The Temporary Wife: Luca and Valentina's Story(6)

I still remember the warning he gave me when we first started working together. He told me to never walk into his office wearing anything I couldn’t attend a board meeting in, and until today, I never have.

“Valentina,” he says, his tone as emotionless as it always is. We’ve been working together for years, yet he still calls me by my full name. I’m Val to everyone but him. From the very start, he’s made it clear that he dislikes me and that he intends to keep me at a distance. I suspect that some of his wariness comes from the fact that it’s his grandmother who hired me, but despite his endless questioning, I’m as clueless about her rationale as he is.

“Luca.” I force a smile onto my face and take a hesitant step closer. I don’t recall the last time I felt awkward around him, but I do now. I don’t have a legitimate reason to be at the office tonight, and I’m worried he’ll be suspicious of me. Despite his continuous mistrust, I’ve never given him a reason to doubt me, but being at the office on a Saturday night when he knows better than anyone that there’s nothing for me to work on? Even I have to admit that it’s weird.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, eventually.

I look away as I contemplate how to answer and decide on partial honesty. Luca must be handled with care. For years, he’s jumped on any excuse to fire me, and I can’t risk losing this job. His grandmother has shielded me from his worst attempts, but someday, my luck will run out. When it does, it’s my family that’ll suffer the most. “I just… I wasn’t having the best evening, and I wasn’t sure where to go. I just ended up at the office without thinking.”

I expected Luca to pity me, but instead, he simply nods. “Yeah, me too,” he says, his voice soft. I thought he’d have more to say, or that he’d question me further, but instead, he remains silent and stares back at his computer screen.

This is, perhaps, one of the very few things I appreciate about him, other than his disgustingly good looks. Luca Windsor never pries into my private life. The boundaries between us are as firmly in place as they were eight years ago, when we first started working together. He despised me then, and I’m certain he still does today — but he respects me too, and ultimately, that’s all that matters.

“Do you have dinner plans?” I ask as I hold up the bag my grandmother gave me. He’s dressed in a three-piece suit, as usual, and I know for a fact that he doesn’t have any business meetings scheduled today. A date, perhaps?

He crosses his arms and leans back in his seat, his eyes on mine. There’s something captivating about Luca Windsor. He has this habit of making women feel like they have his full attention, and I’m not immune to it either, despite my best attempts to resist him. “Dinner? When do I ever have dinner plans that you aren’t aware of? I don’t date, and you know it. There’s no point, anyway.”

I blink in surprise. Right. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never had a girlfriend. The Windsor marriages are all arranged, so eventually, he’ll have to marry a woman of his grandmother’s choosing. Probably a rich heiress of some sort that can further expand their empire. I can see why someone like Luca wouldn’t bother dating because of it. No doubt he finds it an inefficient waste of his time.

I place my food on his desk and unpack it, secretly excited as I open the butter container my abuela packed for me. Luca looks surprised when I give him a taquito wrapped in foil, and I smile at him politely. What did he think I was about to give him? A handful of butter? “My grandmother made it, and I don’t enjoy eating alone. Indulge me?”

He hesitates for a moment, and then he nods. I suppose it isn’t often that we find ourselves together unexpectedly, without a specific work agenda or social obligation to fulfill.

We eat in silence for a while, and I take a moment to study him. He’s irritatingly handsome, with that strong jaw, that straight nose, and his thick dark hair. His good looks don’t make up for his complete lack of personality, though. I can’t even imagine him acting affectionate. Does he even know how to smile, or have his facial muscles completely atrophied due to lack of use?

I sigh and look away. I suppose he’s also intelligent beyond compare, loyal to a fault, and he loves his family more than anything. His personality is abrasive, and he’s far too blunt for his own good, but he isn’t cruel or unfair.

Even back when he so desperately tried to make me quit my job when I was first hired, everything he did only helped me in the long run — the multiple languages he made me learn, the college night classes he forced me to take, and even the MBA he asked me to do. None of it was to my detriment, even if I did despise him for it at the time. I hate to admit it, but he’s going to make some poor girl very happy someday.

“Do you know who she is? The woman you’ll marry?” The question escapes my lips before I even realize it, and the hint of despair that accompanies it surprises me. I only ever ask Luca personal questions when I need the information to do my job, but I couldn’t help myself.

He freezes for a moment, but then he shakes his head. “No idea, but since Ares’s wedding is coming up soon, I’ll probably be next.”

I lean back in my chair and nod, my thoughts wandering. “Do you think Raven will do it?” I ask, my voice soft. A week ago, Ares’s fiancée called off the wedding, and Raven, one of my closest friends and the bride’s younger sister, was asked to take her place as Ares’s wife. It’s the only way for both families to abide by the terms of their merger. The merged company was meant to fall into the hands of any kids resulting from this marriage, and without a marriage between the Windsors and the Du Ponts, there’ll be no merger.