Chapter 22

She wanted to see the smirk off his handsome face. He was really cunning but he had no idea that she saved the best for last. She was sure that he would be furious after she said the last one.
"Let's say I agree to be your wife again, you can't f*ck me yet until I say so," she told him sounding firm.
"WHAT?!" he asked in a thunderous voice.
"Consider yourself under probation, " she added without any emotions on her pretty face.
In vexation, Luke raked his fingers through his hair.
"No one is forcing you , you know," she continued as she looked at her manicure.
"Damn it!! I am not having this nonsense! We better get ready! We are wasting time! I won’t have this f*cking conversation! I will call Dianne to move dinner earlier! If I stay here with you longer I might not stop myself from f*cking you whether you like it or not!" he said bluntly.
Her mouth opened in surprise. "How could you say such a thing?" she pretended to be shocked but deep inside she wanted to giggle. She knew she had her very hot husband in the palm of her hand.
Women rule! She told herself.
"Would you rather I do it?!" he rasped with his eyes like slits.
She sighed heavily while shaking her head, "You are unbelievable."
"I could say the same about you!" he retorted before turning away from her.
She took time in making herself more beautiful. She curled the ends of her hair with her curling iron. She put a light make-up just to enhance her features. She didn't need a lot anyway. She was glad that her skin was smoother. She was glowing so she didn’t need a cheek tint or a blusher. She just applied a little mascara on her eyelashes because they were naturally long and curly. She used a nude color lipstick. Her scent was Reveal by Halle Berry. She was in a black mini-dress and black strappy high heels.
Luke was standing near the big glass window looking at the cars below. He had to congratulate himself for having controlled his temper and libido awhile ago. His wife had the right to make demands. If he wasn’t afraid that she would be mad at him again, he would have taken her because he was pissed. His body was screaming to possess her. Well he should be thankful for small mercies. They would be sleeping on the same bed. She mentioned that he couldn't f*ck her but she didn’t say that he couldn't kiss and touch her. He had to settle for those. The most important thing was she was with him.
He chose to wear a white long-sleeves shirt which made his muscles more prominent. He put on a pair of black trousers and black leather shoes. If he was drooling over his wife, he was hoping that she would feel the same over him . He sprayed on Straight to Heaven by Kilian. He smiled when he imagined his night with her. He couldn’t help beaming. He was excited like a school boy. He only felt this to Isabelle.
"I'm ready," he heard her say from the doorway of the bedroom.
His heart beat faster when he saw her. Her loveliness was breathtaking which left him speechless.
Isabelle blinked several times to take in his hotness and he was literally mouth-watering. From head to foot, he was like a Greek god. They just stared at each other for several seconds until Luke’s phone rang. He took the call but his eyes were still on her. Isabelle did her best to ignore his intense stare. She made herself busy by checking her reflection in the glass window while he talked on the phone.
Luke had his right arm and hand on her back as they got in the elevator. People were staring because looked so damn good together. He was driving tonight. As usual Isabelle noticed a black vehicle behind them. It was his bodyguard. They were silent during the whole trip. It was like they were both savoring the moment.
Dinner was great. She was introduced to Dianne’s husband. Luke’s family were very nice and attentive to her, especially her mother-in-law. She had no clue that she was proud of her. Mrs. Amanda Contrero thought that Isabelle was perfect for her son. She had enough guts now to control Luke. Though he is her son, most of the time, his domineering ways weren't acceptable to her. She wanted them to fix their relationship.
Isabelle gained confidence so she felt comfortable talking to them. Besides, they were not snobs though they were very rich. Luke played the perfect husband the whole night. He made sure that her table napkin was always in proper place.
"We don't want to ruin your pretty dress babe,” he said dryly.
She knew that he was being sarcastic. He didn’t like her dress but he couldn’t complain. The short black dress showed her creamy legs and it outlined her figure like a second skin. But since it's black, it was elegantly sexy. He even cut her steak for her. He made sure that she ate her vegetables too and she just let him. She didn't want her in-laws to see any strange behavior from both of them. They were actually smiling and looking satisfied with his display of affection.
"I haven't imagined my high-handed brother being such a loving husband," Dianne commented with a grin and Luke scowled at her.
It’s good that he is making an effort. We'll see until when he can continue it.- Isabelle thought.
The atmosphere between them was better after the dinner with his family. Even in the car they seemed more relaxed and they even had a small talk. He asked her about her life in the States. Since she did just normal things, her answers were spontaneous. She didn’t even notice that Luke was holding her hand with his right one as he drove and she didn’t get it back. He had been showing a lot of effort since she arrived and the least she could do was take it a little easy with him. And as long as he knew his limitations, she would just chill. She didn’t stop him from being the thoughtful and loving husband during dinner but now that they were alone she had to remind him of something.
"You can’t stay at the hotel. I want to sleep alone," she informed him. She didn’t want him to assume too much. She felt him tighten his hold on her hand.
"What?!"
"That's what I want. I got used to sleeping alone," she said firmly.
"I can sleep on the couch!" he replied clenching his teeth.
"No you can't. Luke, I want to take things slow. I want us to start things right this time."
