She really was one of the best investments he had ever made in his life, and it was rather incredible, when he thought about it, that Luca had been able to acquire his wife for a measly sum.
His wife was indeed an asset, he thought, and it would always stay that way as long as he remembered that in the end, she was just that.
An asset.
When Luca began pulling away, Vivian made no effort to stop him, sensing his silent need to put some distance between them. After three months of marriage, she knew him so much better now, and she knew that whenever he wanted to put more walls between them, it was only because he was feeling too much.
And these days, it was happening more often than usual.
So just be patient, she told herself. Don’t be too aggressive, too greedy, or too impatient.
When Luca saw his wife watching him walk naked towards the bath, he raised a brow at her, asking, “Enjoying the show, cara?” She threw a pillow at him, and he caught it handily with a grin. “There is nothing to be embarrassed about. I myself have no shame in admitting that I always enjoy watching you striptease—-”
She sat upright with a gasp at his words, and clutching the sheets to her, she protested, “I have never done a striptease!”
“Every time you strip in front of me, you tease me. You arouse me. Is that not the definition of a striptease?” Walking back to her, he caught the other pillow she threw at him effortlessly and threw it on the floor. Then he swept her up in his arms and silenced her planned retort with an open-mouthed kiss. By the time he lifted his head, his wife’s gaze was once again clouded with desire, and Luca smiled in satisfaction at the sight.
In the shower, they made love once more, despite his wife’s protests that she might be late in preparing Eula’s lunchbox for school. This time, he took her from behind, with her breasts flattened against the glass wall, and Luca teasing her that he might have forgotten to lock both the bathroom door and the main door of their bedroom.
“How could you,” she moaned in protest. But even so, the thought that anyone could enter the bathroom at that moment was both terrifying and shamefully exciting, making her feel even wetter and hotter.
Licking her ear, he whispered, “It turns you on, does it not, Vivi? That we are doing something forbidden, that people might catch us—-”
“N-no.” But her voice was weak, and soon enough she forgot what else she had to say when Luca’s thrusts sped up, and all she could do was pant and let him take command of her body.
In the end, she barely had enough time to shower and prepare a sandwich for Eula, and then it was a race against time as the driver figured out a way to beat the traffic and ensured her stepdaughter would make it to school in time.
Inside the car, Vivian was surprised when Luca told the child that she would not be able to fetch her after school.
“I’m not?”
“Why not, Papa?” Eula asked at the same time, visibly upset.
“Because I will be taking Vivi out to lunch—-”
“You are?” she gasped.
He lifted a brow. “Unless you would rather not?”
“I would definitely rather,” she said so quickly.
Eula was scowling. “But Vivi can have lunch with me.”
Luca laughed, more amused than annoyed at how his daughter was well taking after him with how possessive she was. And normally, he would have given in, but unfortunately for his little princess, today he happened to feel just a bit more possessive towards Vivi.
“No arguments, principesa,” he told her firmly. Gentling his tone, he promised, “But it is only for today. She will be yours again tomorrow.”
Eula’s scowl eased a little. “You promise, Papa?”
“Si.”
She sighed. “Then okay. You may borrow Vivi only for today.”
When they had dropped Eula off at school and they were all alone in the car, he asked her wryly, “Is she becoming too bossy, do you think?”
Vivian grinned. “Just a bit, but what can you expect when you’re her father?” But then she remembered his words from earlier and she hesitated, biting her lip before blurting out, “Are we celebrating our third monthsary?”
He winced. “Must you call it that?”
She blinked. “What, monthsary?”
Luca could not help wincing anew. “Si.”
“Monthsary?”
“Yes, that,” he snapped. Then he heard her unsuccessfully trying not to giggle, and he realized she had been teasing him.
When his gaze narrowed at her, she couldn’t help giggling again even as she tried to appease him, saying, “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. You just looked so cute, I mean, because you had this sick expression on your face when I mentioned the word ‘monthsary’—-there, you looked exactly like that a while ago.”