Pretend Love

Chapter 13: The past, present, and future?

"So..." Suzy said softly, pensively caressing the arm hooked around her as they lay on the couch. "What happens now?"

"Now?"

"When we go back, I mean."

"To my family's estate or to the States?"

"Both, I guess..."

"Well, when we get back to the estate, I have every intention of showing you the winery," Vincent said, nibbling at her ear.

Suzy could practically hear his smirk. "That's not what I meant, and you know it," she rolled her eyes.

"I don't know, Suzy," he said, honestly. "Richard will still be there, waiting for an excuse to bust us. Abeoji is still dying, desperate to get me to stay and take over. Sungjae will still be getting random women pregnant, and I will be expected to clean up his messes."

"Wait- what?" She frowned, turning around to face him.

"Soo-young isn't the first, and she probably won't be the last," he said, his voice filled with a mixture of contempt and sadness.

"Soo-young's baby... Sungjae's the father?"

"That will never be made public knowledge, if Abeoji has anything to say about it. Which he does."

"But why would he...?"

"Coddle him? Sungjae's always been my Abeoji's favorite. Growing up, he could do no wrong in Abeoji's eyes. I suppose I didn't exactly help the situation. When we got into trouble, I would take the blame. I remember this one time... Sungjae and his friends were drinking - they stole a couple of bottles from the winery - and got the brilliant idea to steal a car. They crashed it, of course, and Abeoji was livid. Sungjae was so scared, he begged me to cover for him, he was barely twelve so I told Abeoji I was the one who was driving. I don't think he really believed me, but it was like he was relieved he could beat me instead of Sungjae."

Suzy reached out and caressed his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It was a long time ago," Vincent said, a bittersweet smile on his lips.

"What did your father say to you yesterday?"

"The business is in jeopardy. Covering up Sungjae's... indiscretions... had proven costly. Not to mention the fact that he's neglected the winery."

"But... when he spoke of his work... he sounded so..."

"Passionate? Yeah, I can imagine. He would know, if you were with me, that you admired passion in a man."

"Cocky much?" Suzy raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you know I am..." He smirked, then chuckled. "It's not what I meant, though. We're both passionate people, Suzy. We go after the things we want, and we don't let anything get in our way. Sungjae knows that about me, and it figures he would use it to get to you."

"Why? As far as he knows, I'm your fiancée. Why would he try to seduce me?"

"Because we're brothers, Suzy. We've always been jealous of each other, we've always wanted what the other had."

"So I'm a trophy?" She frowned.

"Not to me."

"What am I to you?"

"You're... you're the woman I didn't know I was looking for until I found you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, so... what do we do?" Suzy asked, coming back to her earlier question.

"Is it weird that I still want to marry you?"