*Unedited*
'Meet me at Water's Edge within two hours.'
Ethan read the message Bianca had sent on his phone and sighed. He hadn't even gotten out of bed and it was almost noon already. He had gone partying with his friends last night and had too many drinks, as a result of which he had a killer hangover and his head was pounding like crazy.
He threw the covers off him and walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and an aspirin.
He hadn't even finished gulping the water down when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID and shook his head.
"Yeah, I got your message." He said.
"Okay good. Do not be late, Ethan." Bianca warned.
"Why the sudden plan to meet up anyway? I'm still kind of recovering from what happened at lunch yesterday." He said, scratching the back of his neck.
"We are meeting because I'm done sitting at home and since Luke is almost always busy with his work, I thought I'll see if you'd like to accompany me for lunch today." She chirped.
"It's Saturday, how is he busy today?"
"Oh...I...well, do you mean to say that you're not interested to have lunch with me?"
Ethan closed his eyes because his head was still throbbing. "Bianca..." He sighed, wanting to tell her that he wasn't up for lunch today but decided against it. He'd hurt her enough. "Okay. I'll see you there."
"Perfect! Don't be late!" She reminded him again.
"Yeah, yeah." He sang while rolling his eyes before hanging up.
Luke was right there while Bianca had spoken with Ethan. "Am I really busy with work all the time?" He wondered.
"Yep." She nodded, sitting down on his lap.
He grunted.
"What?" She asked, turning to look at him.
"You've become quite heavy." He complained while controlling his smile as he waited for her reaction.
Her brows drew close and her mouth dropped open. She huffed and started getting up. "I'm joking! I'm joking!" He chuckled pulling her back to him.
"No! Let go!" She struggled but he shushed her. Then she muttered something about pregnancy being a double edged sword with women having to carry kids and listen to their husband comment on their weight as well. But her incoherent nonsense didn't last long because he shut her up with a kiss.
"He's late." Luke commented as he checked his watch.
They were already seated at a table as they waited for Ethan to show up. Bianca was excited to see his reaction when he finds out that Luke was here as well and that he had forgiven him.
She looked around. "He should be here soon."
As Ethan walked closer to the table where Bianca was seated, he did a double take. A man was on that table too. He couldn't see who the person was though because his back was to him. However, his gut feeling told him that it was none other than his brother, Luke.
Suddenly the veil of sleep and other signs of hangover was lifted off him when he realized that it was really his brother.
'Is she trying to get me killed?!' Ethan exclaimed in his mind and shook his head slightly. He had to be bitten by a mad dog to go in front of his brother again after yesterday. No, he thought. He wasn't prepared for this.
But Bianca saw him and waved her hand to call him. He eyes widened as he put a finger on his lips, shook his hand in a 'no' and stomped his feet a little- all in the span of 2 seconds.
Unfortunately, there was no escape from his sister-in-law. He was sure that Luke already knew about his presence when he saw Bianca tell something to him. So he walked to their table, wondering what Bianca was doing. When he was at the table, he glanced at his brother before his gaze fell on Bianca, his eyes telling her that she had gone crazy.
"Sit." She said. However, Ethan turned his head to Luke, half waiting for him to get up and leave.
"Have you started having food while standing?" He blinked his eyes when he heard his brother's words. He shook his head, looking dumbfound. "Then take a seat." Luke nodded towards the chair.
"Are, are you sure?" Ethan asked doubtfully.
"Do I look like I'm not?" Bianca looked down, trying to control her smile upon hearing Luke's words.
Ethan shook his head again.
"Then sit." Luke ordered. That made him sit down but he still looked unsure about what was going on.
"What would you like to eat?" Luke said while grabbing the menu.
"Are you seriously asking me about what I want to have?" Luke gave his brother a look. "No, because I could still be hung-over form last night and imagining things..."
Luke kept the menu down and punched Ethan's shoulder hard enough to make his hand fly to his stinging flesh. "That is the last and final installment of your punishment. If you even think about doing anything of this sort again..." He warned, his eyes making it clear that he won't be giving any second chances.
"Does that mean you forgive me?" Ethan looked hopeful.
Luke stared at him for a minute before nodding his head. "I forgive you."
As soon as those words left Luke's mouth, Ethan stood up and hugged his brother. "I'm sorry for what I did."
Luke patted his arm. "I know you are." He said when they broke apart.
Ethan ginned at Bianca and whispered a 'thank you.' She grinned back and gave him thumbs up in return.
They had lunch together and Bianca was happy to see both the brothers at ease with each other. As if to express his approval, she felt her baby kick her, making her place her hand over her stomach and smile.
