I stood awkwardly at the side of Luca's room, watching him and Allison embracing. The sight of him holding her so close stirred up something in me. It had bile rising in the back of my throat as well as my temperature rising.

He let go of her and his eyes wandered over to me, locking onto my mine briefly. I noticed the softness in his eyes as well as the tiny think lines that formed on his forehead as he just looked between me and Allison.

Allison looked over her shoulder to see what he was looking at. She raised her one eyebrow slightly when she saw me standing idly by Luca's bed.  Tucking a wavy lock of hair behind her ear, she sauntered over to me. "Hey, you must be Elizabeth," she smiled. "Wow you are ..." she paused looking me up and down briefly. "Decent." She laughed dryly. "No wonder why his mother loves you," she snarled. It was hard to miss the venom in her voice as she said those last few words.

She was a tall beautiful girl, correction she was a woman. She had long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes that could put the bluest of oceans to shame. She was wearing a pink coat that covered a black leather dress that ended just above her knees.

Her makeup was immaculate. Dark winged eyeliner and red lipstick. No smudges. Perfect like a barbie doll.

No wonder why Luca was in love with her. She was gorgeous. She looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine with her slim waist and a picture-perfect face.

"It's nice to meet you," my voice crawled it's way up my throat.

"This is kind of weird," she laughed again. "Luca she's not even your type," She called, looking over her shoulder at him. He remained silent, his eyes were wide as he ran his fingers through his hair.

His type.

I was taken back but caught myself quickly before I could react. "I'll give you two some privacy," I said, walking towards the doorway.

What did she mean that I wasn't his type. Was it because I wasn't as thin as she was, or my hair didn't look like it was liquid gold, or maybe it was because my eyes were just plain brown instead of sparkling blue or refreshing green.

Even though I didn't have any unique outstanding features, I was still a human. Ten fingers and toes.

"That would be highly appreciated," she purred, walking over to Luca and running her hands over his broad shoulders flirtatiously.

Disgusting!

"Wait princess," Luca called as I walked out of the room and I bit my bottom lip. I turned around to see Allison glaring at him. "Where are you going?"

Allison turned her heated gaze towards me. "Darling why do you care where she is going. She is giving us time alone," she said, as she entwined her fingers with Luca's.

I smiled, trying hard not to vomit or gag. "I'm going to explore the house a bit," Luca looked like he was about to say something, but I turned on my heel and left the room before he could say anything else.

This was too much for one night. I didn't want to go back downstairs to the party and schmooze with the company. I didn't fit in with that type of crowd anymore.

I'm not indicating that I lost manners and grace when we lost all our money. It's just that I felt keeping up and trying to fake it was time-consuming as well as exhausting. I just needed an uncrowded place I could relax in for a while.

I stopped at the double doors Luca told me was a library. I opened the door and walked into the darkroom feeling around the wall for a light switch. "Bingo," I uttered out loud, finally finding the switch. I flicked the lights on and the room was illuminated with warm yellow light.

Books made up an entire wall.  I craned my neck as I looked up at the long rows of books. From the ground to the ceiling the wall was covered in books. Red velvet cabriole sofas surrounded a small black wood table that sat in the middle of the room and a large window made up one end of the library's wall.

I walked over to the large window and looked out to a massive back yard. My breath hitched in my throat as I took in the beautiful flower gardens. The trees had lanterns hanging on the branches and in the middle of the garden was a spring with a small waterfall. "Wow," I couldn't help but say aloud.

"I know," came a voice, and the wonder and excitement on my face was replaced with a fearful expression.

"Oh my god!" I shrieked and turned around knocking my head into someone else's and tramping their foot in the process.  My eyes widened when I saw that it was Carlos standing behind me.

"Ow," he groaned, rubbing his head.
Mirroring his actions, I groaned and rubbed my head. "I'm so sorry," I said, feeling embarrassed.

"No I am the one that is sorry Corazón," he chuckled, heartedly as his eyes sparkled. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I saw the door open and well if I was a cat curiosity would kill me."

