Chapter 26

Joyce's released a wry smile while Isabelle chewed the inside of her lower lip when they heard Luke cursed. Brett had a blank expression as he turned his head to the right to avoid looking at Isabelle but Luke glared at her. She immediately realized why he uttered a very bad word when his eyes formed into slits as he stared at her body. She raised her right hand at Joyce and Brett while mouthing the word WAIT before turning to get her knitted caftan in the bedroom..
"Ahh...mmm...Luke, we'll just wait for you at the pool area,” Joyce’s suggested sounding nervous.
Her brother going with her was not really a good idea although she did tell him to not come along but he insisted. He said he was so excited to see Isabelle. But by seeing Luke’s reaction, it was obvious that he still had an issue with him. Luke with a grim expression just nodded at her. He couldn’t trust himself to talk since he was pissed. He glowered at Brett who instantly avoided his eyes. Joyce waved before leaving. He almost slammed the door and raked his fingers through his hair before releasing a heavy sigh.
"F*CK!" he uttered through clenched teeth.
He knew that sooner or later his wife and Brett would talk. He couldn’t prevent that from happening because he was Joyce’s brother after all. When Isabelle came out again, his jaw clenched. He didn’t want them to argue but he couldn’t hold back his emotions. He was furious and jealous.
"Where is your caftan?!" he hissed.
Only the top of her body was covered. She had a sleeveless top on.
“S-sorry babe. I thought I put it in my bag,” she said nervously.
His eyes narrowed. This scenario was very familiar. She was calling him babe again since she knew that he was angry.
"Are you sure you were planning to bring one?" he asked sounding doubtful.
She moistened her lips then nodded. At least she was keeping the eye contact. Luke uttered a bad word again. He couldn’t ruin their vacation just because he was being a possessive jerk. Anyway compared to what Joyce was wearing, what she had on was not too revealing.
"Okay! I can't do anything about that! But make sure that you won't flirt with anyone!" he demanded.
"You know I won't do that!" she retorted with a pout.
He sighed heavily but didn't reply. He grabbed a towel for them then took hold of her hand.
"Let's go! I would prefer if you start calling me babe from now on! Don’t just do that when you know you did something I don't like!" he hissed.
Isabelle knew he was right. Maybe she should really start showing him that she wanted to make their marriage work this time. He had been doing a lot of effort anyway like opening to her so she should also do her part.
She raised her eyes to look at his face. “Okay.”
He then got something from his pocket. Her mouth slightly opened when she saw it. It was her wedding ring.
"Wear this!" he ordered as he put it on her finger.
She put it on their bed when she left him. It was a diamond-studded platinum ring. She noticed that he was wearing his too. She just wasn’t sure if he had always worn it.
"I don't want you taking this off! Don't make excuses that you don't want to lose it! This is insured!” he said coldly and she nodded. "This is to remind you all the time that you are my wife! I don't want you to forget even for a second that you are mine!" he added as he pulled her closer to him.
She smiled and touched his clenched jaw. He was still very hot though he was angry. The creased on his forehead almost disappeared but his eyes were half slits.
“I never took off mine,” he revealed and she felt her heart skipped a beat.
Was he telling the truth? She asked herself.
She pouted and removed her hand on his chin. He raised his to show her his wedding band.
“Really? Are you saying that you haven’t removed it for three years? “ she asked with one raised brow.
She gasped when he took her hands and kissed her palms while not tearing his eyes off her.
“I didn’t babe. It kept me sane. When I felt like going crazy and I wanted to fly to the US to get you, this calmed me down. It reminded me that you are my wife and sooner or later, I will have you back when the time is ripe,” he said in a voice which sounded sad.
She heaved a sigh. As usual he surprised her again with another revelation.
“You are mine,” he murmured before pulling her closer.
She had to tilt her back and raise her face. Luke’s other arm snaked around her. She moistened her lips and while looking at his eyes, said, "Same with you babe. You are mine too. Always remember that."
His eyes turned molten. She felt his arousal. She was really glad that his desire for her was as strong as ever.
"Yes Mrs. Contrero, you got that right. You are mine and I am yours," he declared before claiming her lips.
She moaned when his tongue invaded the sweet recesses of her mouth and his arms went around her. Luke had been wanting to do this since he was dying to taste her again. He was hoping that very soon his Isabelle would give herself to him again. He was not sure if he would be able to continue controlling his desire for her.
They were both lost in their wild kiss that they didn't hear the ringing of Isabelle's phone which was on the bed. The door was open and the volume was set to high. But its continuous ringing broke the spell. When their lips separated she was the one who spoke first.
"That must be Joyce,” her voice was breathy from their kiss.
Luke was also trying to normalize his breathing as he stared at her. She took the opportunity to talk to him. She sensed that he might have a violent reaction later when she had to chat with Brett. She placed her palms on his chest to put a little distance between them while his arms were still around her.
"Babe we have to talk about your feelings towards me seeing Brett again,” she said and she felt him tensed. "Wait! Listen to me first,” she raised her hand with her ring to make a point, "I am already married to you and Brett knows that and I don’t think he would do anything inappropriate to me. He is not the kind of man babe.”
" I wouldn’t have second thoughts of beating him up if he crossed the line!”
" Please babe! Don't be violent. We own this resort. You don’t want your staff to see you hitting someone, am I right?" she tried to smile to ease the tension.
"You think I care about what they think?” he asked with his eyes narrowed.