Once they were in the parking lot, goodbyes were exchanged and Bianca asked Ethan to visit their house. Ethan apologized again.
"Apology accepted, Ethan. Now let's put all this behind us..." She said while smiling.
Ethan hugged her, at least as much as her belly allowed. "Wow." He said looking down at her stomach. "That baby is starting to get really big."
"I know!" She exclaimed, rubbing her hands over her stomach.
"I can't wait for him to be here." He said. It flattened her smile a little but the hint of sadness was gone before anyone could notice it.
"Me neither." She smiled widely and agreed.
Billionaires are supposed to have a lot of money and free time, right? Wrong, she thought. Her husband had a lot of money, but free time? None. Even on a Saturday afternoon he was busy with his phone calls. Bianca just wanted to shut his laptop and keep it somewhere he could never find. And his mobile? She had special plans for that piece of tech. If he answered one more call, she'd throw it out of the window, not caring whether it smashed on the ground 15 floors below or hit someone's head.
She grabbed the phone right out of his hands as soon as he went to answer another call.
"Bianca!" He shouted. "What are you doing? Give that back to me."
"No." She shook her head.
"What do you mean 'no'? That was an important call. Give it back!" She tried hiding the phone behind her back but it didn't even take him a second to snatch the phone away from her.
"You unlock that phone and I'll walk away and not talk to you. I mean it." She placed both her hands on her waist to emphasize her point, making his thumb hover over his phone's screen.
"Why the sudden expression of hostility, Mrs. Salvay?"
"Because my husband has married his work, not me! Monday to Friday you can work all of the 24 hours if you want to but your weekends are mine." She huffed.
Luke stared at her and shook his head. His phone rang again and Bianca narrowed her eyes, daring him to answer it.
They both stared at each other, none of them blinking their eyes...not even once.
"1 hour." He said. "Just one hour. Then we can go to a party one of my friends is having, if you want." He offered.
"1 hour." She granted.
"You're worse than my mother." He muttered before returning the person's call he'd just missed.
Luke's friend had a party at his house that night. He wasn't a party animal like Ethan and frankly, he had refused many invitations since after his marriage. It was all because his work had managed to become even more demanding.
But he had accepted tonight's invitation because he needed a change and so did Bianca.
His friend's house was a little more crowded than he had first expected. He kept Bianca close as they made their way to his friend.
"Hey, Luke!" His friend's wife called out when she saw him. "How have you been?" she questioned, giving him a brief hug.
"Great. Elena, this is my wife Bianca. Bianca, this is Elena-"
"-my wife." Sebastian- Luke's friend completed his sentence. He wrapped an arm around Elena's waist and smiled at Bianca. "And I am Sebastian, this party's host."
"Nice to meet you both." Bianca nodded at both of them. "You have a lovely house."
"Thanks!" Elena exclaimed. "We only just bought it." She rubbed her husband's arm lovingly.
"We have a lot of catching up to do." Sebastian said, looking at Luke. "Bianca? Do you mind if I steal your man away for a moment?"
"Not at all." She said, stepping away from him as both the men walked away.
"You make a really beautiful pregnant lady." Elena complimented.
"Thank you." Bianca said genuinely.
"We both are trying for a baby too." She said, looking in the direction of her husband. "It'll happen soon, hopefully."
"It will." Bianca smiled. "Till then you can enjoy time with him. Baby is a big responsibility."
"I know." She nodded. "But I just love him so much...Having a baby will strengthen our bond even further. And he is crazy about kids. If it were in his hands, he'd have his own little baseball team." She said jokingly.
"Well then you're lucky it's not all in his hands." Bianca nudged her shoulder.
"Oh hell yeah!" Elena exclaimed making them both laugh.
Luke and Sebastian stood near the bar with a drink in their hands while they spoke. After a little while Sebastian excused himself when someone called him. Luke raised his glass at him, letting him know it was alright.
He took the last sip of his drink before turning around to face the crowd, his eyes searching for the lady in black, his wife.
Someone placed their hand on his shoulder and he smiled taking it to be his wife's. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in front of him, only to realize that it wasn't Bianca but Cassandra instead.
"Oh...hi." Luke said, letting go of her hand, not being able to hide his surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm here with someone." She replied, standing closer to him than necessary. "You looked happy to see me."
"Actually I thought it was my wife." Luke clarified, his eyes still looking for Bianca.
"Oh come on. You don't need to hide your liking for me. We both know the truth." She played with one of the buttons of his shirt.
"The truth?" He raised one of his brows.
"Yes. We both want each other and we both know it, so why hide?"
"Excuse me?" He took a step away, placing a hand over hers to get it away from his shirt. "You've got that wrong. And just in case you didn't notice, I'm married."