I smiled sheepishly. Christian and Stephanie's friends were good looking. It almost appeared as if they chose their friends according to their good looks.

Carlos walked to the wall covered in books and put his hands on his hips as he looked up at the shelves.  "By the way what are you doing here all alone. Where is your boyfriend?"

With his girlfriend.

"Urm.. he's taking a shower," I said and Carlos nodded.

"You have an adorable accent. Which part of America are you from? " He asked while his eyes searched the long bookshelves.

He thought my accent was adorable.

"I grew up in both New York and Los Angeles. Which part of Spain are you from?"

"Madrid," he smiled. "When I was eighteen, I attended a fashion school in Italy, where I met Christian," he said, moving to grab a book from the shelf. "Beowulf," he smiled looking over the book.

"That's a very old piece of literature you have there," I nerded out, walking over to the shelf and my eyes landed on the Tales of the Brothers Grimm. I took the book and moved over to the sofa.

There was a high chance of me spending the night in the library.

Was it natural to feel a bit hurt.

I understood that Luca wasn't my boyfriend, but why did I feel the way I did. Maybe I wasn't used to seeing him with any other girl even if it was the girl he belonged to.

I was being ridiculous. I was sleep deprived that's all it was. Sleep deprivation. I sighed heavily and to my dismay, Carlos heard it and looked over at me. "Are you okay Corazón?" He asked, sitting down on the sofa in front of me, giving me his undivided attention.

He barely even knew me yet he was so friendly.

I nodded ignoring the absurd things I was feeling and thinking. What was it to me if Luca was with his girlfriend. I knew he had a girlfriend. I knew that when I agreed to be his pretend one.

I began reading in silence and soon Carlos stood. "Well it was fun talking to you Corazón but I should go to bed if I'm to wake up early tomorrow," he moved to the bookshelf putting the book back. "Good night," he smiled and moved to walk out of the library.

"Good night," I stifled a yawn as I prepared to read the entire book in one night.

If only my eyes would stay open.

************

I opened my eyes slowly allowing them to adjust to the dull light in the room. Turning over and away from the window, I realized that the couch I fell asleep on felt different. It seemed bigger and a lot more comfortable.

My eyes shot open and I sat up. I was in a bed. I began looking around the room frantically. A futon was against a wall and it was covered in pillows and blankets. A tv hung on the wall and on the sides of the room were wardrobes as well as a desk. On the wall above the desk were posters of bands. 

I was in Luca's room.

The sound of running water being turned off got me to look in the direction of a door. I can't remember coming back to this room.

Soon the bathroom door opened and Luca walked out wearing nothing but sweat pants. He had a towel around his neck and his hair was wet as it fell onto his forehead. I tried to keep my eyes off his tattooed body and focused on his face instead.

He bit his bottom lip when he realized I was staring at him. "Luca, how did I get here?" I looked at the blanket and sheets on the bed as I rubbed my head. "I can't remember walking back to your room."

He rubbed the back of his neck as he licked his pink lips. "I found you asleep in the library. I didn't want to wake you up so I carried you," he shrugged like it was normal. 

"Wait, what about Allison?"

"I told her she couldn't stay. If someone else found you asleep in the library then there would have been a lot of questions." He began rummaging in one of his puller drawers and pulled out a plain black shirt pulling it over his body. "Oh, and by the way before you bite my head off. You should know that I let you have the bed and slept on the couch."

"Thank you," I said as I stifled a yawn and he looked at me momentarily before he moved to the hamper and threw his towel in.

I got out of bed and searched around the room for my luggage. My eyes landed on it and I walked over to my bag, picking it up and plopping it on the bed. Opening the bag I looked at all my choices.

Luca walked over to the closet and pulled out a pair of sneakers. "After breakfast, we going to Allison's," he told me and my eyes widened. I didn't want to go to Allison's house. It was obvious that she didn't like me, and I didn't want to be a third wheel.

"Why can't you go by yourself?" I whined as I picked up a black sweater. Luca was wearing black so I put it down.

