Melody Anne's Billionaire Universe: Devoured (Kindle Worlds Novella) (5 page)

When she felt her breast spring free, Vivian didn’t know where to look or what to do first. She couldn’t believe what Luca had just done – and worse, that she had let him!

“From the very start, Vivi…”

Oh God, she should stop looking at him.

She should start running away.

But she couldn’t.

Not when he was looking at her so hungrily, like he wanted to devour her.

Not when she was feeling so helpless with need, like…she wanted just as much to be devoured.

His head lowered.

Run now, Vivian.

His hand cupped her breast.

Oh.

His head lowered.

Ooooh.

And then before she knew it, he was cupping her breast, plumping it until he could slowly draw her nipple into his mouth. The impact was astounding, the heat even more scorching than what she had experienced with his kiss, and her knees knocked against each other as she actually started to lose her balance. She might have fallen back, it was entirely possible, if not for his arm encircled around her waist tightening, and then he was sucking even harder on her nipple.

A whimper escaped her.

“Please---” She didn’t know what she was pleading him for, but it seemed like he did, and Luca moved to her other breast, paying it the same lavish attention as he tongued her nipple before starting to suck.

Her hands clenched and unclenched, and then she somehow found herself moving her hands up, running them over the muscles of his arms, his shoulders, and finally she was gripping his hair.

Her fingers tightened.

He bit her nipple.

She moaned, and even as tiny bursts of fireworks exploded behind her eyelids, she also started to panic as the enormity of what she was doing – of what she was letting him do – hit her.

Somehow, Vivian found the strength to push him away. “S-stop!”

To his credit, he didn’t use his strength against her, immediately releasing her nipple from his mouth. She stumbled back as he straightened, her hands clumsily righting her clothing, pushing her bra up to its proper position and then pulling the sides of her blouse together in an effort to cover her chest.

“I know what you want,” she stammered, “but I’m sorry. I just---” Her gaze fell to the receipt lying discarded on the carpeted floor. “I just can’t do it, even though you’re holding that against me.” She waited with bated breath for him to speak, her gaze searching, but every inch of Luca’s gorgeous face remained unreadable.

Crossing his arms against his chest, he asked in a neutral voice, “What do I want then?”

“To make me your sex slave.”

His eyebrows arched. “My…sex…slave.”

She could feel herself reddening. “Don’t tell me you don’t.”

“I don’t,” he said promptly.

And strangely enough, she believed him – which also meant she was wrong, and she had just made a fool out of herself,
again.

Vivian covered her face. “I can’t believe I said that out loud.”

Even with her voice muffled by her hands, he had no problems understanding her, and he said solemnly, “You watch too many movies.”

Face still hidden, she shook her head. “Books. Read too many books and assumed---”

Luca almost laughed at the way she failed to swallow back her wail of embarrassment.

“It was a sensible conclusion to make,” he said soothingly.

Knowing she had to stop acting like a kid, she reluctantly lowered her hands but even so, she was still unable to meet his gaze, mumbling, “It wasn’t.”

“Care to make any other guesses then, Vivi?” He was smiling as he asked, but his gaze was hooded.

It was all so very mysterious and sexy, and there went her heart again, beating faster and faster, acting all excited when it should have acted terrified or alarmed.
You have an idiot for a heart, Vivian,
her brain told her disapprovingly.

She took a deep breath and tried to think of everything calmly and rationally. She could assume, after the first day, that he had staged their every meeting. But he had also chosen to hide his identity from her, perhaps to ensure she wasn’t a gold-digger. She could understand that, but then why the interest in someone like her? Why bother buying her debt? Why did he need to have something to hold over her head?

But then she remembered the photocopied letters of the little girl.

And Vivian heard herself say, “You want me as a mistress…because you’re married, and you have a kid, and y-you’re unhappy with your marriage.” Oh, how it hurt to say such words, even though she knew she was being stupid to feel that way, and over someone she didn’t really know at all.

She raised her gaze to him, but still she couldn’t read anything from those light blue eyes of his. “T-that’s why you need someone like me? Y-you think I can give you something your wife can’t, and you can also make sure that I won’t cause you t-trouble because you practically o-own me?”