"What does that have anything to do with what could be between you and me?" She pouted a little, trying to look cute. "You've got your wife knocked up already. She's going to be busy with the baby and you can get busy with me."
"You're wrong. My wife keeps me very busy, but thank you for the offer." He said before walking away, not wanting to deal with her anymore.
He found Bianca standing with Elena and walked up to them. When Elena saw Luke walking towards them, she nudged Bianca. "Looks like your husband has problems staying away from you for long." She teased. "I'll catch up with you later."
Bianca laughed and shook her head when Elena winked and walked away. Soon enough, a hand slipped around her waist and she looked up at Luke.
"You look a little amused." She noticed.
"You were right about that night. Cassandra was trying to 'throw' herself at me." He said, remembering Bianca's exact words from the night she had met them outside a restaurant.
Bianca didn't see how that was amusing. "Is she here?" She looked around, trying to find her.
"Yeah."
"You spoke to her?"
"Yeah."
"How close was she standing to you? Ah...let me guess...she must have her nose almost touching yours in those stupid high heels." Bianca made a face when she caught the sight of that woman.
"Nah. Not that close..." He teased her.
"Luke! I swear to god if you see her again-"
"It's going to be the other way round, baby. She probably won't want to see me again."
"She better not. Or I swear I'll throw her off the Brooklyn Bridge."
"Watching you feel jealous gives me immense pleasure. And that anger? God, you look sexy when you're angry. "Luke said, kissing her cheek, making her anger melt away, a blush heating her face.
That night when they got back home, Bianca decided to go for a shower, even though it was quite late for one. She had had fun at the party for the post part and had enjoyed the company of Elena. They promised each other that they'll stay in touch and had exchanged numbers.
Luke had already changed into his comfortable track pants and was clearing the table in his study. As he was putting away the papers in their respective places, he opened the drawer where he had kept the postnuptial papers, deciding to shred them, only to find that drawer empty.
He frowned, wondering where they had gone. He was sure that he had kept them right there. Then he thought that maybe it must me in the bedroom, in one of the drawers of his bedside table. So he walked to the bedroom and checked his side's drawers. He didn't find them. It was strange, he thought. Then he walked to Bianca's side to check the drawers there, although there was a small chance he'd find them there.
He checked the first drawer, it didn't have any papers, just her prenatal medicines, hair ties, phone charger and what not. How women stored so much in a drawer this small was beyond him, he thought while shaking his head.
Then he opened the last one, finding a bunch of papers along with her test reports. One of the papers caught his attention. It was an agreement of some sort.
His brow drew closer as he opened the drawer further to have a look at it.
But then he heard the bathroom door click and he looked up to see Bianca step out in just a towel, her skin looking plush as steam rose from it.
"What are you doing?" She asked, turning her head questioningly. Then she realized that she'd also kept the agreement form in the drawer that he was bent over. It made her nervous as she wondered whether he'd read it.
"Oh, I just was looking for something. I thought I must have kept it here by mistake." He said, shutting the drawer and straightening his back.
"Did you find it? Whatever you were looking for?" She asked cautiously. If he had read the agreement she had signed and found out that she was going to die...she didn't know what would happen or how it would affect their relationship. She wasn't ready for that yet. Just a little while more, she thought. When he didn't know about it, it was easy to pretend that everything was alright. But if he'd know...there would no longer be this air of ease between them.
"No." He said while frowning. "Maybe I kept it somewhere else." His mind was still on the papers he had seen in her drawer. Could there be something she was hiding from him? Maybe there wasn't, he thought. But if there was something, he wanted to know.
And he would, he told himself.
He looked at Bianca as she walked closer to him. "You probably should put your clothes on if you want us both to go to bed right away." He warned.
"Remember the proposal you'd made me yesterday when I came to your office to ask you out for lunch?" She questioned. Listening to him hint towards sex made her sigh in relief, maybe he hadn't seen that document after all.
"What proposal?" He asked but Bianca knew very well that he knew what she was talking about.
"The one about having me in your bed, Luke...What do you say? I'm sure your wife won't mind if I have you just for one night."
"Actually, miss. I think she might get very...very jealous." He said when she placed both her hands around his neck. "You better hold on to that towel if you want to go to bed, Bianca. I'm serious."
"I want to go to bed. But not to sleep..."
He brought his hand to where she had secured the towel. "In that case..." He tugged on it, making it fall on the floor just as their lips met.
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Not that long of a chapter but I tried!
In this chapter, the character of Elena and Sebastian are actually that of my other story, A Criminal's Possession. I shall start writing that soon. But you can check it's prologue out if you want to!
Let me know how you liked this chapter! Your feedback is important to me!
-Keen_writer1