"It will look suspicious if I leave you and go out on my own." So I was basically his tail. I was going to be following him to his girlfriend's house and wherever else he pleased.

"How about you go to your girlfriend's house and I'll go sightseeing," I suggested instead,  pulling out a pair of jeans and a green sweater from my suitcase.

"Urgh, a green sweater are you, serious princess. This is getting out of hand now."

Oh, I'm sorry I didn't dress like your spectacular, beautiful, blue-eyed, English, gorgeous girlfriend!

I ran a hand down my face. I needed to cool it. I didn't know where all the hostility was coming from. I was uncomfortable with the idea of spending the day with Luca and Allison.

Taking a deep breath I looked over at him. "I'd prefer it if you let me dress as I want," I glared at him before picking up my toiletries and clothes and heading to the bathroom.

"And you going sightseeing on your own is a no princess," he called after me in a stern tone of voice and I scoffed. The nerve with him telling me what I should wear and where I couldn't go.

I whirled on him. He was standing at the foot of the bed with his arms crossed. His green eyes were dark. "I wasn't asking your permission," I challenged.

He took a dangerous step forward bending down slightly so that we were eye level, our noses almost touching."Listen, princess," he started softly. "If anything happens to you. Your boyfriend back in New York is going to try and kill me and I don't want to have to hurt him for trying," he smiled deviously.

I took a step back. "Whatever," I growled and went into the bathroom slamming the door behind me. I rested my head back on the bathroom door as I stared up at the white ceiling.

What was I going to do.

"Hey! You better get your act together young lady. Have some respect," Luca scolded and my eyes widened.

The nerve with him.

"You a wackadoodle!" I shouted back.

"Then don't slam other people's toilet door!" He shouted. I let out a strangled scream of frustration. What was with him and the slamming of doors. I would like to slam one in his big head.

"You know what I'm not talking to you right now!"

I heard something that sounded like fake crying. "Oh, but princess how will I survive if I don't hear your angelic voice," sarcasm dripped from his words and I banged the door with my fist.

"Hey leave the door out of this!" He shouted and I banged the door again to hear him growl. "She's completely lost the plot," he declared loudly. "Mad as a hatter!" He sounded like he was talking to himself and a small smile crept up on my face.

And he says I'm mad.

We were going to end up killing each other.

It went silent after that and I pushed off from the door and looked around the bathroom. I thought he left but then a gentle knock came on the door. I let out a breath. "What?" I asked in annoyance.

"Princess..." Luca trailed. "Are you on your period?" He asked and my eyes widened.

"Luca if you don't leave me alone for the next hour. I swear to hell I'll murder you."

"Sheesh, you a dragon in the morning princess," he said, and then the next sound I could hear was receding footsteps followed by a door being closed.

I stepped into the large shower that was covered in frosty glass. The bathroom had black ceramic tiles on the floors and white and black tiles on the wall. On the wall hung a black medicine cabinet that had a mirror on it.

I stepped into the shower and I immediately felt better as the water washed over me. I needed to keep myself in check. I wasn't here to stress I was here to have a vacation.

After I washed my hair and body I stepped out of the shower and dried myself off. I put on my clothes because I was not going to walk out of the bathroom with nothing but a towel wrapped around my body. I didn't know if the wackadoodle came back or not and I didn't need a snarky remark about my body. I was already self-conscious.

I began drying my hair with the towel as I walked out of the bathroom. Luca was laying with his hands propped up on his elbows as he tried to solve a Rubik's cube.

He looked me over."Took you long enough," he said, tiredly. "Can we go eat now?" He sat up on the bed. "If I don't eat soon. I might turn cannibal," he said wiggling his eyebrows.

"I rather be eaten by worms," I grumbled.

"Keep giving me your lip princess and I can have that arranged," he quipped,  smiling darkly.

Evil son of a goat.

At that moment I did the most childish thing. I scrunched my nose up and stuck my tongue out at him.

"Nice. Real mature."

I gave him a fake smile. "Thanks."

