Melody snuggles on her pillow. Her hands reach to the other side only to feel the empty side. Her eyes open slowly, and she sees she’s alone in the guest bedroom. She frowns in confusion.
She looks around to see that Damian has left the bed. The clock shows it’s only 3 in the morning.
She gets up and goes to open the door. The hallway was dark and empty. She walks to the living room. Celestia sleeping on the couch, Matthew and Victor sleeping on the ground.
She tries her best not to make any noise since she knows they are trained to be alert even in their sleep.
The kitchen’s lamp was on. She went to the kitchen to see who it was. Her eyes squinted when the lights hit her.
“Mel, why are you up?” Damian is sitting at the chair with a hot tea in his hand. He didn’t wear anything except for trousers.
“I’m the one who should ask you that,” Melody rolls her eyes. “Why are you up?”
“I have to think of our next move,” he answers, tapping his finger on the counter.
She climbs to the chair beside him, “Why didn’t you call your men?”
“No, negative. If we call them, it will be easy for the enemy to find us. Besides, I can’t lose my men again.”
“I lost them enough yesterday.”
“How did Matthias know we were there? I mean…didn’t you say it was a secret base?” Her question made Damian furious. Not to her but to the traitor.
“That man said there’s a traitor in my clan. Someone tell them the location,” Damian clenched his jaw. “I have to find that traitor…”
“Do you know anyone else who knows about that place?” Melody asks.
He furrows his eyebrows, “No one knows that place. Not even my parent. It must be one of my me-”
He halt. His expression shows that he remembers something. Melody arches her eyebrows as she notices that.
“What’s wrong?” She inquired.
“Only one person that knows about the secret base…” he mumbles.
“Who?” Melody frowns.
“Riccardo,”
The name made Melody stunned. There’s no way that guy will betray Damian again. She looks at Damian, “No. Riccardo wouldn’t do that.”
“How can you trust him that much, Mel? Don’t you realise now? He’s the only one who knows that place!” Damian firmly said.
“But that didn’t mean he would betray you! We talk about this already. He is your friend, Dam.” She sighs. “Why can’t you see the genuine in his eyes?”
Damian put down the tea mug, “Because I’m being careful here. I can’t let him take someone I need in my life once again.”
“He wouldn’t do that! You have been thinking like that because you never listen to him. Or me!” Melody scolds him.
She tries everything to make him listen and give Riccardo a chance, even for once. But, every time something happened, he would blame Riccardo. Melody crossed her arms on her chest.
“You will never forgive him, aren’t you?”
“If you are in my shoes-” before he could finish, she cuts him off.
“Yes! If I’m in your shoes, I would do the same. I know he did something terrible in the past, but not everything that happened in your life related to him,” she confronts him.
Damian closed his eyes not knowing what to say. It’s just like he was complicated with himself. Who else then if it’s not Riccardo? It’s only he who knows the secret base location.
“Talking about Riccardo, how about we go to him?” Melody suggests.
He looks at her with disbelief, “Okay, this is the second stupid idea you gave me. The first one is I don’t even need to hear it but this one…”
Damian grunts.
“What? We have nowhere to go. You told me if we stay any longer, it will risk Uncle Woo’s life,” she explains.
“That’s true but meeting Riccardo is even riskier. Who knows that he probably set a trap there!” Damian talks back.
“He is your friend!”
“Even a friend could stab you on your back, Melody!” He raised his voice.
Celestia, who awoke up earlier, heard the whole conversation. She clenches her fist, leaning on the wall. She can’t hear them arguing knowing it will make them apart. They have to end this as soon as they can.
Melody looks at him. He sighs, “Not…everyone we could trust here. Yes, I try my best to trust him again…forgive him…you know that.”
“But…I just can’t.”
“Just this once. If it weren’t for him, then for me. If what you said is true, then I wouldn’t say anything anymore. I will just go on with whatever you want,” Melody makes a deal.
Damian sighs, runs his hand over his face. When she said that, he couldn’t say no to that. He does anything if it’s for her.
“Fine. If you say that. We will go to Riccardo today-only because of you,” he firmly speaks.
“That’s it. We make a promise. If what you said is wrong, you have to give Riccardo a chance and never talk about not trusting him, understand?” Melody points at him.
He rolls his eyes and nods. If anyone saw his state right now, people will say the mafia boss is weak to his wife. Thank goodness there’s no one else here.
“Anyway, I kind of…requesting something from you,” Melody said, fiddling with her fingers.
