The rest of the day is spent doing some shopping before retreating back to the hotel to enjoy all the junk food we bought and to watch a bunch of random things on the television. We stayed up until two in the morning, deciding to have two of the best bottles of wine the hotel has be brought up to the room and put on the bill that we aren't responsible for.
Now it's late on on Sunday morning and the sunlight coming through the uncovered windows in the living room is what's waking me up. That and Allison's off-key singing.
I groan as I roll over on the couch, my eyes snapping open when I half slip off the edge of the couch, my knees coming in direct contact with the rug covered floor.
"Shit," I curse.
I get to my feet and rub my knees to try and ease the pain that's formed in them.
"Allison," I call. I listen carefully to Allison singing away, her voice eclipsing the actual song of The Chainsmokers Closer. "Allison."
I follow the music to the kitchen and stare at my best friend as she dances away at the opposite side of the large island. I enter the kitchen with my eyes screwed up.
"Allison, what are you doing?"
She stops singing, turns on the spot, and places a plate of pancakes with cream and berries on the dark marble worktop of the island. "Breakfast is served!"
"You're too chipper this morning." I slip onto the nearest stool and look at the food. "Plus, I'm too tired to even know if you've actually made this or ordered room service."
"Give me some credit," she defends while placing two white cups on the island in front of both of us. She pulls a plate across the island and begins to eat. "I supplied the coffee."
I smile and begin to eat my breakfast.
"What's on the agenda for today?"
I chew the food I have in my mouth a few times before responding, "I don't know. I don't think I'll be seeing Luca as he'll be too busy with his daughter."
"Speaking of his daughter," she starts, looking down at her cup, "how old is she?"
"Five," I answer straightaway. I don't give Allison time to ask anything else, so I go on with the information I know so far so she doesn't interrupt. "Her mother gave all parental responsibility to Luca six weeks after she gave birth. She didn't want her anymore and walked out."
"And Luca has been taking care of her since?" I nod. "Single parent?" I nod. "But he has nannies to help out, no doubt."
"That he does," I confirm.
"Not much of a single parent, then."
"Very much a single parent," I defend. "He takes care of her when he's not working and even when he is working, he drops everything if she needs to be taken care of. She comes first regardless of what he may say."
She looks at me with a raised brow. "What do you mean?"
"He told me that I'm tied top with being his number one priority along with his daughter. If I need him, he'll be there just like he is with his daughter. However, I did tell him that his daughter will take main priority despite what he says about me being tied top."
"And so she should be," she agrees firmly. "His daughter is his flesh and blood. He had sex with his so-called girlfriend and got her pregnant. He made the decision to have unprotected sex with her which resulted in a kid. There's no way in hell that he can make someone else a priority over his own daughter."
"I told him that but not in those exact words."
"He needs to get it drummed into his head that his daughter is a part of him which is more than what you are. No offence."
"None taken," I mumble.
"You are only the girlfriend. You're not married, nor do you have any kids with him. Sure, you require some of his attention but as long as he is well aware that even you have your limits as to how much you can take when it comes to priorities."
"If you're insinuating that I tell him to chose either his daughter or me, I can guarantee you that he'll pick his daughter."
I've already been over all of this with Luca and even in my head when Luca first said those words. I know he'll pick Louisa one hundred percent over me and I've come to terms with that. I can't give him the ultimatum when it comes to the two of us because that's being selfish from my part.
"I'm not insinuating that to be exact," Allison tries to clarify. "I'm just saying that you're better than having to sit at home at nights doing fuck all while he's busy dealing with his kid."
I open my mouth to respond when Allison's phone buzzes on the worktop behind her. She holds a finger up to excuse herself and picks the phone up.
"Children are a big deal breaker in relationships," I say quietly.
"They can be and especially when you may have to meet them so soon into your relationship."
I look at her as she turns her phone to show me the text she just got.
LUCA 'DICKHEAD' MADDEN
Can you have Kaylee ready for Jones to pick her up in twenty mins?
I read the text over a few times before Allison pulls her phone back to respond to Luca.
"Just a couple of things," I start. Allison looks at me without raising her head, her fingers typing away a response. "Nice nickname for him which I'm not surprised at."
She smiles. "Good isn't it?"
"I wouldn't expect anything other than that from you." I push my plate away and hold my cup of coffee with both hands. "One: Why is Luca texting you? Two: Why do you have Luca's number?"
"Clearly, you're going to be spending the day with him and judging by the fact that he was looking after his daughter yesterday, must be going to meet her."
"Ha ha, no!" I get to my feet. "We both agreed that that won't be happening for a good number of weeks, maybe even months. It's too soon."
Way too soon.
"And to answer your other question, after the conversation we had that day I found the two of you asleep on the couch, we came to an agreement to be civil for your sake. That meant exchanging numbers to be on the safe side if he couldn't get in touch with you for whatever reason."
