Chapter-19

Chapter-19

Anabelle Piccolo's POV

My fingers run through his hair smoothly careful not to wake him up. He is in a deep slumber. I take my time to admire his face. His five O' clock shadow beard is getting thick and my eyes travel from his eyes that are closed to his lips.

I unconsciously run my fingertips on mine. His lips were on mine most of the night. The sweet bliss that I experienced last night makes me blush. A smile appears on my lips. I bite my lip.

It was a wonderful night. One that I will never forget. We didn't do the deed, but the way he made me feel... I can still feel the bliss. My mind is still in a haze. He kissed me tenderly, passionately then aggressively and possessively. His hands roamed my body like they owned me. He owns me now!

Then I think of what he said last night. He loves me. He loves me! As soon as he said that, I lost my senses, I didn't care about anything else. Not about Felisa standing there or witnessing our confession for each other or us kissing boldly with love without caring about the consequences.

When she demanded that I give Lucas up, something in me snapped. She can take everything away from me, but not him. No! Only he has the right to tell me that! I can't stand there and hear her telling me to give up on my love. We decided to fight for each other and I am going to do just that.

Giving him a kiss on the cheek, I hear him moan and turn to sleep on his back. I get up and turn to the mirror to adjust my dress. I am wearing a blue summer dress to meet Marcus. I want to wake Lucas up and tell him that, but I don't have the heart to. Opening the note that I wrote for him, I put it beside him so that he doesn't panic when he wakes up and doesn't find me.

Going to meet Marcus. Will be back soon.

Love You,

Anabelle.

It reads. I smile at the words Love You. I can finally say them without any guilt. Putting the paper down, I go to the table and cover the breakfast I made for him so that he can eat when he wakes up. I get in the taxi I booked and send Marcus a message.

Will be there in twenty minutes.

As I sit and am being drove through the city, several different things run through my mind. Lucas, Marcus, Papa and Felisa.

Sure, last night was bliss full, but now, we rose a whole lot of problems. I am ready to face them all, but I want to be prepared. I made a mental list of problems that will arise and how many of them I can solve. The first one is Marcus. I am sure he is interested in dating me, but I can't let this go on. I love Lucas and Marcus has to know that. This problem can only be ended by me.

The second one is Papa. I know something is not right with Papa suddenly getting a heart attack. I need to know what kind of medicines he is taking. I don't trust Felisa anymore. I have to go back to the palace to check them myself. I don't care what Felisa thinks or how angry she will get if I go back there unannounced. It's Papa and I can't risk anything when it comes to him.

The third is Felisa. Oh, where should I start? Now that she has seen us rebelling, I don't know what she will do. She will definitely do one of the two things. One being telling whatever happened to everyone and that will explode like a bomb. But I am sure Lucas and I can push through that. Now that I know he loves me, I am more confident about us. Second being, she will raise a silent war. This is a tough one.

I don't know how to prepare for that other than telling myself to trust Lucas and stay strong.

But all those things aside, my mind goes back to Lucas.

I love you, Lucas.

Before I know it, I reached the hotel. The valet opens the door for me. I pay for the cab before getting out and he drives off. Marcus is waiting in the lounge and gives me his pleasant smile. He is a sweet guy. I smile back at him.

"Good morning, Anabelle!" He greets me giving his arm.

"Good morning, Marcus!" I greet him back and link my arm with his. My heart is drumming against my chest.

"I would have picked you up." He did say he wanted to pick me up at my house. I was not comfortable with calling him there. I am not comfortable with anyone there except for Papa and Lucas.

"It is completely fine." I brush it off with a smile.

"You look lovely today." He tells me sweetly as we talk to the tables. He pulls out the chair for me like the true gentleman he is.

"Thank you. That's sweet of you." I give him another one of my polite smiles. He sits in his chair. We order our food start talking. After a while, I stop the small talk. It's time to tell him. "Marcus, I need to tell you something." My words seem to make him understand that I am serious cause he sits up straight.

"Sure. Is something the matter?" He asks with concern. I gulp down some water. It's okay Anabelle. It's time! Tell him! It's better than tagging him along.