Throwing my towel into the hamper. Luca stood and began walking out of the room. I followed after him. "Okay, princess. It's breakfast with the family and you can't give me that look you like giving me. Especially not while my family is present."

"I don't give you a look," I immediately defended.

"Uh, yes you do."

"Really, show me this look."

"Alright then," he complied and stopped walking.  He folded his arms and did a hair flip as he rolled his eyes before narrowing them into slits. 

I immediately erupted into laughter. "That was so horrible," I laughed as we continued walking. "But okay if you promise to behave. I promise I won't give you that look."

"Behave," he repeated. "I don't know what you talking about. I'm a saint. You the one that's always picking a fight."

I scoffed. "Absolutely not."

"Yes you are," he disagreed.

"I am not."

"Yes you are," he was being a child.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes..."

"No,"

"No..."

I got confused. "Yes," I said, stupidly and he smiled victoriously.  "I mean no," I growled.

"Ha," he laughed holding onto his stomach.

Idiot.

He led me downstairs to a dining room. The dining room curtains were drawn giving natural light to the sunset-colored walls. The table was a light wood table and the chairs were gold.

Around the table were his grandparents and parents.  Harry looked up as we approached the table. "Ever heard that the early bird gets the worm son?" Harry laughed, only to earn a grunt from Luca. "Your sister and her friends are gone out to do some shopping for the ball."

"More shopping. She already bought half of New York," Luca mumbled, pulling a chair out for me and gesturing for me to sit.

He took a seat next to me. "Dear you know how your sister can be when it comes to clothes," Charlotte smiled.

All the food on the table looked delicious. There were muffins, scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon.
I put a few pancakes on my plate and poured syrup over it.

Luca grabbed a mug and poured a cup of coffee and pushed it over to me. I looked at him in curiosity and he gestured with his eyes to everyone who was watching us at the table.

Everyone except Luca's grandfather. Henry, Luca's grandfather was eating while his one hand was supporting a newspaper paper he was engrossed in.

I smiled sheepishly at everyone around the table. They all probably thought that I would join their beautiful family one day. They were all so welcoming of me and I was deceiving them.

The guilt started to crawl its way up again and I took a big bite of my pancake trying to ignore it. Couples break up. All Luca would have to say to them is that we broke up. They wouldn't have to know we lied to them. I just had to hope that they would never find out. I took another big bite of my pancakes. I was guilt eating and if I didn't stop I'd choke. I took a sip of the coffee and caught Luca's eye.

"Take it, easy princess," Luca whispered from next to me and I grunted at him. He had a whimsical smile on his face. "You look like a cute pig. Like Pumba from Lion King."

I glared at him causing him to chuckle and turn back to his food. Why couldn't he mind his own damn business. He always had some wise-ass comment for me. "Ah, there is nothing more refreshing than young love," Ruth said, looking over at me and Luca.

Was she watching our entire exchange.

Luca offered his grandmother a small smile and I had to wonder if he felt anything at all for lying to his family.

"Oh Ruthie, let the kids be. You embarrassing them," Henry said from above his paper.

After breakfast. Luca lead me out of the house and to a garage. The sky was dull, thick gray clouds hung in the sky looking like they were about to burst. I didn't want to get stuck at Allison's house during a storm.

Luca walked over to a security pad that was on the garage door. He entered a security code and the door started lifting. As the garage door began sliding up the black BMW SUV, Amy picked us up with came into view as well as a red Maserati, a midnight blue mustang, and a black Lamborghini.

If Beckett was here he would be like a kid in a candy shop. I can imagine him running around not knowing which car to sit in or drive first.

Luca drove out of the garage with the midnight blue mustang. The engine purred satisfyingly and I wanted to give the car a spin myself. It was a beautiful machine. "Shake a leg princess. We going to be late," Luca said, revving the engine.

What fresh hell was I in for?

**************************************************

A/N

I've been swamped with assignments. Apologies for the late chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think in the comment section. I will get back to you, if not soon it's probably because I fell asleep under a textbook.

💜P. A