Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side.
-Zig Ziglar
Francesca Marcolini's POV
After a week of cold silence from him, I received a summon from the devil himself. He wants me to come to his office as soon as possible. What could he possibly want from me? I asked myself silently.
After the good start we had at the wedding of Lucca and Tatiana, I deluded myself if we might start a friendship and we don't need any more to try to kill each other every time we had the misfortune to meet. Because the moment we started to dance, he dug the old ground that was forbidden talk for me.
My very own personal life with my late husband.
Now, out of the blue, he wants me to come to his office without an ounce of apology from him. I sighed as I saw that I was nearing his office building. I have not yet completed the candidates he was asking for, for his prospective bride.
This task was more difficult than I thought it would be when I agreed to this ridiculous scheme. Especially when your client is exasperating Marco Orsini.
I took a deep breath when the cab pulled over the magnificent modern building that stood proudly in front of me. I think the moment I stepped out of the taxi, Marco Orsini knew I finally arrived at this fortress.
I walked on the splendor lobby of the Orsini Industries straight to the elevator. I don't want people to speculate why I often come to his office. They might get the wrong impression about our association.
Finally, I arrived at his office and his kind but straight-laced secretary smiled at me once she saw me. "Signore Orsini is waiting for you at his office all morning."
"Grazie." I smiled and went straight to the office where Marco Orsini ruled this building like a king.
"I've been waiting for you all morning, Francesca." He greeted me once I entered his office. I don't think I like the devil's satisfaction in his dark eyes that instantly put me on my guard.
"I haven't had the new lists of your prospective bride, Signore," I informed him coldly.
"Oh, that was not the reason I asked you to come here, my dear." A mischievous smile played on his lips as he played with his fountain pen while starring right at my eyes.
He doesn't have the right to look so devastatingly handsome in his gray Armani suit. I thought silently. Really, Francesca when did you start to notice that your adversary was handsome? I chided myself as I tried to banish that annoying thought off my head.
"Then what do you want?" I asked when I realized that he's waiting for my reply.
Unaware of the wayward thoughts he gestured to the vacant chair across his table. "Have a seat. I have a gift for you."
I reluctantly took the offered chair and eyed him cautiously. "What is it?"
He smiled angelically in my direction as he opened the drawer of his table. Too bad the moment he opened his mouth the spell instantly broke and you will learn that he was such a devil. "For you." He presented a neat folder.
"What is that?" I asked, eyeing the folder in his hands.
"Take a look."
I reluctantly took the folder and opened it. I felt that there's a giant hand that crushed my heart. The content of the folder was all about my late husband, Lorenzo. From his childhood life up to his death, it was meticulously written into this report.
He had investigated my husband's life!
"What is this for, Signore?" I asked coldly as I eyed him that was enough to burn him on the spot.
"So you will know what kind of husband you have." He answered casually as if this is the most logical thing to do. To dig his past. "Look at page three I think you will find a revelation there."
I unwillingly did what he told me. I flipped the pages and found the page he said. I read paragraph after paragraph carefully when I noticed that my vision started to blur and tears threatened to fall in my eyes as a heart-wrenching pain marked my chest. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't believe what I've been reading. This is a joke—not a nightmare. My worst nightmare.
"The husband you adored these past years was weak." Marco Orsini remarked, as my eyes were fixed on the cursed paper. "He's not a saint that you thought him to be." He continued brutally. "Marrying the woman half his age because he can't have the woman he'd ever loved."
No! Lorenzo loves me.
"Signore..." I warned him. I don't want to hear it out loud. Whatever I have read in this paper, my mind rebelled against it. I fear that I might lose my sanity if he continues.
"He met Anna Haughton, Countess of Ashlocke—former Anna Lillies when he was still in the university." He recited what was written in the reports. "They were together until their senior year at the university but right before graduation, they broke up. Anna chose the wealthy English lord over the promising Italian law student because her father's company faced bankruptcy. She married her long-time suitor to save her family from ruin."
I know that woman. She's at our wedding and funeral of my hus—Lorenzo. I can't forget that day of my wedding when she shot dagger looks in my direction from time to time and the sorrow in her eyes at Lorenzo's funeral. Lorenzo's parents told me that she's a long-time family friend. What a laugh!
"Years later, their path crossed again in London and now, the successful Italian lawyer and the Countess of Ashlocke is a mother of three children." Marco Orsini continued ignoring my warnings. "From then on, they continued their affair for years until the week of your wedding. Rumor has it that the youngest son of the countess wasn't her husband's child."
My heart shattered into a million pieces but I ignored it. I will not have this man the satisfaction knowing he had hurt me over this report.
London...
I can't forget that Lorenzo went to London the weekend before our wedding. He told me that he had some business to take care of. When the truth was he was just going to London to meet his long-time mistress! He even invited that woman to our wedding! They must be laughing behind my back for my naivety while they were in bed.
"What do you want to accomplish with this report, Signore?"
