16. Luna
SIXTEEN
LUNA
Luna’s feet were absolutely killing her by the time they returned to the building where her engagement party took place only a few feet away. Being with Valerio had been a pleasant distraction, but she was right back to having the same crippling anxiety from earlier.
“I can’t go in there,” she told him, pulling on his arm. “I look awful.”
And she did with the cut on her knee, the dried-up blood on her leg, her hair ruined, makeup smeared, and the white dress covered in dirt. Not only that, but the man her parents wanted her to marry was in there, probably wondering where his future bride had run off to.
Valerio turned to her, pushing her hair out of her face and running his thumb against her bottom lip. “You look perfect,” he muttered. “You’re incapable of ever looking less than perfect.”
Something in her stomach fluttered so violently. He spoke with such conviction that she almost believed him herself. Instead, she said nothing as he grabbed her hand and walked them inside the busy room. Luna made an effort to brush out her hair with her free hand and wipe the mascara under her eyes, which did help her appearance a little bit.
Everyone looked at the couple with wide eyes. She could have crumbled under their stares, but when her eyes moved over to Valerio, she saw how confident he looked. None of the stares seemed to faze him in the slightest. He walked with his head straight ahead, his eyes holding a newfound determination. It was almost like he didn’t care what anyone thought about him and she wished she could share that quality, but even now her skin crawled wondering what everyone would be saying about her. The rumors they would come up with seeing Luna looking this way, walking in with Valerio Vitali, wondering if their engagement was back on.
She saw the girls staring back at her with eyes wide in shock. Gianna had a wicked smile on her face as if she could see right through her. She owed them the entire story as soon as she got back to the apartment, but for now all she could give them was a small nod in reassurance. She was okay—or at least she would be.
Finn stood beside her parents, his eyes narrowed on Valerio. He most likely wasn’t expecting that Luna would have returned with his enemy of all people, but then again, Luna hadn’t expected it either. Hell, nothing made much sense anymore. But not thinking about it proved to be a lot easier than destroying herself about it. At least for the moment.
Her energy needed to be reserved for her father, who looked ready to kill someone. He was ready to pounce. She swore she could see steam leaving his ears.
He stomped up to the couple, his face red. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he spat out, forcing Valerio to push Luna behind him.
“I came to get my fiancée,” Valerio said in an oddly calm voice. Luna stood on her toes, trying to see over his shoulder. Then she wished she hadn’t. The second her father’s eyes locked on hers, she wanted to run and hide.
“You ran off to find him?” he asked. His hand twitched.
She shook her head. “I didn’t look for anyone.”
“I sought her out. The contract is back on,” Valerio said.
“No! For weeks I tried to get you to agree again. Luna is marrying someone else. That is final,” Reece hissed.
“Who is her fiancé then?” Valerio asked, his head tilting to the side.
Reece ushered with his hand for the other older man to step forward. The same nauseated feeling returned to Luna when her alleged fiancé locked eyes with her. To think her father wanted her to marry him.
“This is Edward Barnes,” Reece said. “He owns large stocks in oil and is a member on several of the same boards I’m on. He can take care of Luna.”
Edward had a large bald spot in the center of his head, creating a big, shiny sphere when the lights reflected off it. His eyes were dark, holding secrets that Luna wanted to know nothing about. Everything about him seemed off and gross, and it wasn’t just because he was her father’s age.
Luna looked at her father in disgust as well. This time her hand twitched out of instinct. A fierce burning rushed through her body.
“You wanted me to marry him?” She stepped out from behind Valerio, confronting her father. His eyes widened in disbelief at her outburst. She didn’t care. Not when he didn’t give a shit about her.
“Watch it,” he warned, his voice low.
Anger rushed through her. It consumed every thought she had. Even Valerio’s hand on her back wasn’t enough to pull her out of it. “You’re a vile, disgusting excuse of a man. A coward?—”
“Watch your mouth!” His hand swiped through the air, attempting to connect with Luna’s cheek, but the sting of pain never came. Instead, another broad hand stopped it in a frighteningly tight hold.
Luna opened her eyes, not even realizing she had closed them out of instinct to see Valerio’s murderous glare on her father as he towered over him. “So, this is what you’ve been doing? Putting your hands on my wife?” His voice was deathly eerie calm, nearly a whisper but judging by the look of fear on her father’s face, he heard every word loud and clear.
“You don’t know anything.” Reece tried to smooth out the situation. His eyes widened when Valerio pulled his wrist back, not stopping despite the protests from the older man.