I can remember Allison mentioning to me that later that day, Luca had turned back up tot eh flat and they exchanged a few heated words with each other. Even to this day, I still don't know what exactly was said between the two of them but clearly, something about phone numbers was on the agenda if they're texting each other now. Clearly, Allison must have forgiven Luca after vowing to never forgive him again regardless of whether or not we got back together again or not.
"He's not going to turn into my bezzie mate or anything," she adds while walking around the island. She grabs my arm and pulls me out the kitchen and in the direction of the stairs. "Now I'd suggest that you move your arse and get ready. You have twenty minutes to get ready and judging by your hair, it will take that time alone to tame that mop on your head."
She ruffles my hair with her hand, making it messier than it already was. I slap her hand away and she laughs.
"Go." She pushes me up the stairs. "Hurry up."
I knew Luca had money and that that would reflect clearly in the type of place he stayed in here in New York. After seeing the house he has in London, expectations would be high but not like this. I wasn't expecting this.
I don't give Jones time to get out the car to open my door for me, I'm already out the car and gaping up through the glass portico overhead at the residential skyscraper Jones said is known as 432 Park Avenue. He mentioned something about Luca recently moving to here and that I may be awestruck by it but that isn't the word I would use for how I'm feeling.
The building itself is breath-taking and causing a pain in the back of my neck as I look up at it. I faintly feel Jones place a hand on the middle of my back for guidance as he ushers me inside the building. I'm not paying any attention to him, nor do I notice that he has passed his car key to a passing man who is dressed similarly to himself. I glance back at the car as it drives off quickly like it was never there to begin with.
No one bats an eye at us as we walk across the veined marble floor to the lifts. I'm expecting it but it doesn't come. Almost like they've gotten used to seeing Jones come and go with or without Luca present. But considering the type of luxury building we're in, I think they've gotten used to all different types of people coming and going.
We wait off to the side at the lifts as some of the residents get out and we take their place. Jones's hand falls from my back as I step into the lift and the doors slide closed behind us. I don't see him press a button to indicate which floor we're going to as the lift begins to go up.
"Mr. Madden stays on the ninety-fifth floor," Jones informs.
"That must have cost him," I comment.
"Might have."
"I know you're not allowed to talk about your boss but-"
"If you wish to know his net worth, you can find it out online."
"I-I wasn't-" I stutter.
"My apologies, Miss. Fletcher."
I draw my lips in and leave any further tries to start a conversation alone. I wasn't going to ask about Luca's net worth but now Jones has said it, I wonder how much he's actually worth.
I mean, I know it will a substantial amount but to what extent? What ballpark are we talking? I don't want to know so I can plan on using it for my own sake but it would be nice to know just how successful he's become money wise.
The rest of the ride up the ninety-fifth floor is both quick and quiet. Jones doesn't say another word to me which I don't expect him to do anyway. Not after the small mishap we encountered.
"Mr. Madden will be out soon to see you," Jones tells me when the lift comes to a halt. "If you turn to your right when you get out, it will take you to the entrance of the apartment. You can wait there."
The doors slide open and I turn to the right like instructed and look at the closed door, my hand hovering over the handle. I look back at Jones as the lift doors slide closed before I get a chance to ask whether or not I should knock on the door and wait or just enter. I'm about to go with the latter when the door opens and reveals a tanned woman wearing dark baggy clothes.
I drop my and look at her, uncomfortableness crawling over every inch of my skin. Her dark eyes blink at me as she holds the door open.
"Eh . . . hi." I take a step closer to the smaller woman in front of me, cautious as to what will happen next. "I'm here to see Luca." My hands fiddle with the strap of my tote bag. "I'm-"
"Kaylee?" The woman asks, a Spanish accent coming through as she says my name.
"Yes." I nod.
"Yo soy Veda." She nods. "El ama de llaves."
"Eh . . ."
"El Sr. Madden está trabajando en su oficina. Por favor entra."
She steps away from the door and waves for me to step into the apartment. I don't know what she just said to me, nor do I know any Spanish to say something back to her, but I think she just asked me to come into the apartment. I do so with caution, my eyes never leaving the woman I have no idea how to speak to.
"I-"
"Ven. Ven." She says loudly, mentioning me to follow her down the brightly lit hallway behind her. "Te llevaré a él. Ven."
"Do you know, it's fine. I can just wait here." I point to where I'm standing as I speak but the woman turns instantaneously when she doesn't sense me following. "I can wait here while you get Luca."
"No. No. Te llevaré al Sr. Madden ahora. Ven."
"Really, I can wait-"
"Veda."
The woman looks around at the sound of Luca's powerful voice. I follow her gaze and look down the hallway at Luca who is walking casually to us. The sleeves of his checkered shirt are rolled up to the elbows, matching his dark jeans perfectly.