A full minute passed, and somehow she could sense him struggling internally, almost as if he was considering walking away from her…for good.

And somehow, the prospect was…terrifying.

“L-Luca?”

“You’re only half-right, I’m afraid.”

Vivian stilled.

“I do need someone like you in my life. And I do have a kid – the most beautiful four-year-old daughter, whom I’d be pleased for you to meet. However, I am not married. Rather, I’m divorced.”

Vivian knew she should react at one point but she couldn’t, her mind still reeling with all these unknown facts being thrown at her.

He wasn’t just Gian, the supervisor she met from time to time at the photocopying room, but instead he was Gianluca Valencia, a billionaire who was also now her boss.

He wasn’t married, but he had been divorced, and he had a daughter.

A daughter he’d like her to meet because---

“I don’t understand,” she said weakly.

“You do.” He smiled, and his tone was wry and soft as he murmured, “Because you’re a smart woman, cara, smarter than you give yourself credit for.”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip.

“I can see the answer in your eyes already, Vivi. But if it’s your will that I speak of it first then…” His broad shoulders moved in a shrug. “I neither want nor need you to be my mistress. However, my daughter is in need of a mother, and it is for that reason,
cara,
that I would like you to consider becoming my wife.”

Chapter Four

“How much do you know about me?”

The question was asked in a small voice, and when Luca glanced at the woman sitting next to him on the backseat of his limousine, he wasn’t surprised to find her confused and anxious, gnawing on her lip as she wrung her hands on her lap.

“What do you mean?”

She said slowly, “I have a feeling, if you had really wanted me to be---” Vivian paused, unable to make herself complete the thought.

“My wife?” He smiled at her awkward nod. “I did – I do choose you to be my wife,
cara.
Is it that so hard to believe?”

“Umm…” Vivian had the strangest urge to laugh.
“Yes?”
This time, she couldn’t help it, and a slightly panicky laugh escaped her. How could he seriously ask her that?

“Well, I did.” He paused. “Actually, my daughter and I did.”

She jerked. “
What
?” Vivian shook her head. “Didn’t you mention that your daughter was four years old? Did you tell her you’d buy her a mother or something?”

Luca had to grin. “Actually, she warned me
not
to do that.”

“She did?”

“She’s not into material things.”
Unlike her birth mother,
Luca couldn’t help adding silently.

Vivian said cautiously, “She seems like a nice and interesting young girl.”

“Ah, well…” Luca considered lying only for a moment, but in the end he said truthfully, “She’s nice when she wants to be, I suppose.”

Vivian gulped. “I see.” And she did. She was beginning to see that his daughter might just be as cunning and manipulative as her billionaire father. A scary thought, but it was one that she found herself confronting sooner than she was ready. The limousine had slowed down, and ahead of them she saw a pair of automated steel gates opening to a driveway.

Oh, wow.
That was some driveway,
she thought, taken aback. It seemed to stretch forever, long and far enough that she couldn’t see the end. When they finally reached their destination, Vivian had to do her best not to gawk at Luca’s palatial home. How could someone this beautiful, this
stately,
exist in Florida? She loved the Sunshine State as much as the next person, but the tycoon’s residence had the kind of majestic atmosphere that was more suitable for a historic European city.

Three stories high, the sprawling mansion boasted of an entirely white façade, impressive Palladian windows, and an elegant brick foundation. It looked like the kind of house one could tour, if that made any sense, and the fact that the man seated beside her – the man who wanted her as his wife – owned and
lived
in this type of property?

She pinched herself once – twice, thrice - and every instance hurt, proving that she wasn’t dreaming.

After stepping out, Luca offered his hand to her, and Vivian took it hesitantly. A part of her was still urging her to just turn her back and forget about everything that had to do with Luca Valencia, but the bigger part of her wanted to fall deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.

Everything right now was just strange and wonderful, and she wanted…
more.

Even if this turned out to be a dream, she wanted to experience as much as she could before she woke up.

Surely that wasn’t too much to ask?

She tried to tug her hand out of his hold as they ascended the short flight of stairs leading to the entranceway, but his grip only tightened.

“I’m not used to this,” she said awkwardly under her breath.

