"I can never be like you" Alisha fired back
"Really? or would you like me to reveal the secret of your own marriage?" Franca gave an evil smile and Alisha panicked.
"What secret?" her dad spoke up for the first time since Alisha arrived.
"Nothing dad, don't listen to this woman." Alisha quickly said
"Are you scared? You don't want your papa to be disappointed in you? Franca mocked
"What is she talking about Alisha?" her dad asked
"Nothing dad"
"I will tell you, because you all need to know that Alisha who is pointing accusing finger at me is also as guilty as I am." Franca said
"Franca don't" Alisha said, she was scared that her mom had discovered that she was married on contract, scared that she was going to reveal this to her dad and Anna.
She could not afford to have them disappointed at her. No matter the reason she had, her father would have preferred she found another solution instead of going to the altar with a man she did not love just because she needed money.
She and her mom were the same after all, going with a man because of money, the only difference was that she did it to safe Anna's life, while her mom did it in her selfish interest, and left her young daughters behind.
"Alisha here got married to her husband because he had money," Franca said and Alisha breathed in relief. Telling them that was the reason was not as bad as telling them she was in a contract marriage.
She was glad her mom did not know the truth.
"I'm sorry to interrupt this family gathering, but I must say Alisha and I here got married because we are in love, I must tell you that she fell in love with me without even knowing that I was rich, so please accord my wife some respect.
And I would like to take her out of here because she is tired from a long trip, and I would also suggest you give my in laws here a break, you've troubled them enough for one day." Leonardo said and all Alisha could do was smile, he had come to rescue her, and for that she was grateful.
"Oh hello, you must be the gentle man that stole my daughter's heart, it's great to finally meet you." Franca offered a handshake, giving Leonardo a seducing smile. Alisha could not be more ashamed by her mother's act.
Leonardo ignored Franca, instead he faced Alisha, "Honey, should we leave now?"
"Let's wait for a few minutes, because of dad and Anna" Alisha blushed at Leonardo's warm attitude towards her.
"Alight love" he smiled and went to kiss her forehead.
"Mtchwwww" Franca hissed and walked out of the house angrily.
"Dad, Anna would you like me to fix something for you two to eat" Alisha asked her pale looking dad and her sober sister.
"How about we allow them rest a while, get ready and we take them out for dinner?" Leonardo suggested
Alisha gave a questioning glance at them and they agreed. Dinner went well, and for the next three days Alisha spent time with her family and Leonardo experienced family once again. They shared a kind of love that was so real that it radiated and spread even to people around them, like him and their neighbors.
Leonardo suggested he help them file a restraining order against their mom, they declined that even if she was the way she was, she was still family.
By the fourth day, their mother had called them that she did not need them and they could go to hell, she said she had found a rich man who loves her and was taking her for a trip, she even said she had a feeling he was going to propose to her on the trip. This new man was half her age.
As much as Alisha was not proud of her mother's ways, and she hoped she would change, she was glad that the new guy she was following would be a distraction from her bothering them for a while.
"Thank you so much" Alisha said to Leonardo as they boarded the plane back to California. The driver was going to drive back with the car.
"I think we need to talk when we get back home." Leonardo replied her, he had thought hard about the contract and wanted to make her happy.
"Can't we talk now?" she asked him, she was curious as to what he would like to talk about.
"As much as this is first class, and we have our privacy, I would prefer we talk about this in the privacy of our bedroom."
She nodded and gave a weak smile, she was scared about what he wanted to discuss. Could it be that he had decided they could end the contract as she had requested and then throw her into prison?
"No I don't think so" she said in her head
"You don't think what?" Leonardo asked her
"What?" she asked realizing she must have spoken out loud.
""Never mind" he said and she was relieved he did not ask her what she was trying to say.
He could not throw her in prison, he has been nice to her for the last five days, or maybe he was being nice so that when she was in prison she could regret throwing it all away.
She was confused, she was thinking about a million and one reasons as to why he said they needed to talk.
"Leonardo can we talk now?" she woke him up from his nap
"Hmmm" was all he said and went back to his sleep.
Two hours later they were in an Uber headed to the mansion. Leonardo was responding to some messages while Alisha tried to distract her mind from worrying by seeing a movie on her phone.