He comes to a stop next to the woman, a hand finding her shoulder. "Veda, ve y limpia la sala de juegos para cuando Louisa regrese a casa."
The woman looks at him then nods. She looks at me and smiles before walking away. I watch her walk away and take a single step closer to Luca.
"What was that?" I ask.
"Veda is my weekend housekeeper." He begins to explain while mentioning me to follow him. I do so but hold back a few steps so I'm behind him and not next to him. "She only understands a small bit of English so I tend to speak to her in Spanish."
"Do you know a lot of Spanish?"
"I do. I know some Italian, too."
I laugh. "I can recall the time you hated learning other languages."
"I did but knowing languages has come in handy. Plus, some of Fredrick's family are Italian so I need to know key phrases when I speak to some of them."
We turn to the left and go through the only opened door on the right into Luca's home office. The large uncovered window that faces us behind his desk naturally lights up the light grey coloured room. It has the same theme as what his home office in London has - different level walnut floating shelves on either wall, a television on the left wall which is encased by the shelves, a large desk the same shade as the shelves in front of the window with an iMac computer placed off to the left side. The only thing that's different to this office from the one in London is the fact that there are no French doors to go out to a garden which would be hard to do considering how high up we are.
The shelves have a few random objects and pictures in silver frames sitting on them, but it's hard to make them out without getting closer. I know some will be of his daughter which I don't want to take note of until Luca thinks is the right time to do so.
Luca walks to his desk and takes a seat. He holds a hand out to the plush chairs in front of his desk and I take a seat. "You must have been thinking I was off my head asking Jones to bring you here."
"The thought did cross my mind," I admit.
I'm not going to lie and say the thought never crossed my mind because it did when I was in the car on my way here. We spoke about it being too soon but with Luca, you never know what could happen. He moves miles ahead of others and deals with situations when they arise instead of thinking about what could happen and make it work for the now so it doesn't become an issue down the line.
The mere thought that Louisa could be here somewhere and come to wherever Luca is is something that strikes more than fear through my entire body. However, I know Luca well enough to know that he wouldn't risk something like that happening.
I trust him that much.
"Louisa is at school the now," Luca enlightens. "Her nanny will pick her up later with Xavier."
"One of your-"
"Louisa's bodyguard," he adds.
I nod. "Oh."
"You have your own, too, when you think of it. I wouldn't trust just any random bodyguard and driver to pick you up and look out for you."
"Who? Jones?"
"Who else do you think I was talking about?" He laughs.
"I thought you just sent him because you have Carlo and everyone else you have is busy."
"Carlo was the first bodyguard that I hired, or that my father hired I should say. He used to work in the army before going on to become a personal bodyguard for those who need it. My father was actually his lawyer when he was going through his divorce. Got a nice payout, I may say."
I narrow my eyes. "Why did he get a divorce?"
This isn't a conversation I was hoping to have but since Luca is being so forthcoming with it, I'm not going to stop him from telling me how his most trusted bodyguard came to work for him.
"It's all due to the fact that he was working insane hours and travelling so much that his relationship just broke down. They didn't see each other and it put a huge strain on them both for trying to keep it going."
"So, does he-"
"No," he interjects, knowing the question I was going to ask before I got a chance to ask it.
"Surely he must have someone important in his life."
"He says he doesn't have time to see anyone with work but he has a lot of spare time despite what you may think. Even if he does have someone, I wouldn't know until he comes asking for time off or a wedding invite lands on my desk from him."
"Not much of a social life for him," I comment.
"Just part of the job," he retaliates.
I place my bag down on the chair next to me. "I don't know if you're aware, but I met-"
"Fredrick's wife yesterday?" He finishes for me. I nod. "I know. She told me when she stopped by with a few things for Louisa."
"Did you plan that to happen?" I still find it funny how we went to the one café that is co-owned by Luca and run by his best friend's wife. It's too much of a coincidence.
"I'm good, Kaylee, but not that good. My priority was my daughter after I left you and didn't change when I was with her. Just like my priority is you and only you when I'm with you."
I alter my sitting position in the chair as I get ready to ask my next question. "Did Jones plan it?"
"Jones? Even he's not that good," he chuckles.
"She seems . . . nice?"
"Jade is lovely and very considerate. I can't fault her on anything."
"She said she was a co-owner of that café. I take it that you're one of the other owners?"
He huffs then grins with a shake of the head. "Fredrick and I supported her with getting it started three years ago. Now she has a chain of cafés all over the US and is looking to open one in London."
"Wow," I breathe. "That's quite impressive and ambitious."
"With some help from you," he adds, his voice low.
I blink as my eyes widen. "Excuse me?"
