Cara’s POV
One would think arriving at the mansion I’d missed so much would bring me joy, but it only made my anxiety turn sour.
What are the odds that I’d meet Tina at the door just as I was about to walk in?
“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in…” she taunted.
As usual, I was taken aback; it would take a million years for me to get used to this version of her. She used to be the only reason I looked forward to working at the restaurant… one of the sources of my rarely enjoyed happiness. Now she was… different.
She gave me a once-over, her face scrunched up like she was disgusted. “You look fat… I must say. And how is life treating you, now that your rich husband is not so rich? Did you think all your problems would go away when you married him?” Tina laughed mockingly.
I eyed her outfit, composed of the latest pieces of Louis Vuitton from her head down to her feet. “Are you sure you’re not projecting yourself on me?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re the one who changed because you got some extra cash. I,” My hands caressed my bump. “… I am very in love with my husband. Take away everything, and that wouldn’t change, you know why? They’re not the basis of our love, and as you can see, this-” giving it two soft pats. “Would make it wax stronger.”
“Keep telling yourself that!” She sneered. “We’ll see if you’ll be saying the same thing in a few days to come.”
I marked down her words as they confirmed my suspicions of Adrian’s visit.
“Why would you do this to yourself, Tina?” I asked in all sincerity. “It doesn’t have to end this way.”
“Don’t speak to me like you know me.” She spat. “Like you know what I’ve been through. Is it a crime to want the finer things of life for myself? I am not doing anything wrong. I have as much right to this as Adonis does, and if I do, so does my man.”
She also wanted recognition and respect. I didn’t understand how she expected to get it here. Her mother was a whore… a woman who cheated on her husband yet she wants his throne?
The fact that she was still stuck on Luca inheriting the throne in her place made her look pitiful. Perhaps it was because I knew the truth. She had left the people who loved her to be used as a pawn in someone else’s games…
I sighed. “Are you happy that you’ve ruined his life then?”
“Luca is happy with me.”
“That wasn’t what I heard recently.”
Tina rolled her eyes at me. “He’s just going through a rough patch. He’ll be fine.” She waved it off.
The painful thing was, as oblivious as she was, she was also correct.
He would be fine… he had to be.
“It’d be nice if you could get him to love you,” I murmured, but she didn’t hear, too busy flipping her hair. “For what it’s worth, you were a nice friend,” the words sent a pang through my heart, knowing this was the last time I would see her before the showdown.
After all this was over, even if she made it out alive, we wouldn’t be on the same side. And if I knew my husband well, it was more terrible than dying.
“Keep your pathetic story to yourself. No one here cares.” She hissed. “I won’t stop you from entering, but you’re not taking anything. The guards are watching.” Tina pulled out her sunglasses from her purse and put them on. “Ciao.” And then she pushed past me to the car that was already running, waiting for her.
With one last glance at her, I resumed my journey into the mansion to find Luca. On the way here, I’d dialled his number multiple times but got no response as before, so he wasn’t aware that I’d be coming.
The house, which used to be buzzing with life around this time of the day, looked dull, and I could easily see how the missing men had greatly affected their defence strategy.
The number of guards in the mansion had greatly reduced, and the looks they gave me as I walked by weren’t ones I was used to.
Their faces held angry, judgemental expressions; I had to remind myself that they wouldn’t do anything to the wife of their Capo.
At least, not until a new one was sworn in.
The ride up to Adonis’s study gave me a short time to think about how to present my words to him. We’ve only guessed about how he was faring but what state was he in exactly? Since he was avoiding us all, would he want to listen to me?
As the elevator dinged open, I stepped onto the third floor. Goosebumps erupted on my skin, and I felt a little of the loneliness Luca was talking about.
The floor was dull and dark like it hadn’t seen life in a long while, yet I knew it wasn’t true. The rumpled blanket on the chair showed that someone was sleeping in there. Even with the air conditioning on, I could tell that it hadn’t been cleaned in a while from the dusty surfaces.
Drawing my eyes away from it all, I headed straight for the study, delivering two knocks on the door before walking straight in.
“Hey Luca, I was going to call you but-” The words got stuck in my throat, my eyes narrowing at the sight in front of me.
My jaw fell in disbelief, and the next second, my feet were stomping towards them.
“Oh no, you don’t. What the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you get in here? I just saw Tina at the door. Are you crazy?” The berating fell in both a mixture of whisper and yell.
“Cara, I… I just wanted to be there for him.”
My eyes closed tightly, pinching my nose in frustration. “No. Don’t be. You’re not helping at all. You’re making it hard for him to let go.”
“I’m going to leave. I got here last night and planned on leaving tonight. He’s sick, Cara. He’s down; I wanted to look after him for a short while and-
-Are you even listening to yourself, Cecelia?”
Was I overreacting? What the hell was she doing?