The devil just merely shrugged. "So you can wake up from your dream that your husband wasn't perfect as you think. He's not worth the adoration and love you have for him. You should continue to have a life even without him, Francesca."
How dare he decide for me? I thought furiously. He doesn't have the right in doing so. It is my life and I will live it the way I wanted.
"Still..." I said my voice cracked with emotion. "You don't have the right in speaking ill of the dead. I hope you are vastly happy about this, Signore. Goodbye."
I didn't wait for his reply and marched out of his office. Barely aware of where I am going. Once I was out of the Orsini Industries, I heard someone sobbed in pain.
Then it took me seconds before I realized that I was the one who was sobbing in pain. The tears fell in my eyes uncontrollably. My world just collapsed after meeting Marco Orsini.
Marco Orsini's POV
"Francesca! I rapped the door furiously. "Francesca! I know you are in there. Open the door per favore."
I felt like the lowest life form on earth right at this moment. I shouldn't have shown Francesca the report I've asked my private investigator to do for me. I realized my mistake when I saw the glimpse of tears in her pretty brown eyes in my office a while ago. As much as she tried to be brave, I know she's hurt inside.
Now, my conscience was nagging me about the possibility that Francesca might do it after she left my office. It took me an hour before I convinced my good friend Lucca Cavelli in giving me the address of Francesca Marcolini.
"Francesca!" I continued to knock. "Open the door. Let's talk."
"What do you want?" She asked as the door suddenly opened. Her eyes were bloodshot. My heart constricted with pain at the sight.
"We need to talk," I told her. "Let me in...please."
I was half prepared that she would send me away but I was surprised when she stepped aside and let me into her house for the very first time.
The first thing I noticed was the wedding portrait that probably hangs on the wall facing down the floor with broken glass scattered all around while several photo frames suffered the same fate. I tried to sidestep from the pictures. It was disrespectful to step on them.
"What do you want to talk about, Signore?" She asked. She tried to look composed but I knew better.
"About what happened in my office—"
"Isn't that enough damage?" Her voice started to quiver. "You want more?"
I frowned. "No. I—I want...I want to apologize."
"For what?"
"I shouldn't have shown you the information," I told her regretfully. "I should have kept it to myself."
"That what?" She asked as her shoulder shook with emotion she desperately hid from me. "My husband never loved me? Or the fact that he's foolishly in love with the woman he can't have."
"Francesca..."
"He never really loved me, did he?" Her resolve finally broke down and she sobbed. "I'm just a substitute for the woman who should have been his wife. He just married me because his family is already pressuring him to settle down."
"Shhh..." I wiped the hot tears from her cheeks and drew her into my embrace. At first, she stiffened but after a while, she returned my hug and clutched the back of my suit like a lost child while she continued to cry her heart's content. "Don't cry, Francesca, dearest."
"You must probably think I'm stupid." She removed her head at the crook of my neck and stared at me with her watery eyes. "That I mourned for the man who doesn't deserve my love that—"
I stopped the words that came to her mouth with the only way I knew. I crashed my lips to her. She stiffened while every muscle in my body sighed. At last.
At last, I finally knew what is like to kiss those lips I've been dying to taste in forever. Our lips danced together. I felt like taking advantage of this woman in her current state right this moment but I couldn't help it. Her lips are like a temptation I couldn't just ignore. Like a little boy having his first taste of candy in his life.
"I think I should go now," I started when I have the strength to remove my lips from hers. My breath was ragged. I felt like a randy teenager with his first experience of kissing a woman. A certain member of my anatomy was starting to camp in my trousers.
"What? Why?" Francesca's passion-clouded eyes were instantly replaced by pain again. Did she think I didn't want her?
"I think we both know what will happen if I stayed, cara mia."
"Please stay, Marco."
My heart jumped off my ribcage. It was the first time I heard her call my name. It sounded so intimate and sexy coming from her lips. But her plea was more arresting. She wants me to stay here with her all night. If she was just another woman, I would agree within a heartbeat but this is Francesca Marcolini and I respect her so much.
"I'm sorry, tesoro." I kissed her both slender hands. "I think we know what will happen if I stayed here and you will probably regret it in the morning so it's better if I leave."
"I will—"
"Shh..." I placed my finger on her lips. "Now listen to me, Francesca. Come let's put you to bed. I will stay until you fall asleep, my darling."
She nodded and let me lead her to her room. I tucked her to bed and sat on the mattress waiting for her to fall asleep. I smiled ironically. This is the first time I am in bed with a woman and not having sex with her. "Sleep now, Francesca. I will watch you over while you sleep. I will not let anything happen to you. I promise."
"Thank you, Marco." She murmured sleepily. "I'm so happy everything comes out in the open now..."
A few minutes later, her breathing became evenly. I brushed some strands of hair off her face and leaned down to kiss her briefly in the mouth before summoning every ounce of my strength to walk away from her bed and her room.
I needed a long and cold shower once I arrived at my penthouse.