Luca leans forward so his elbows rest on the desk, his hands clasping together. "She would very much like for you to help out with the planning of the grand opening of her new café."
My mouth falls open and I shake my head.
He can't be serious. I'm not an interior designer. I don't have any experience in that field. I'm only an event planner which has some design qualities but not enough to make me qualify to be an interior designer.
They're crazy.
"But I'm only an event planner," I tell him, my words said in a tone that will hopefully remind him that that is all I am. "I know knowing about-"
"It would be to arrange the opening day of it," he clarifies. I let out a loud breath that I didn't realise I was holding. "She likes a party type feel to it and that night, she has a party that she hosts for close family and friends to thank them."
"If she wants someone to plan the two of them, she'd need to go through my boss who will delegate the job to someone who has the time and space."
"But she can ask for you personally, though, right? She can ask for you to be the planner and to arrange everything."
"She can," I agree, "but it all comes down to my schedule and whether or not I have both space and time required for when it's to be done by."
"Kaylee, she-"
"What about Cheryl?" I quickly ask. His head tilts to the side and his posture tenses. "Why can't she do it?"
"She is busy with something else," he answers softly.
"Well, if she had time to play me as well as plan a wedding at the same time, she has time to fit Fredrick's wife's parties in, too."
"Not when she's busy with something else," he repeats.
I lean forward, my hands falling onto the arms of the chair. "Did you seriously not just hear what I just said?"
He grins and his posture relaxes. "I did but as I have said twice already, she is busy with something else."
"Sure she is," I mutter.
I don't believe for a minute that Cheryl is that busy to not be able to plan two somewhat simple parties. I busted my ass off to get everything in line for Luca's charity night despite almost everything already being done for me. I even roped in fellow colleagues to help get everything in line before the big day which was all a waste of time because Cheryl had everything under control despite me being there.
"Kaylee, I'm not going to get into an argument with you about this. It's pointless and will get us nowhere."
"You're right." I flop back into the chair. "So why did you text Allison asking for me to be ready when you could have text me yourself?"
"My mother," he says simply.
I shake my head. "Nope."
"She wants to have lunch with you on Tuesday," he says loudly as I repeatedly shake my head. I stop shaking my head and look at him. "She's promised me that she will be nice and not say anything negative."
"Five words: she can go to hell."
"She's my mother," he says firmly.
"And you were only there when she said a handful of hurtful things to me. The things she has said and done towards me when you haven't been there are unforgivable."
"Which is why she wants to have lunch. It won't be anywhere pu-"
"No," I say quickly. "If I were to have lunch with your mum, I'd have it somewhere public where there are witnesses."
Luca stares at me before pushing away from the desk. "Kaylee, tell me something, how many times have people done a double take with you since coming here? How many people have you walked past that have looked at you and suddenly started to gossip about you? Not even here, what about back in London? How many times has it happened there?"
Ever since people found out I was dating Luca, my life has been turned upside down. People stare as I walk by. Some gossip about why and how I can land a guy like Luca. Some have even approached me and asked those exact questions. It's partly the reason as to why I have limited my journeys out from the safety of my flat. I don't go out unless it's really necessary and it's because of the points he's just mentioned.
"Not the point," I answer quietly.
"That's exactly the point." He gets to his feet. "I'm not trying to sound big headed here or ashamed but I don't want people overhearing the real reason as to why our relationship ended in the first place."
"Why? Are you worried about what people will say about you? Worried about your image?"
"In some ways, yes. But this is my life and the amount of information I have revealed about us in that interview was more than what I should have revealed."
"Like what?"
He pulls his desk drawer open and pulls a copy of People magazine out, dropping it onto the desk in front of me. "Read it."
"Thought you didn't want me to read it." I pick the magazine up. "Thought you weren't bothered if I read this or not."
"I don't want you to read it but you need to read it to understand completely as to why privacy is key for me and my family."
"If it's a life story, I already know most of that." I fold the magazine up and slip it into my bag.
"You do, but what you missed out on for nine years are things you need to know about now."
"Things about Nadia?"
"She is only a small piece of my crazy life now."
I pull my bag onto my lap. "If I do read it, will I come across a picture of her?"
"Not one. Just a few words. It's mostly pictures of us from then to now."
"So I have to look at old pictures of us and be reminded of how ugly you were?" I get to my feet and place my bag on my shoulder. "I think I'll pass."
"I couldn't have been that ugly if I got you. Twice, I may add."
"Three times, actually." I correct.
"I still got you."
He smiles and I can't help but smile in return. Only Luca Madden can turn into a soppy guy when it comes to talking about his love life, regardless of the fact that I'm his love life.
I look back to the opened office door and step away from the desk. "Is this all you brought me here for or am I allowed to be given a tour of your extravagant apartment?"
"All you had to do was say." He steps to me and places a hand at the base of my back. "This way."