“Reduce your voice. No one knows I’m here.” She peeked at the door.
“Oh really? You should’ve thought about that before coming here. How did you even make it up to this floor without being caught?” I placed my hand on my hips, a reprimanding expression on my face.
“Okay, truthfully, I had help. He let me in through the door underground.”
“Cece…” I sighed worriedly, “You should be careful. We can’t trust anyone.”
“I know… I just…”
“You said you love Jacob. What is this? Does he know you’re here?”
Cecelia looked down at her fingers, choosing to plead the fifth.
“For heaven’s sake, Cecelia, this is wrong.”
“I know, but I can’t help myself. I’ve been trying to reach him since we left your father’s home, but he’s not picking up. You said the same thing the last time I called; I was worried. I had no choice but to see him myself.”
“Okay. What did you tell Jacob?”
“That I was coming to see you?”
“And you didn’t think to tell me? I could’ve given you away?”
“You’re smarter than that.”
Her words caused a small smile to tug at my lips, and she mirrored it, letting out a giggle before catching herself, her eyes drifting to Luca, who was fast asleep on the couch.
I didn’t know what to say.
Walking in here to see her tucking him in was not something I expected. It was dangerous; Jacob was too good of a man to lose, but so was Luca. Still, she had to pick one before she ended up losing both. Shuttling between them because she couldn’t control her feelings wasn’t the right thing to do.
“This doesn’t mean I support what you’re doing,” I told her blankly. “You have to make up your mind, Cecelia. Stay with Luca, notwithstanding what you think, or be with Jacob. Neither of them deserves this back and forth.”
The sad look returned to her eyes.
“I know. I’m just… I’ll be leaving tonight. I got him some medications, and he’s sleeping fine now. That’s all I wanted.”
“Good. You know it’s for the best, right?”
“I do. I just… find it hard to act like he’s invisible. I’ll always love him, Cara. Not as a lover but as someone I had a connection with. He was more than that to me. He was my best friend.” She smiled like she was recalling a distant memory. “I can’t turn the other eye when he’s going through a lot.”
“You should’ve.” Luca moaned, slowly blinking his eyes open.
Cece and I stared at each other with wide eyes that trailed down to the man who was sitting up on the couch.
“Hi, Cara.” He gave me his infamous Luca smile, but it lacked its usual energy.
“Hi, Luca.” I gave him a small wave in reply, watching his eyes flicker to my bump for a brief second.
“You look ready to pop anytime soon.”
“And you look like shit,” I deadpanned, stating the truth. He had hair sticking up in various directions, and his stubble had grown into a rough beard.
Luca didn’t say anything in reply, just looked at Cecelia, then patted the space next to him. She looked at me, and I gave her a small nod, stepping back to look around the study and act like I wasn’t eavesdropping.
“Cara’s right, you know?” He started. “I admit that I was surprised to see you last night. It felt like my heart was beating again after a long while, but this isn’t right.”
Thank God he agreed. For a moment, I thought he was going to try to convince her again.
“Luca…”
“No. Let me speak.”
Yeah. Let the man speak girly.
I walked towards Adonis’s table, my hand trailing its edges as it sparked memories that shouldn’t be recalled in this serious moment.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since last night, and I think going our separate ways was for the best. Truth be told, I don’t think I’m ready to settle down. I mean,” he chuckled. “Adonis, who hates love, settled before me. But honestly, I don’t think I can do it… protecting you in my world didn’t turn out well; imagine adding a child to it.”
“You should’ve told me. We can-”
“Forfeit having one? Come on, Cecelia. Have you forgotten what you told me your dream was?”
“To explore the world with five children and the man I love.” She whispered, and my heart skipped.
This was something Adonis and I could have but was taking for granted. Such a simple yet hard-to-achieve dream with all that was going on. A pang of sadness tightened in my chest as I related as a silent observer in their bittersweet farewell.
“Exactly,” Luca responded. “The fear of what happened to my father and mother could also be a factor-Adonis realised this even before I did.” He swallowed. “Be with Jacob. I’ll… be okay.”
Cecelia broke into a sob, and I sneakily raised a finger to wipe away the betraying tears that had fallen from my eyes.
“I love you, Luca. So much.” Her cry sounded muffled.
“It’ll get better. For both of us.” He replied, his voice cracking at the end.
This was the closure I was talking about. They both had found a mutual ground to walk away and could finally move on. I felt happy for them.
After a few minutes of goodbye hugs and acceptance words, Luca picked up his phone and had Cecelia safely escorted out of the mansion by the same person who let her in.
It was good to know that we still had at least one person we could trust in here.
With a promise to be in touch, she left, leaving me and Luca alone in the study. Quietly sitting by the other end of the couch, I gave him time to collect himself and let the sober air wear down. Deciding not to speak until he was ready.
“So…” He exhaled deeply, rubbing at his stuffy nose. “Why did you come?”