“What is it this time? You want a fresh apple from the tree again?” He arches his eyebrows.
“No, it’s not that!” She smacks his shoulder.
“Then what?” Damian’s elbows lean on the counter.
“If all of this…settle down, I thought…I want to create a wedding…” she mumbles.
Damian furrows his eyebrows, “A wedding? For whom? Who is getting married?”
“Not for someone else. For…us.”
Her words made Damian stunned for a moment. This is unexpected and out of the blue. He thought she would talk about Riccardo again. Instead of that, she talking about a wedding.
“Why are you asking about that? We are husband and wife already,” he frowns.
“But…we never had a…wedding. We just sign it on the piece of paper…” she mumbles.
The sight of wearing a white gown, walking down the aisle with a lot of people adoring the bride only makes her smile. She always dreamed of that when she was a child.
“I wish to…experience that even we are already married,” Melody sighs. “I never walk on the aisle,”
“So, you are telling me that… you want both of us to have the wedding event with the priest and us saying the vows-like that?” Damian asks for confirmation.
She nods. Damian couldn’t help but feel guilty. He knows he never did any romantic stuff for his wife. That’s because she is his contract wife. But now…everything is different.
He reached for her hands, his thumb caressing at the back of her hand. Melody lifted her head, her doe eyes stared right into his.
“How about we make a promise?” He offers.
“What promise…” she tilted her head.
“I promise you…after all of this, I will make a wedding event for both of us,” he leans toward her, their forehead meet. “I’m sorry about that. You deserve that wedding…”
Melody smiles, “It’s okay. It’s not like we fell in love that time.”
“Really? I thought you were?” He grins.
She rolls her eyes. She pushed him away, “Yeah, right. You know what my first impression on you was when we first met?”
“What?”
“I see you as an arrogant and obnoxious old man,” she chuckles.
Damian narrows his eyes on hers playfully, “Oh really? You think of me that way, huh?” He gets up from his seat, making Melody’s smile fade.
Before she could react, he picked her up over his shoulder. She yelps and hits his back, “Dam! Put me down!” She whispers.
“Shh, you will wake them up,” Damian smacks her butt.
They went to their room and shut the door. Celestia, who manages to get on the couch before they see her, just chuckles. She shakes her head and goes back to her sleep.
Damian puts her on the bed, lets his body pin her. She squirms beneath him, “Dam, get off!”
“How about now? Did you still have the same impression on me?” He smirks, putting his face on her neck.
She flustered, “I-I…no…I mean-that was a long ago!”
“Hmm? Really? Is that mean I managed to change your impression of me this whole time?” Damian mumbles on her neck.
“I…. no…” she lost her words.
He slightly bites her neck. Melody flinches, “Dam…”
“Do you want to be in the same position like how we did it in the shower before?” He whispers. It sounds dangerous and impatient.
Melody gulps.
___
Celestia smacks Matthew’s hand when he is about to grab the bread. He whines in pain and pouting.
“What??”
“It’s still hot, idiot. Wait for it to be cool for a moment,” Celestia scolds him.
“Aww, you do care about me,” he smiles.
Celestia looks at him with disgust. Victor, who watched the scene, just chuckles to himself. He knows, deep in Celestia’s heart, she got a soft spot for Matthew. It’s just, they are playing hard to get.
Damian and Melody walk in. Damian seems normal, but Melody seems to be hard on her walks. Her face shows slight pain when she walks.
“Good morning, both of you. Uncle Woo prepared a breakfast for all of us,” Celestia puts down two plates filled with eggs and toast.
“Where is Uncle Woo?” Melody asks.
“He said he had to go buy some groceries, so he left early,” Matthew answers.
She nods in understanding. Damian helps her to sit on the chairs. Victor was munching his food while watching them.
“What’s wrong with you?” Victor arches his eyebrows.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, are you okay? You look…in pain. Did your wound open up again? I don’t think so because the last time the doctor said it healed enough,” Matthew agreed.
Melody flustered when they notice the pain in her face, “I-I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Are you sure?” Matthew frowns.
She glanced at Damian who didn’t bother to join the conversation. He just eating his breakfast. Melody rolls her eyes, feeling annoyed that he didn’t help her.
“I’m sure. Thank you for asking,” she smiles. “Let’s enjoy our breakfast.”
The topic changes manage to distract Matthew. Celestia, who knows everything, just keep quiet. She smiles to herself, holding her laughter.