--Lucian POV--
"How is it possible for someone to be so bad at cooking?" She sighed, flabbergasted as she stood by me, watching me attempt to chop the carrots on the chopping board.
"Hey, it's peer pressure. I'm sure I'd be able to do better if you weren't watching me," I lamely defended myself as she raised her eyes away from my hands to meet my gaze.
"Look at where me not watching you has gotten you," She gestured to my hands where 4 out of 10 of my fingers were all wrapped up in bandages. She's got a point there.
"Okay, okay. I admit that I'm no master chef. I can't have been gifted with talent amongst everything else, that would have been asking for too much," She sighed, giving me a look as if to ask if I was being serious before turning back to the pan on the stove.
We were currently on our honeymoon; all the New York drama being left back in New York as we worked to smoothly finish off this lovely week with no added drama. And Angelina grasped the opportunity to attempt to teach me how to cook, and unfortunately, I can't say that it's going very well since I'm about to die of blood loss.
Standing in the kitchen of my villa in Amalfi coast, I was beginning to get used to the lovely summer weather, something I wasn't accustomed to back in Germany.
But I'd have to admit, being with this woman was like an addictive drug. The more time I spent with her, the more time I wanted to be with her. Each passing day, I would learn something new about her, and I looked forward to that every morning when I woke up.
I wasn't a morning person, everyone knew that. It was a gift to be able to sleep in, especially with my line of work. But as of late, I'd force myself to wake up earlier just to be able to have breakfast with her, even after she offered to wait until I would wake up at my own leisure.
I'd never tell her, but it wasn't breakfast that I would wake up for. It was her. Simply her.
"Is this okay?" She peeked over my shoulder to look at all the horrendous looking carrots that had been mercilessly butchered by my hands. If they hadn't been mushed under the heavy weight of my hands, they had been chopped into different sizes. I swear, a child could have done a better job, but there was no getting passed my fear of sharp kitchenware.
"It'll do," She nodded, shooing me out of the way as I went to wash my hands, staring back at her as she mixed the good parts of my chopped carrots into her stew.
And as I sat down on the island, I watched as she pranced around the large room, tidying up a little while adding some seasoning into the pan, and leaning my cheek against my palm, I continued to simply watch her in admiration.
What was it about her that drew me to her?
The fact that she had multiple personas, and gifted me with entertainment every day? The fact that she was able to meet my level of comedy, and laugh with me? Or was it the simpler things?
Having spent some time together, I learnt that she loved being organised, she had the habit of itching the back of her neck when she lied, she covered her mouth when she laughed because she's not gotten over her self-consciousness of having braces back when she was younger, the most important person in her life right now was her cat, and I could go on forever.
She didn't think it, but she was an amazing singer, and she accidentally let it slip that the last time she properly celebrated her birthday was when her father was still alive, and something that's always able to make her smile is a warm cup of tea.
Barely a month. That's how long I've known her, but why am I already falling in love?
How am I going to survive through the next year without getting my heart broken? First time I'm in love and it's destined to end in shambles, great.
"Okay, dinner will be ready in an hour. Think you can make it back by then?" I blinked, snapping out of my thoughts to see her standing in front of me, waiting hand on her waist, and one brow raised higher than the other as she waited for my response.
"Make it back from where?" I scratched my head, confused.
"You said you had to go meet with Reid for a bit to talk about business?" Her brow raised itself higher as my mouth fell open in realisation.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I was having so much fun with chopping those carrots, I forgot Reid even existed," I slapped my forehead, standing up as she laughed.
I went up to get changed into a different outfit, coming back downstairs in a more socially acceptable manner as she waited for me beside the staircase.
"Well, go on. Try to be back on time or I might have to eat without you," She warned as I sat down to put my shoes on, picking my coat off its rack before turning to see her opening the front door for me.
"Okay, eat without me if you get hungry," I almost leaned down to peck her lips on my way out the front door, but caught myself just in time.
I really was falling in love.
It feels as though this is all normality, to have her wishing me goodbye as I headed off to work, and for me to kiss her goodbye before I left. But it wasn't normal, it was all fake.
And I have to get that through my head.
I can't afford to fall any deeper into love with her. It wasn't going to end well for either of us. If she found out that I loved her then this contract would end, and she'd never be able to get her revenge, and that's something that I can't let happen.
"Goodbye, stay safe," She waved as I got into my car, waving back at her as I drove passed.
By the time I reached the right building, the Rome branch of one of my companies, I made a beeline to the top floor where Reid was already waiting for me, playing candy crush on his phone as he sat at my desk, his legs crossed above the desk. At least one of us was calm.
"We've got a problem," I sighed, going to sit on my chair.
"Well, as your lawyer, I guess that makes it my job to hear what the problem is," He sighed, putting his phone away as he nodded at me to speak.
"I think... I'm..." I hesitated, not sure on how to word my thoughts.
"In love?" He inattentively guessed correctly.
"How did you know?" I asked, surprised.
"You might as well have smeared the words on your forehead. There are love hearts in your eyes, by the way, just thought I'd let you know," I glared at him, rubbing my forehead to his words as if there was actually something there.
"Take it more seriously, will you? This is serious. It puts the whole contract in jeopardy," My chest wrenched at the thought of losing it all, I really cannot let that happen, no matter what.
"Well, it would have been nice if you paid more attention to me when I told you I was in love," He messed with his fingernails as he spoke, clearly holding a grudge against my past actions.
I glared, biting my tongue to hold back any retorts that would ruin his mental health.
"Can you just take your dirty shoes off my desk, and help me out?" I pushed his legs off my desk, biting my gum to hold back a laugh when he almost fell off his chair, but as soon as he shot his head to glare at me, I innocently turned to look out the window to the setting sun.
"Hurry up, I need to get home before dinner time or she's going to eat without me,"
"What are you? A child?" My glare was enough to have him become serious. About time, honestly, if one us were a child, it would definitely have to be him.
"I can't really give you love advice since my own love life hasn't been working out, why else would I be single right now?" He sadly sighed, but I simply waited for him to get to the point.
"All I can say is that you keep it to yourself unless you're certain that she loves you back,"
"Why does she need to love me back?" I cocked my head to the side.
"Because if she doesn't then the contract would end, you'd get divorced and be left with a broken heart, while she goes on her way with the idea of revenge being long gone. Whereas, if your feelings are reciprocated, you can just end the contract and become a real happy couple," Oh, that made sense.
"But the question is, are you willing to take the risk?" I wish the answer could be spoken as easily as the question. Am I willing to put my selfish feelings above Angelina's revenge? It's too early to tell.
But on the bright side, I wasn't in love yet. It was just the beginning of falling in love, thank god I noticed in time or else I would have been in serious trouble.
If I can just stop myself from falling in love then all my problems will be gone, and everything will be back to normal, right? I hope so.
I don't think there's much else I can do.
But there was one solution I could think of in the short amount of time that I had. And it was quite a simple solution, in all honesty.
I would avoid her.
It's as they say; Out of sight, out of mind. If I don't see her, I won't think of her, and while I'm not thinking of her, the little seedlings of love that had started to grow, will be tarnished.
Let's just hope it works out.
...