He didn’t reply but she was sure that he didn't approve at all but she didn’t care. It was fine with her. She was glad that he didn’t complain anymore. It was not easy for him to succumb to what she wanted.
But I am the boss this time.- She told herself and she smiled. She didn’t think it was possible for her to control her husband. Luke suddenly threw her a glance.
"What's funny?" he asked in a curt tone.
She turned to him. Her smile faded. She was now poker-face. "Nothing. Why are you so sensitive Mr. Contrero? It so unlike you," she joked.
His eyes narrowed before looking back on the road," I will do what you want Mrs. Contrero but just remember that I won’t tolerate you f*cking with me! Don't even think about doing things which I don't like and you know what I mean! I don’t need to enumerate them again!" he hissed.
"That goes the same for you Mr. Contrero. Besides you don't need to remind me. We've been apart for three years but I didn’t do anything wrong! My conscience is clear. But I can’t say the same about you though."
"I already told you that there wasn't anyone after you!"
She rolled her eyes. She was not aware that if she did something he didn’t like, he would have followed her to the States. She had no clue that she was watched for three years by someone her mother-in-law hired.She was able to breathe well when they reached the hotel.
"You don't have to get off. I know my way, " she said in a sugary voice when she noticed that Luke was also getting off.
"SHIT! Can't I even walk you?!" he asked through clenched teeth.
She sighed. She didn’t know how to tell him that she was worried that he would do something to her upstairs? Like maybe seduce her? She was just trying to avoid such a thing from happening.
"It's late and I want to rest. Thanks for the ride,” her voice sounded calm but firm.
"Okay! Since you don’t want me to go with you upstairs, I might as well say goodnight here,” came his cold reply.
Before she could say something more, he pulled her by her nape then kissed her on the mouth. He was kissing her out of anger and lust. Luke's control just snapped. He didn’t give a damn if Isabelle got angry. He was really frustrated. Almost everything that happened tonight were not a part of his plan. Isabelle protested at first but finally, she gave up. She tried to push him awhile ago but she stopped. Her palms were on his chest but she wasn’t pushing him anymore. Luke was glad about that. He was pissed and sexually frustrated but now he changed his mind. He didn’t want to anger her more if he insisted he went up with her. She was slowly softening to him so he didn’t want to do anything stupid and ruin everything. Her sweet lips were like manna from heaven. He just kissed her passionately to release his frustration.
Isabelle could sense his anger by the way he was kissing her. But she felt his desire for her too. She couldn’t blame him for being mad. She had demanded a lot of things from him in a span of few hours. To think that according to him, he had waited three agonizing years for her to come back. Knowing the old Luke, he would have been more violent. She would just let him kiss her but he couldn’t do more than a kiss because she would fight him. After the passionate kiss which she also secretly enjoyed, she almost laughed with what he said.
"I won't say sorry for doing that you because that was I have been dying to do that since I saw you! " he revealed sounding clipped.
She didn’t retort instead, she swallowed a giggle.
"Let's have lunch tomorrow. I will pick you up. I want to spend the day with you,” he added.
"I can't! I will meet Joyce."
He heaved a sigh. Obviously he didn’t like that.
"We’ll just have dinner then."
She chewed the bottom of her lip. "I can’t say yes. I don’t know what Joyce planned for us,” she said honestly.
He cursed again but didn’t say anything else. He just got off the car to open the door for her.
***
Luke was really annoyed. He was at the verge of violence. Since Isabelle arrived, the things that had been happening were not to his liking. He hadn’t seen her for two days. The last time they were together was the dinner with his family. She said that she and Joyce had been busy. He had to admit that he was jealous of her bestfriend. His mother had advised him not to have her watched but he couldn’t help himself. He hired a woman to follower her. He needed to know where his wife and Joyce were. He couldn’t do that by himself because he had a lot of new clients from other countries. Luckily, the person he hired was doing a great job. She reported to him regularly. He was told that they went shopping and ate out most of the time. But he was missing his Isabelle a lot. He was on his final straw so he thought of visiting her. He just finished his dinner meeting with some business partners and it was still early so he called his wife to tell her that he was on his way to the hotel. And as he expected, she didn’t take the call so he just texted her.
Babe, I want to see you. I am only a few minutes away from the hotel. Let’s have dinner or coffee. We can just stay in the suite if you are tired.
After a few minutes he cocked an eyebrow when he got a text from her. She usually didn’t reply, but she did now. He was pleasantly surprised. His lips twitched to one side while he opened the message.
Finally! He thought but his smile faded with her text.
I am not at the hotel. I am still with Joyce.
“F*ck!” he angrily cursed.
He almost threw his phone in frustration. His brows knitted when his phone started to ring. The woman he hired to watch over his wife was calling. He was actually thinking of calling her because she hadn’t reported anything about his wife the whole afternoon.
"Joey? Where is my wife?"
"Sir, I apologize because what I am about to tell you would probably anger you."
Luke gritted his teeth. "What do you mean?" he asked coldly.
"They are in one unit sir. A man just got inside. It seems like they are going to have a bachelorette party.”
The driver stepped on the breaks in surprise when he swore angrily.