He glanced at her, puzzled. “This?”

“Holding hands,” she whispered.

Ah.
Charmed at the admission, he bent his head and whispered back, “I’m sorry to hear that, but…I’m not letting go.” Smiling at the way her eyes widened, he said in amusement, “It is something you must learn to get used to, sooner or later, if you are to be my wife.”

After a beat, she said in an uncharacteristically guarded tone, “I haven’t agreed to a-anything yet.”

“I know.”

“Y-you can’t force me to do anything.”

His lips curved. “Ah, but you know I won’t have to,
cara.
Yes?”

“Because of my debt?”

The double doors in front of her were suddenly flung open, and a dark-haired girl came running out. “Papa!”

To Luca’s credit, he didn’t let go of her hand even with her daughter approaching. Instead he bent down, expecting and receiving a warm hug and a sweet kiss on his cheek.

“I missed you, Papa.”

“I missed you, too,
principesa
.”

As Luca pulled away and straightened, the little girl turned her attention towards Vivian, and she found herself holding her breath.

“Green eyes,” the child suddenly breathed.

Luca grinned. “Yes.”

His daughter took a step towards Vivian. “Do you clean?”

“Umm…” She glanced at Luca in bemusement.

“My daughter is asking if you clean for a living.”

Oh.
Unsure whether it was a good or bad question, she slowly made herself nod, unwilling to lie about her job. To her surprise, she saw a smile break over the girl’s incredibly lovely face, dimples flashing, her slightly open mouth revealing a chipped tooth.

“Vivi,” the girl whispered in seeming awe, and she moved even closer to Vivian. Her small hand curled on her pants, tightening around the fabric as she said, “Princess Vivi?”

What?

But there was such hope shining in the girl’s eyes that Vivian heard herself say, “Yes.” She cleared her throat. “I’m Princess Vivi.”

And from that moment, Luca’s daughter took over, tugging her hand as she pulled Vivian into the house. “I am Eula,” she said with adorable seriousness. “I’m going to be your daughter when you marry Papa.”

Her eyes flew to Luca in shock, but Luca had his hands in his pants’ pockets and was gazing down at the patterns on the carpet with extreme fascination.

Eula tugged her hand. “This is our castle.”

“It’s, umm, very beautiful.”

Eula beamed. “You like it?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Then you’ll live here?”

And she so walked into that one
, she thought ruefully.

“Vivi?”

“Umm, if I could.”

“You can!” Eula pointed to the grand staircase at the left. “If we go up, you can see my room.”

“You can show Vivi her room later,” Luca interjected then. “But for now, I think it’s time for dinner. Would you like to have Vivi join us?”

Eula nodded eagerly and turned to Vivian. Luca also turned to her, and she found herself the subject of two pairs of identical light blue gazes. Utterly defeated by the charismatic duo, she said cautiously, “I’d love to have dinner with you.” And when Eula beamed, she realized with a pang that it was feeling dangerously addictive, doing things just to earn a smile from a little girl.

Was this really the same four-year-old terror that Luca told her about? How could this beautiful little girl be anyone’s worst nightmare?

“Will you tell chef that we have a visitor dining with us, Eula?”

“Okay!”

As the little girl half ran down the hallway to their right, he called out, “And wait for us at the dining room,
si
?”

“
Si, Papa
!”

When Eula was out of earshot, Luca turned towards her with a raised eyebrow, and she didn’t hesitate, asking accusingly, “Were you just trying to scare me off by making her sound like this horrible brat?”

He laughed. “I’m flattered you find my daughter that charming, but trust me,
cara.
There’s a monster behind that angelic face.”

“Impossible.”

“You’ll see.” He paused. “Even so, I would like to express my gratitude this early on for being understanding of my daughter’s willfulness and…impertinence, if you will.”

“She wasn’t impertinent at all,” she said honestly. “But…” Vivian bit her lip. “Can you just honestly tell me why she seems to know me and really thinks I’m going to be her mom?”

Luca inhaled heavily, saying, “That is my fault. Two months ago, about a week after we met, I received a call from her school. I learned that her classmates had been bullying her for not having a mother, which I never knew. Apparently, one day she lost her temper and---” He paused.

