Downtown, a third digital billboard waited for her, and this time it was a short video of Eula practicing her reading skills with a bedtime story. It would have been cute, if only this wasn’t the night after she and Luca had gotten back together. Exhausted beyond belief after almost nearly twelve hours of lovemaking and barely little sleep, she had fallen asleep right after Eula began with, “Once upon a time,” and the video had then zoomed in for a close-up shot of her face as Vivian began to…snore.
The caption: In hindsight, I started to fall in love with her when my daughter accidentally spilled soup on her lap, but somehow my wife was able to turn things around by convincing my daughter that soup-spilling was proof of one’s destiny to become a princess.
It was probably the sweetest of all captions, but—-
The video, which was playing on a loop, started again, and she watched herself fall asleep on the screen and begin to snore.
Her teeth gnashed.
Sweet caption or not, she was going to kill Luca for this.
When she finally made it to the office, it no longer surprised Vivian when everyone turned to look at her with knowing smirks, some even taking photos of her with their smartphones as if they wanted to share proof that they had seen the woman whose face was plastered on every available billboard in the city.
Maggie had texted her while she was in the car, and so far, her former roommate had told Vivian gleefully, she had been able to track down twenty different billboards.
By the time Vivian made it to the penthouse, she could no longer remember how it felt to have a face that was not on fire, and her cheeks burned anew when even Luca’s normally conservative executives were grinning at her.
Fuuuuudge. Next time, she would remember that Italians seemed to have a strange definition for the word ‘mushy.’ When she reached Luca’s office, she didn’t bother knocking on the door and simply barged in, saying hotly, “Luca Valencia, you have some explaining—-mmph!”
The door closed behind her, and her back fell against it a moment later as Luca caged her in his arms while his mouth ravaged hers in a savagely sweet kiss.
“L-Luca!” But she couldn’t really remember what she was supposed to be mad about and instead found herself locking her arms around his neck and returning his kiss. His tongue pressed deeper in bold intent, and her knees buckled.
Chucking against her lips, he asked huskily, “Did you like my surprise?”
“N-no.” But she ended up whimpering her answer out as his mouth trailed down, and she arched her neck when he began to suck the soft skin.
“Why not, cara?” His mouth moved back up, and he whispered into her ear, “Was it not mushy enough for you?”
Vivian couldn’t answer, too busy shivering at the way his words caressed her ear. By the time she had recovered her voice, it was to have him spinning her around, and as she felt her breasts flatten against the door, she asked him breathlessly, “Where did you even get the idea to use all those billboards? Did you lose a bet to Angelo or something?”
“No, that was all mine,” he told her with amusement. “But Angelo did suggest I take you to a vacation island he and Ari had tried, and I did take him up on it. I’ve booked us for the weekend and as soon as Eula is out of school, we’ll be flying there. It will just be the three of us, no phones, no anything—-”
This time, she couldn’t help spinning around to face him. “Really?”
A crooked smile appeared on his lips. “Don’t be too excited, I haven’t told you the best part yet.”
Her eyes shone. “Tell me, tell me.”
“I was thinking we could cook our meals together, because you always make this little sigh whenever you watch that show, Unplugged—-” He stopped speaking as his wife threatened to choke the life out of him with her bear hug.
“I’m so happy, Luca,” she whispered. “So happy.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Who knows, I may even wear an apron for you—-”
She pulled back to gaze at him in amazement. “Really?” The conservative and manly Luca Valencia in an apron? She couldn’t even picture it, and she was his wife.
“It has its merits, but only if you also promise to wear an apron—-”
“Sure!”
“—-and just that.”
“I, uh, what?”
Laughing, he spun her around, and again she found herself facing the door this time. “What are you—-” Then she felt him unzipping himself, and she stiffened, asking incredulously, “Luca, really—-” It was broad daylight, for heaven’s sake! And there were people and-—
“Oh my God.” Vivian felt him inch her skirt up, bit by bit, until she could feel the cool air touch the back of her thighs, and she shivered in sensual pleasure, the forbidden element of what they were doing making her lick her wet lips as moisture pooled between her thighs.