"You are a really sweet person and Papa loves you. You know that it was Papa's idea that we would be good for each other. The thing is-" I start to tell him, but am cut off by the voice that I love so much.

"Good morning, Marcus." Lucas's voice greets us and I look at him wide-eyed. What is he doing here? Didn't he find my letter? He is wearing the same shirt and pants. Of course he came straight from my home. His hair looks dishelved and his fingers are holding his coat over his shoulder. He is looking sexy as hell! Marcus turns to him and gives him his smile genuinely surprised to run into him.

"Good morning, Lucas. Nice to see you here." Marcus greets back. "You know Anabelle." He introduces me. Oh no! Lucas turns to me and gives me his killer smile. My heart is jumping out of my chest.

"Of course." He muses as he leans down and places a lingering kiss on my cheek. I close my eyes for a brief moment and reminisce it. I open my eyes and blush all shades of red. This is not good. "You don't have to introduce me to my girl." Lucas says as he pulls the chair beside me closer and sits down in it before placing his hand over my shoulder as he brings me closer.

On no! He is doing this purposefully!

Can he make it any more obvious?

"Lucas." I whisper begging him to stop. I look up and find Marcus looking at us intensely. He got what's happening. He is not stupid. I try to move out of Lucas's hold, when he pulls me closer. His grip on me gets tighter, not too much to hurt me, but tight enough to make me not move. "I am sorry, Marcus. I wanted to tell you this. I was about to-" He cuts me off.

"It's fine. You don't have to apologise." He gives me his smile again. He is such a gentleman! "I am assuming Mr. Piccolo doesn't know about this." I shake my head at his question.

"He doesn't. Not yet." He nods his head understandingly at my answer. "We wanted to tell him, but right now, his health is more important."

"I get it."

"Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me either."

"See he understands." Lucas speaks from beside me. "Still, thank you, Marcus." His voice sounds genuine. He turns to me and kisses my cheek again. "I can't believe you left me alone in bed after last night." He smirks and I have to bite my lip to stop myself from smiling. I stand up and give him a glare. Marcus is chuckling.

"I am sorry, Marcus. It was not like that-" I don't know what to say. This is so embarrassing!

"I am hurt. Not like what? You don't love me?" Lucas fakes the hurt in his voice. He is playing me. He is doing this intentionally.

"You know I love you!" He smirks at my response. He wanted me to say it! He wanted Marcus to know! God! I fell right in his trap!

"Yeah you do." He whispers. "Then what do you mean it's not like that?" He asks. I open my mouth to respond but nothing comes out.

"I..." What am I supposed to say?! "You..." I can't believe he is being like this! He is enjoying this! I turn to Marcus. "You know what I mean." He is about to nod his head before Lucas speaks.

"No, he doesn't!" Lucas gets up and puts his hand around my waist and pulls me close. I feel my face heating up. Before I can think what he is doing, he presses his lips to mine in a very possessive manner and gives my waist a squeeze. I am too shocked to respond. He pulls away in and gives me a wink. Why dies he look so good?

"Lucas." I can't believe he just did that.

"What you want another one?" He gets close. He won't stop. I put my fingers on his lips to stop him. He pulls my hand away and turns to Marcus who look amused to my surprise. "Now he gets it." Lucas says and I want to roll my eyes. "Come!" He orders me as he pulls me along. "Will meet you soon." He tells Marcus momentarily looking at him before his eyes find my face. I am too embarrassed to even look at Marcus now.

"Bye, Marcus. Once again, thank you." I tell him and Lucas is already pulling me along. I hear Marcus chuckle again.

"You are welcome and all the best." He says.

"Thank you." Lucas tells him.

"I am talking to Anabelle." He tells him and I smile. I know why he is telling me all the best. It's to deal with the Devil here! I smile and Lucas grunts. Lucas's hand slips from my waist to my butt. Oh my God! Marcus can see that! We are still not out of his view.

"Lucas!" He is just looking straight like he just did not do anything. I take his hand and pull it up to my waist. He groans and looks at me. Shaking his head he looks away.

"You should not have left the bed this morning." His tone is more of a warning. He pulls me and his car is already waiting. He opens the door and puts me inside like a doll. He gets in quickly and pulls off the drive way of the hotel.