More than intrigued now, she asked, “And?”

“Well, she has a vivid imagination, you see, and quite the temper like I mentioned, which she unfortunately inherited for me. Also, her favorite cartoon is Alice in Wonderland, so that day, she pretended she was the Red Queen, made herself sound scary, and she told the girls who were bullying her, ‘Off with your heads!’ And it was effective.” But instead of looking disapproving, Luca appeared proud and satisfied. “She actually managed to scare the other kids away and made them believe that they were going to suffer some kind of divine punishment that was inescapable---”

Vivian’s laughter spilled out.

Luca grinned. “Now, do you believe me when I tell you she can be a person’s worst nightmare?”

Still giggling, she nodded. Wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, she revealed, “I can’t imagine her looking so terrifying, but I believe you. What happened afterwards?”

“I gave her a stern talk, of course, and there had to be a punishment so she would remember her lesson.”

“You punished her? Really?”

The horror in her voice made Luca shake his head. “You will be a pushover with her if you remain too softhearted like that.”

“But she was being bullied---”

“Which she chose not to tell me about, and that is something I do not wish her to do so ever again. I had to make her understand that problems could not be solved without proper communication, and not allowing her to see her puppy for one day drove that lesson home loud and clear.”

Vivian slowly nodded, realizing that he was right – and that she clearly had much to learn about parenthood.

“That night, in an effort to cheer her up, I told her that I was close to marrying, but that I couldn’t make up my mind. I wanted someone to make both of us happy, so I told her about several women.”

“Including me?”

“Yes.”

“Were the others made up?” She flushed when Luca glanced at her in surprise, as if asking her why she would even think he had a need to make up such things when he was so darn eligible.

“I hope you do not take offense to the fact that you weren’t the only woman I was considering.”

“Of course not.”

Luca’s lips curved. “Perhaps with a bit more practice, that can sound sufficiently convincing.”

“Whatever,” she mumbled. “Just tell me what happens next.”

After one last amused look, he obligingly continued, saying, “So I told her about the four of you, and in the end she didn’t even hesitate. She just chose you.” His eyes softened as he remembered how excited Eula had been that night. “She kept mispronouncing your name that night, so finally I told her to just call you ‘Vivi.’”

Her lips parted in sudden understanding. “That’s why you call me Vivi, too.”

He nodded. “After that night, she would ask me endless questions about you, and---” He recalled her question in the car. “Oh, so that’s what you meant.”

She asked straight to the point, “Did you do a background check on me?”

“I did. I wanted to know every little detail, and I think I know enough.” His lips thinned. “I only wished I had the foresight to have asked the men to check if there were any men of your acquaintance who could have been or remained interested in you.”

Which means he’s really jealous,
she thought.

“I’m not being jealous,” he snapped.

“I didn’t say anything,” she protested.

“Your eyes were practically crowing the words out loud,” he said disapprovingly.

Oops.
She changed the subject quickly, asking, “What kinds of questions did Eula ask?”

“What did you look like, how old were you, why was it taking me so long to bring you here – and she also asked about your job, so I told her that you worked as a cleaner, and that’s when she told me you were like Cinderella.” Luca noticed the way Vivian’s lips started to tremble. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope.” And there wasn’t. She was just having trouble holding back her tears, but other than that, it was fine. After the humiliation the receptionist had subjected Vivian to, the fact that someone thought her job made her a princess like Cinderella sounded like music to her ears, or like a fairytale coming true.

One of the doors at the end of the hallway opened. “Papa, Vivi, let’s eat!”

Luca raised a brow. “Shall we?”

She nodded.

Inside the dining room, which was as breathtakingly luxurious as the rest of the house, Vivian found herself sandwiched between father and daughter. Luca was at the head of the table, she was on his right, and next to her was Eula. Just looking at the girl made her heart squeeze, and knowing that the girl – for whatever reason – had chosen her over the others, had actually wanted Vivian to be her mother, made her feel sort of warm, funny, and ticklish inside. It was almost like she was a kid again, and she already knew what Santa was about to give her. The only thing left to do was to wait for the moment she could hold Santa’s gift in her hands.