Chapter 143 Abrupt Realization
“You guys? Here?”
The voice belonged to Luke. He stood there, looking healthier than William had seen him in years, with a bratty but angelic woman, Peach, clinging to his arm.
“I thought you guys were in Florence,” Luke said, his voice instantly smoothing into a polished one.
“And I thought you guys had your honeymoon already,” Arabella added with a playful, sharp-edged tilt of her head.
Luke shrugged, a grin spreading across his face. “This is our second day.”
“And our second last day,” William smirked, his eyes flickering with a possessive pride as he pulled Arabella closer.
“So, what’s your plan for today?” Luke asked casually.
“Nothing much. We were going somewhere for lunch.”
“We too. Do you want to join us?” It came as a polite offer since they had no idea what else to speak. William exchanges a glance with Arabella, raising his brows on what to do.
She shrugged, “Sure. Why not?” A beautiful smile adorned her lips, placing her palm over William’s with a keen eye-contact, enough to steal his breaths away.
“William would love to spend some time with his brother.”
William’s eyes shone that his wife was doing this for me. He couldn’t help but to press her against him, kissing her temples accompanied by a vibrant grin.
“Of course.”
The candlelight flickered against the ancient stone walls, setting the stage for a game only two people at the table truly understood.
Arabella leaned in, her eyes never leaving William.
She reached out, tracing the line of his jaw with a slow, deliberate finger before tucked a stray lock of hair behind his ear, evoking a sheepish shade on his cheeks.
"William was so exhausted this morning," she purred, her voice loud enough for Luke to hear, eyebrows arched victoriously.
"I had to practically dress him. He’s become so... dependent on me lately.” Her fingers assertively held his chin, “Haven't you, darling?"
William didn't flinch at the public display of his vulnerability. Instead, he leaned into her touch, releasing a melodic chuckle.
"I go where she leads," he murmured, his eyes fixed on Arabella with a terrifying, singular focus.
He didn't even look at his brother. He was drowning in her, and he clearly indulged the sensation.
Luke’s smile tightened. He saw the shift. To counter, Luke turned to Peach, kissing her hand with an exaggerated flourish.
"Well, some of us prefer a partnership over a dictatorship, right Peach? I don't think I could breathe if I was as smothered as William looks."
"It's not smothering when you are exactly where you belong," William countered back.
He picked up Arabella’s wine glass and held it to her lips, watching her drink with a gaze so devotional it was almost uncomfortable to witness.
Arabella swallowed the wine, her eyes locked onto Luke’s.
“Do you think you belong there, WIlliam?”
“Uh-huh,”
Luke’s gaze shifted, locking on Peach who was innocently staring at her man, waiting for his signal. If their presence was bothering her man, a heartbeat would all it take her to walk away from this lunch.
Instead, Luke smiled charmingly, pressing his thumb on her knuckle firmly, humming in response, “I guess you are right, as always,”
Peach’s gaze shone with utter felicity which she soon converted into a smirk, poking his cheek with her long nail.
“Do you think you also belong to me?”
“I mean,” Leaning aback, Luke raised his hand, pointing at his wedding ring, cracking a joke, “There is nothing I can do about it. I am permanently booked,”
“Absoutely,” Giggling, Peach pinched his cheek as they had lunch together and decided to stroll around, the two couples stood to part ways near the gondola docks.
Luke pulled Arabella aside for a brief, tense second while Peach and William discussed the boat fare. Their eyes followed them out of curiosity at what they had to talk about.
“Are you done with your display?”
“Not yet. Unlike you, I am doing this to make you jealous. I am doing this because I ‘want’ to. This is all I desire: Him.”
She glanced over at William, who was standing perfectly still, his eyes tracking her every move from ten feet away, waiting for her command to move.
She leaned into Luke, whispering with a chilling, beautiful sweetness.
"I told you, Luke. I told you I would make William mine at all cost.”
And turned back to him, “But, what about you? What are you supposed to get out of your marriage? Just to make me jealous?”
Her one statement spoke of the truth he buried in his heart and knew it would shatter Peach if she came to know about it.
His jaw clenched, turning his head away with a clenched fist, resenting how flawlessly she pierced through him.
“Nothing you do will work, Luke. William is my first and last love, my world, my everything. I don’t give a fuck about you or anyone else,”
Enunciating the undeniable reality, she turned to leave, placing her hand briefly on his shoulder.
“Though I pity your wife who is nothing but a victim of your toxic nature and envy,”
Rolling her eyes, regaining her graceful composure, Arabella rushed back to her husband, eloping in his arms instantly, grinning delightfully at him.
“Hey, what were you guys talking about?”
“Him?” She glanced at Peach who disliked the frown on her man’s lips but also intrigued to know, and shifted her eyes back to William.
“Nothing. I told him I will make you all mine at all cost and nothing can stop me from achieving my goal.” She told him honestly, filled with determination.
William wanted to consider it a lie but he knew that she told him the truth before too. Relaxing, William shook his head, breaking into a peal of laughter and poked her forehead.
“Good luck in achieving your goal, Madam. You have all my support.”
She giggled, pecking his cheek, “That is exactly why I am standing proud right now,”
Peach was taken aback at her brute honesty, her mouth gaping but she saw Luke’s discontent and her chest constricted, the dreams she intended to build began to blur.
Realizing their marriage might not be the ‘second chance’ she considered it to be.
That it wasn’t to move on, but to hurt Arabella. That somewhere in his heart, Luke still loves Arabella.