She traced the side of his face with her index finger. "Babe do this for Joyce. Remember that you ruined her hen’s party,” she reminded him with a light laugh.
His frown deepened. "Don't remind me of that f*cking night!" he rasped.
She rolled her eyes. Then her phone started to ring again. "I promise that I won't leave your side babe. And I won't do anything you don't approve of. So promise me that you won’t hit anyone okay?" she raised her left brow.
It would be to her advantage too if they were always closed to each other. Joyce’s friends won’t have a chance to come closer him.
Finally, his face broke into a smile. "Are you going to be an affectionate wife?" he asked.
She smiled seductively, "Yes,” she replied huskily.
"Okay! You got a deal! I should have brought Luis then I would have ordered him to do the beating instead of me,” he joked.
She scowled at him which made him chuckle.
***
Luke never left her side. He was always holding her hand and sometimes had his arm on her back. He occasionally kissed her on the lips lightly or on the cheek while they talked to some people. She liked it. She felt giddy but she tried not to let it show on her face. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling when she noticed the jealous looks on Joyce’s friends. Aliyah appeared to be really disappointed as she saw how sweet Luke was with her. She didn’t feel sorry for any of them. Being Luke's wife wasn’t easy.
"You have a good resort here, Luke. I heard that you want additional units,” Joyce’s uncle said.
"Yes. I trust my staff. I don’t often go here but they are very good in taking care of the resort,” he agreed.
“Don’t you want a business partner?”
Before he could reply, Isabelle interrupted, "Babe, can Joyce and I be excused ?”
"Where are you going?" he asked with a frown.
"We'll just check the place. You and Uncle Frank should continue your talk about the resort. He can be your partner since he lives here,” she said.
"Luke I promise we won’t go far,” came Joyce’s voice.
He roamed his eyes around the area. He saw Brett chatting with the other guests near the pool.
Joyce leaned forward to him and whispered so her uncle won’t hear," Don’t worry. I won’t let my brother near Belle. Trust me.”
He turned to look at her, "I'll take your word for it, " he said seriously before he looked at Isabelle.
"Be back after fifteen minutes. That is enough time to explore the inside.”
“Yes boss!” she joked and he let out a disapproving sound before he pulled her to him for a firm kiss on the lips.
***
"Wow Belle! Your hot husband is so possessive but also very sweet!” Joyce said giddily.
Well, what could she say? She had to agree. Luke was all that and more.
“But I couldn’t imagine being in your shoes. He could make you feel giddy and scared as well.”
"You got that right. It’s a mixture of both," she commented.
Joyce grinned at her. “It takes an extraordinary woman to be his wife and we didn’t imagine before that it was you. I really thought that you were just his passing fancy. I am happy for you Belle. A lot of bad things happened years ago but I am sure that this time it will be different. All you need is a whole lot of love and trust. But I must say that Luke needs to think about trusting you so he won’t be overly possessive,” she said with a wink.
She also smiled, “Thank you Joyce. We are working on it.”
The lobby had a nice atmosphere. They liked what they saw of the large resort. Her husband was really a good businessman.
"This place is huge Belle so we better hurry because your husband said we only have fifteen minutes!” Joyce reminded her with a giggle and she laughed lightly too.
It was better for them to joke about Luke’s overly possessive ways than be stressed about it.
"Issa!" a familiar voice called.
"Mary?!" she smiled when she saw their old neighbor.
She excitedly walked to them. She hesitated to come closer so she made the first move by giving her a hug.
"You know Joyce right?” she asked after the brief embrace.
She nodded and smiled, "I hardly recognized you Issa! You look like a celebrity!” Mary said happily.
"Thank you. Do you work here?” she asked as she looked at the woman’s uniform.
"Yes. My husband and I work here. Sir Luke gave us jobs! We have been working here for three years now. We owe Sir Luke a lot,” the woman revealed.
She and Joyce exchanged glances.
"Sir Luke is really a good person Issa. He even had your grandma’s house renovated!”
Now her mouth opened slightly for a few seconds. It was another big discovery. She always learned something amazing about her husband day by day. She couldn't wait to see her Grandma Salome's house now.
Joyce winked at her. "Luke is so hot, generous, thoughtful and have a heart of gold! You are so lucky Belle!” she said with a grin.
"That’s true Miss Joyce!” Mary agreed.
Then one female staff was passing by so Mary called her.
“Come here Susan!”
The staff smiled at them and greeted them.
"She is Issa, sir Luke’s wife and she is Miss Joyce. They are best friends,” Mary introduced them.
"Wow so you are Mrs. Contrero and Sir Luke named this resort after you! You are so pretty!" Susan complimented her.
"Thank you ,” Isabelle said with a smile.
The other staff also nodded at Joyce then her eyes went back to her. "I am glad you went here Mrs. Contrero. I thought all along the woman Sir Luke brings here is his wife. Aw!” Mary poked Susan’s side.
Her eyes narrowed. Her husband came here with another woman? Mary and Susan looked uncomfortable while Joyce was quiet.
"Mary who did Luke bring here while I was in America?" she asked the woman who seemed to look uncomfortable. “Mary?” she urged her to answer.
"Ah...look Issa, it’s like this. Actually Sir Luke doesn’t come here often. Maybe he visits this place three times a year.”
"With whom? Who does he bring here with him? That is what I want to know.”
"I-it’s Miss Victoria..."
And who the hell is Victoria?! She angrily thought.