"I am sorry." I whisper looking down at my hands.

"If you run off like that again, I am dragging you back to bed and tying you to it." He threatens. A gasp leaves my lips and I smile. I am still blushing from what happened back there. "I am okay with being your dirty little secret, but I am not okay with you leaving like that." He says looking ahead as he drives. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it.

"I just wanted to end things with Marcus-Ah!" I moan as he gently bites my finger before sucking the tip of it. His eyes meet mine as we stop at a traffic signal. I see his hooded eyes filled with haze. It makes butterflies rise in my stomach and I bite my lip. He is so sexy! He is giving me that look, like he wants to kiss me and I am sure mine reflect the same.

The light changes to green and he fastens through the road. He is driving fast.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Right now, we are going to go to my house, then we are going shopping and then we are going to a wedding." He informs. Wait! What?! Wedding?! He looks at my face and chuckles. "Oh, I wouldn't do that to you, Angel. Relax." He places his hand on my thigh and his palm grazes the skin on my knee. "A friend's wedding. He is a friend of mine."

Oh God! I think I had a mini heart attack there!

Then he falls silent for a few minutes, like he is thinking. I wonder what it might be about. Surely a lot will be changing now. I still don't know what Felisa might be doing. We reach a tall apartment. He goes in and parks the car. Once he is done, he opens my side of the door and gives me his hand.

"My lady." He smiles and I place mine in his. He closes the door once I am out and we go to the elevator.

Things go by quickly from there. We reach up to a fifteenth floor. Exiting we walk into his house. I gasp once I enter. It's big and very spacious. The apartment is surrounded by glass walls on two sides. There are two floors in the apartment from what I see. It's nothing like my place. The house I am living in big, but nothing like this. Mine is cozy and his is classy and rich.

"I would love to give you a tour, Angel." I look at his as he speaks. "But we don't have much time."

"I get it."

"I am going to take a shower now. I would ask you to join me." I blush again and hit his arm playfully. "But I know that it's too soon." He teases me. "Make yourself at home." He kisses my temple as he leaves me in the living room.

I glide around the house walking from living room to kitchen. I see three rooms downstairs and I feel really tempted to open and see, but I control myself. It's like snooping and I don't want to do that. But there is one door open and I go in to see that it's his study or office room.

Walking up to his table, I look around the room. It has a sofa and table at the other end of the room that looks like it's for discussing business matters. I reach his table and there are a few files spread out while the others are on one end of the table. He seems to be working on some project and is in the middle of it. I decide not to disturb anything and am about to walk out, when I see something.

His top drawer is half open and I find a passport size picture of me. I blink a few times to see if this is real. Opening the drawer completely, I find that it is actually me. My heart starts racing. It is a picture I have given to the HR the day after I started working for Lucas. They need it for employee records and to give me an ID card.

A feeling of something that I can't express settles in me. It's more than happiness. It shows me how much he wants me.

It might seem silly but I never thought being wanted by the person you love would feel this good. Growing up, I was the unwanted person. I was never picked for anything and I was never chosen for anything. Except for Papa, everyone made it clear that I wasn't needed. It developed a sense of insecurity in me. But Papa gave me enough love to push that away.

There was always this fear though... That Lucas might not want me. But this little proof right here erased that. This and the kiss last night. I am more confident about us. Silently closing the drawer, I walk out of the room with a happy smile on my face.

Going and sitting on the couch in his living room, I think of what I did today. I have solved one problem. Time for the next one. I take out my phone and call Melody. It's been a while since I talked to the only friends I had inside the palace. She quickly picks up and greets me with her ever so cheerful voice.

"Good morning, Anna!" She greets me. A smile instantly appears on my face.

"Good morning, Melody!"

I greet and we chat for a while. Then she passes the phone to Sophia and Greta. We all talk and I catch up with them. I feel guilty for not calling them once I left the palace, but so much has happened since then. Once they are all done, they pass the phone back to Melody.

"I need a favour." I tell her pleadingly. I feel nervous, but this is the only way.

"Tell me dear." She urges

"Has Papa been taking his medicines regularly?"

"Yes. Yes, he is. We make sure he doesn't miss any. You have nothing to worry about. We are here." She assures me. My heart is still not at ease though.

