stare at him for a moment, surprise stealing away my words. A personal matter. I don’t remember the last time Luca asked me to leave a room. I don’t think he ever has.

I involuntarily grit my teeth and nod politely before walking out, my hand trembling as I close the door behind me.

This is a ridiculous thing to be upset about, but I don’t like the thought of the two of them alone in there. The way she looked at him and the gentleness he showed her… it was unexpected, but it shouldn’t have been. Natalia is the one who will be his wife. No one but her is entitled to that version of him. What was I thinking? Did I truly think I was the only one he’d show that side of him to?

I’m restless as I sit behind my desk, my eyes trailing back to his closed office door every few minutes. Luca made his windows opaque, and it makes me uncomfortable that he wants privacy with her. I shouldn’t care, and I hate that I do. One single kiss threw off our dynamics entirely. I took something I never should have, something that was never meant for me, and now I’m left wanting more of someone who can never be mine.

I tense when the door opens, and Natalia walks out with the biggest smile on her face. She pauses by my desk and looks me over for a moment. “I need dinner reservations for tonight,” she says. “Two people. Eight o’clock. Somewhere with a nice view.”

I blink in confusion. I ceased being a personal assistant years ago, and even if I was, I wouldn’t take orders from her.

“Get it done,” she says, before walking out and leaving me speechless. I rise to my feet and walk into Luca’s office, my heart heavy. He’s standing by the window, his gaze averted.

“Luca,” I say hesitantly.

He turns to face me, his expression unreadable as I walk up to him. With each step I take, my heart aches a little more. A sense of dread settles in the pit of my stomach when my eyes zero in on the smudged lipstick at the corner of his lips.

I reach for him without thinking. Luca’s eyes widen, and I pause with my thumb a mere inch from his mouth. “Lipstick,” I murmur, my voice trembling ever so slightly.

He freezes and turns his back to me. How long was she even in his office? Ten minutes at most. Just a few days ago, he called her a spoiled materialistic airhead, yet now he’s kissing her?

“I… Natalia asked me to make a dinner reservation for you tonight.”

It rubs me the wrong way that she didn’t even introduce herself, and Luca didn’t bother introducing us either. It reminded me that in the end, I’m no one to Luca. I’m nothing more than another one of his employees, one that his grandmother has taken a liking to. For a little while, I forgot that.

He turns back to face me and runs a hand through his hair, the lipstick gone. “Yeah,” he says. “I said I’d take her out for dinner tonight. Pick something nice, please.”

I grit my teeth and look into his eyes. “You want me to make a reservation for your fiancée and you? You have a personal assistant for that kind of thing, Luca.” My job technically only involves monitoring his work schedule, company budgets, and other upper-level diplomacy tasks. Granted, I do a lot more than that, but I haven’t been asked to do such a basic task in years.

“Valentina,” he murmurs, his tone pleading. “Please. You’ve always taken the initiative to make reservations for me when I take either Sierra or Raven out for lunch. I need to make sure this is done right. It’s important.”

I look out the window and inhale shakily. “Is she that important to you already?” I ask, knowing that I shouldn’t.

Luca sighs. “She’s going to be my wife,” he simply says.

His wife. Hearing him say that shouldn’t hurt as much as it does.





Chapter Thirteen





Luca

I stare at my phone, willing myself to reply to Natalia’s messages and failing to. I should be putting some effort into getting to know my fiancée, but instead I ignored her for a week straight, until she showed up at my office.

I can’t see myself marrying her, but I have no choice. One way or another, I’ll have to learn to live with her. I sigh and run a hand through my hair, my thoughts turning back to last night.

Sitting through that dinner with Natalia was much harder than I expected it to be. All night, all she talked about was fashion shows and holidays she wants to go on. She was somewhat concerned about what our wedding would be like, and whether it’d be extravagant enough for her tastes, but she wasn’t remotely interested in what a marriage between us would look like.

But then again, neither was I.

I inhale deeply and shake my head. It isn’t like I didn’t try at all. I tried asking her what her interests are, and I tried to explain my job to her, but it felt like I was talking to a brick wall. It was almost like we were having two different conversations. As far as I can tell, we have nothing in common, and she doesn’t even remotely understand what I do for a living. She doesn’t seem to be interested in finding out either.