“You’re right, I don’t. I have my ways of finding out though,” Valerio told him. With a loud snap and a scream from Reece, his wrist laid at an awkward angle, broken like it was nothing.
Luna looked at the scene with wide eyes. She couldn’t dwell on the moment for long. Valerio pushed her behind his back once again, attempting to block her view but it was too late.
His hand reached behind him, pulling out the gun that sat in his waistband. The gun was pointed and aimed before anyone could blink, but when he pulled the trigger, that was when the chaos actually erupted.
Luna screamed, watching as Edward fell to the floor, blood spewing from the center of his forehead. Valerio had taken the perfect shot.
Reece turned to look at his dead friend and then back at Valerio with a look Luna couldn’t decipher. Something between horror and shock.
“Well, it looks like that contract isn’t valid anymore. I’m willing to re-sign when you are,” Valerio told him. “This time with Luna’s signature as well.”
She couldn’t process his words. She could only stare at the dead man on the floor who had been living just a minute before. And Valerio had killed him without a second thought. The nightmare seemed never ending at that point.
But it wasn’t a nightmare; it was real life. As real as the enlarged vein that stood out from her father’s forehead in fury and threatening to burst. Still, Reece Kingsley had no choice but to nod in agreement, allowing Valerio, with the gun still locked in his hand, to do whatever he wanted.
Reece took out his phone, calling who she assumed to be his lawyer. Luna saw Finn in the corner of her eye. His eyes were narrowed, but he didn’t move from his spot.
Just in time, her father’s lawyer was walking in with a stack of papers prepared. In that stack stood her fate, her future.
Luna hadn’t even realized how much of the room had cleared out by then, but it was understandable. No one wanted to get caught in the crossfire between the Kingsleys and Vitalis, but it didn’t seem like a fair fight anymore. At least with this battle, there seemed to be a clear winner and everyone knew who that was.
The lawyer laid out all of the papers, clear indicators on where everyone needed to sign. Her father went first, grabbing the pen with shaky hands. He signed it messily with the hand that wasn’t broken, but it was there, in ink, for the rest of their lives.
Valerio was next. He traded the gun for the pen. He signed his name far more confidently, engraving his signature into the pages with how harshly he pushed the pen down.
There was only one person left: Luna. The lump in her throat nearly choked her. She swallowed harshly, grabbing the pen that her father’s lawyer held out for her. Luna turned to the girls, looking for Blair in particular. The latter seemed to have understood what was needed because she stepped forward, her face changing into the emotionless future lawyer she was so good at being.
“I need to read over this first,” Blair told the lawyer.
“We don’t have time,” he told her.
She rolled her eyes, grabbing the papers anyway to skim over them. Luna saw all of the men eyeing her aggressively, but Blair didn’t care. That was one thing Luna admired about her. She didn’t care when she upset the fragile egos of the men around her.
When she got to the end of the contract, she set the stack down and looked at Luna. “Are you sure about this?” Blair asked, whispering so no one else heard.
“You know what the alternative is,” she whispered back. “I have no choice.”
“I’ll explain what everything means tomorrow,” Blair said. “I’m making sure you’re protected.”
Luna nodded, feeling more thankful for her than ever before. Her father’s lawyer laid out the papers again, giving Blair a dirty look as he did so.
Luna could feel all eyes on her. She wiped her hand on her dress, securing a grip on the pen. She looked at the first page, where both her father’s signature and Valerio’s sat.
Both parties agree to the aforementioned agreement set in place.
Her hand shook violently.
Both parties agree to hosting a wedding, ensuring the unity is presented to the public.
She leaned over the paper, using her other hand to steady the one that held the pen.
Both parties agree to bring an heir into the world; one holding the blood of both families and holding the title of heir for the Vitali name.
She dropped the ink point of the pen onto the paper.
Both parties agree to stay in the contract until one of them succumbs to death, releasing the other from the contract.
Luna signed her name.
A tear fell onto the paper, smearing the ink slightly, but it didn’t matter. Her father’s lawyer took the papers the moment the pen lifted from the page.
“I will get these filed and sent to both parties,” the lawyer said.
“We need a copy,” Blair said.
He nodded reluctantly, walking away from the group. Reece looked at Valerio once again. He didn’t say anything before he was stomping out of the door. Her mother followed after him, not saying a single word to Luna on her way out. It should have hurt, but her mother choosing her father never surprised her anymore.
“Be my date to the gala next week,” Valerio said, pulling her out of her own thoughts.
She could only nod her head. It gave her time to think and to reflect.
“Then it’s a date,” he said, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips, ignoring her look of surprise.
Luna’s signature was on the page now, officially.
Forever, until death did them part.