"Thank you, Melody. But I need you to do something for me."

"Sure, what is it?"

"I want you to go to Papa's room and take a pill of each medicine he is taking."

"What?" I know it sounds stupid, but I need those.

"Yes. I need to find out something. I will be coming to the palace tomorrow and I haven't told Papa yet. I will talk to him later, but I need you to do this for me." I rush. She sounds confused and pauses for a few seconds.

"Okay, dear. I will do that. I hope everything is okay." I can hear the worry in her voice.

"Me too." I hear his shower turn on and off and know that he is done. "See you soon, Melody."

"You too, Anna!"

I cut the call. I remember that I didn't tell Marcus what I wanted to. Taking my phone out, I start tying the message before sending it.

I am sorry that you have to find out this way. Please tell Papa that you are not interested in me.

I hear footsteps and lift my head up. Lucas walks out looking heavenly as he always does. He looks fresh. He is wearing a white shirt with light blue suit and pants. The first two buttons of his shirt are open and as he walks to me, the sunlight falling from the glass wall of his house enhance his looks. He is so hot! His eyes don't leave mine for a second.

"Lucas." I don't know why I whisper his name. He comes to me and grabs me by my waist, pulling me close to his chest. I gasp at the impact. His lips find mine before I could even register what's happening.

The kiss that's started tenderly becomes passionate and I let him do as he pleases. I kiss him back. His hands pull up my dress and his palm kneads my butt. I gasp pulling away, but he holds me in place. He takes over my senses. My hands are around his neck and his tongue is in my mouth. He kisses me so deeply. My mind is in a trance.

He pulls back and leans his head against mine. We are breathing heavily. As I look at him, I remember finding my picture in his drawer. I feel warmth spreading through my body.

"I love you, Lucas." Those words leave my lips automatically. The memories of last night come back to my mind. The way we kept kissing, touching and more kissing. It was intense and pure love. I never felt like this before. Lucas's eyes gaze deep into mine.

"I love you." He whispers. "Fuck! You don't know what you do to me, do you?" He asks and I just want to kiss him more. He takes a step back and I already miss him. He kisses my forehead. "I would give you a tour of the house, but we will be late. Let's go." He leans down and picks up my phone. When did it fall out of my hands? Before he gives it to me, it pings. His eyes fall on the message. "Why does he keep messaging you?!" He hisses.

Oh it must be from Marcus!

He opens the text and reads it. A scowl appears on his face and he looks up at me. I take my phone and see what it is.

Will do. Happy for you.

I smile. That's sweet of him.

Lucas grabs the phone and starts typing something. I lean up to see what it is. Is he typing a message to send Marcus? I frown as I try to see. He turns away, but I go around.

"What are you typing?" I ask and finally get to see.

Leave my girlfriend alone Asshole. The draft reads. I gasp. He didn't! Before he can hit send, I snatch my phone and delete it. Lucas stands there with clenched jaw. I look at him and find him pulling out his phone. I frown again and find him sending the same message through his phone.

"No! Lucas, stop it!" I take his phone from him only to see that it's been sent. I look up at him and he has a smirk on his face. I shake my head at him. "Marcus is a sweet guy. He wouldn't-" I am cut off.

"Stop saying that." He commands as he reaches around and gives my butt a gentle squeeze. I squeal. It was unexpected. Before I can respond, he grabs my hand and pulls me along. It seems that's all he will be doing today. Pulling me along and bossing me. I smile internally.

Just as we go down and get in his car, his phone starts ringing. His phone is connected to the Bluetooth in his car and I see that the call is from Gemma. I look at him and his eyes meet mine. We know what this is about. He contemplates on whether he should lift the call or not and I put my hand on his giving him a nod.

Take the call.

It's not like she doesn't know about us. It's not like we are betraying anyone. He connects the call. Before he can greet her, she yells in the phone.

"What the fuck have you guys done?!" She yells.

This is bound to happen.

A/N:

Hey my cute dumplings!

Well, one problem is out of the way and there are several other battles left. Lucas's Possessive side will be coming out and our sweet Anabelle has to just deal with it.

Please VOTE and COMMENT.