Mary took their bags to the master bedroom, while they both went to the kitchen for get a drink.
"I'll go shower and then we can talk over good" Alisha excused herself and went to the guest room where she had her things.
Realizing that Mary had taken her bag to the master bedroom, she headed there to get it. As she opened the door, she met Leonardo about to know.
"Hmm, I was just coming to your ro to get my back" she said clearing her throat a little.
"That's why I'm here, may I come in?" he asked
"Sure" she moved away from the door and went to sit by the bed, now was probably the time for that talk.
"I realized Mary has taken your things up to the master bedroom, I wanted to bring it down for you, but then I thought to ask you if you want to stay here or move back to the room" Leonardo started to say
"Hmm, about the contract ..." Alisha wanted to tell him that since they would be ending it and she would probably be going to jail, it was better she didn't move in, but he cut her short.
"Yeah about that, although I spoke to my lawyer, the one who prepared the contract, but then this last few days that I have been with you and your family, I have come to realize some things.
Firstly I need you to know that you are not like your mother, don't let anyone or anything push you into believing that,
I also know how you value your father's opinion of you, and I know breaking up this contract marriage no matter how quiet and scandal free it might be, I know your dad would not be proud or happy that your marriage failed so quickly, I know he would not want you to have a failed marriage like his,
And I know you would not want to see him out the blame on himself, so I was thinking that hmmm maybe we could hmm re-work the contract"
"I don't understand what you mean by rework the contract" Alisha said
"I was thinking maybe we could maybe drop the contract and all it's clauses and try to make this marriage real, maybe let it be like a real marriage, what do you think?"
"We are not even in love with each other" Alisha pointed out
"I agree, but we could cut the whole expectation and clauses bullshit, and see how this goes, no pressure what so ever, and if we still want to end it after trying for a while, we can go our separate ways, at least we know we tried."
"I don't know, what if we both want what we are not willing to offer? What if one of us gets hurt at the end, I'm not sure but..."
"No buts Alisha, I promise I would not hurt you, let's just not worry about later and live in the now."
"Okay, but we would have to take things slow"
"I agree to slow" Leonardo smiled and excused himself from the room.
"Leo" she called out when he placed his hand on the door knob
"Yes?" he turned towards her. She went to him and hugged him.
"Thank you" he smiled as he kept her in his embrace. He wanted to stay there.
When she pulled out from the hug, he held her hands and looked at her eyes. She was beautiful.
He moved his mouth close to hers, he was going to kiss her. He just wanted to kiss her, not because he was in love with her, no he didn't do love.
He wanted to kiss her because he could not help himself.
"Leo, let's go slow" she said softly, yet not pulling away. This was hard for him.
"Hmm, yeah slow, see you at the dinner table" he pecked her cheeks and went to his room.
How was he going to survive? He had seen the vulnerable side of her when she was with her family, he had seen the tough side of her when she had stood up to her mother, he had seen the horny side of her when they had almost had sex, he had tasted how sweet she was, and he loved every inch of her.
So how was he going to stay away from her?
Alisha was horny, being too close to Leonardo's body was dangerous, by now she had realized that.
At dinner, she distracted herself with the glass of red wine, filling up her glass every now and then, so she wouldn't have to look or think about Leonardo.
"Alisha, are you okay?" he asked when it appeared as if she was tense.
"Yes, I'm great" she lied, she was craving his kisses and touch.
"Let's go to bed" he said to Alisha after Mary had cleared the table.
"I don't think that is a good idea" she said in her tipsy state
"What isn't a good idea?"
"We going to bed together" she was pointing to him and back to herself.
"Come on Lisha, we talked about this" he said with a friend, he was not ready to start another argument with her.
Alisha was going to say they talked about taking things slow, but then she decided to shut up because when she was mildly drunk she spoke nonsense and now she had had a bottle to drink.
She got up from the chair, but fell right back into it. Leonardo rushed to her side and helped her up.
He was leading her towards the room, but when they got to the stairs he was tired of her slow walking and carried her bridal style to the master bedroom.
He placed her on the bed, and she pulled his shirt towards her when he wanted to turn around and leave her side.
"Do you need something?" he asked her in the most gentle voice he could produce.
"Kiss me" Alisha whispered, bringing his lips close to hers.