LUCIANO.
The hell! Damien must be either drunk or he is just being plainly stupid, wicked and selfish.
“Are you crazy Damien?!” I sprang up from my seat at once, my fists balling so tightly that I could feel the blood not flowing through my veins again.
“Now calm down Luciano. This is just another business. You need something that I can give you and I want something that you can give me” Damien smirked, drawing out white puff of smoke from the cigarette that twirled in between his fingers.
“How can you even suggest that? Are you sick? How can you suggest that I marry your sister?” I asked, my anger rising the more I played his unbelievable question in my head.
The very thought of another man taking Jade away from me frightens me talkmore of me leaving her for another woman. I definitely can not and will do such.
“I am not saying you should abandon your wife for my sister…”
“That is how it sounds like to me” I sharply interrupted him.
Damien sighed and dropped the cigarette he was twirling on the table, “I am not saying you should forsake Jade for my sister. All I am saying is you marry Valerie and take her as your second wife”
I stared at him in absolute shock, bewilderment and confusion. My brows were so puckered up that they could have literally being touching my hairline, “Damien can you hear yourself? Does Valerie know you are planning on shipping her off to become a second wife? How does this even make sense to you Damien?”
“Valerie wants you Luciano!” Damien bolted up and marched to me. “You and I well know that your family was initially planning on getting her married to you to further strengthen our ties Luciano!” Damien breathed heavily as he spoke with his fore finger poking at my chest repeatedly.
“Valerie looked foward to the day she would wed you. It was her dream Luciano. You led her on…”
“My late father and step mother did. Not me” I retorted back. “I always made it clear to Valerie that I did not feel anything for her”
“Oh and you feel something Jade? A woman who would divorce you if given the chance to do so? Do you honestly think Jade loves you the way you claim to love her? Do you even love her at all?” Damien scoffed at me.
“I care for Jade more than I care for anyone at this moment in my life. She is my everything. My wife. I can not hurt her feelings by marrying your sister man c’mon. Does this even make any sense to you?”
Damien let out a cackle, slumping back on his chair and flopping his head back. “Luciano your father had two women in his life, your grand father, the Godfather himself Don Riccardo, may their souls rest in peace, he had two women in his life too. So why can you not do same? I mean you and Jade were put into a marraige of convenience. It is not like you have known her the way you knew Valerie”
“Damien I can not even believe that you would suggest a thing like this to me”
I was more shocked than I was angered because it just felt so unreal that Damien would insist I marry his sister before he helped me.
Did he not care for his sister’s emotional well being?
“I am just looking out for my sister Luciano” he replied coldly.
“You want your beloved sister Valerie to become a second wife to a man who does not love her? And you call that looking out for her?” I chuckled darkly, trying to make him see the sense in what I was saying because to me he was spitting absolute nonsense.
“She wants that for herself Luciano. The ball is in your court Luciano. Marry my sister and I will offer you all the help you need and more. It’s up to you Luciano” Damien stood his ground.
“This is a joke. A pathetic one” I gruffed and matched out of his private office room. I was so livid.
My fists balled up so tight and I just wanted to punch something so bad.
How could Damien even suggest such a thing to me?! I mean he really wants me to overlook Jade’s feelings and thoughts all because he wants his sister to be happy.
That is crazy.
“Hello Luciano” a sultry feminine voice called me from behind.
I swiftly pivoted and saw that it was Valerie. I masked my anger and a stoic look washed upon my face.
She elegantly cat walked towards me as if calculating her each and every step.
“I actually never knew you were around. What a lovely surprise to have you here”
“The pleasure is all mine Valerie. If you can excuse me now, I would love to take my leave”
“You are leaving?” Sadness washed upon her face.
“Yes I have to right now” I replied bluntly with no emotion on my face.
“That is sad though. I wanted you to stay a bit longer. You were about leaving without telling me” she whined. She reached out for my hands and took them in hers, fluttering her lashes at me.
I withdrew them at once and took few steps back. The disappointment washed over her face again. “I honestly have to leave now. No one is home with Jade and she is new in Ecuador. I have to be with my wife” I purposely said that so that she would see where my loyalty laid which was with my duly wedded wife.
“Jade?” Valerie scoffed out.
“Yes Jade my wife. Do you have any problem with me going back to see her?” I asked, stepping foward.
Valerie shook her head in response. “No not at all. Besides she is your wife. My regards to her ok. See you another time” she nervously laughed before walking away.
Damn Damien. It seems I have more on my hands than I thought I did.