Touching The Forbidden

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Aaron's POV

"Alexa, shut up!" I shouted at Alexa, the virtual assistant AI Technology, and immediately the music stopped.

Morris, the butler, looked at me and his eyes grew big in shock at my loud voice. I raised a hand in exasperation and immediately left the living room.

Damn Edward. He commanded Alexa to play a playlist of 1990s love songs and it had been playing in the whole house for the past two hours.

I was irritated, because I knew that Jessica was responsible for this sudden romantic mood of Edward's. They had been flirting at each other at the pool. She did not waste time luring him with her flirty smiles, flirty eyes and sexy hand gestures. With that skimpy bikini outfit that left nothing to a man's imagination, I could not blame him for missing a step.

She ruined Troy's life, and I would never allow her to ruin Edward's life too. She did enough damage to the family already.

If only Troy listened to me, he would still be alive right now. He agreed to marry Celine, but because of this whirlwind romance with Jessica, he forgot his commitment to Celine.

Celine would be the perfect match for Troy. He was weak, fickle-minded and over-trusting, while Celine had this strength of character, courage and confidence that he lacked. She could motivate him, make him listen and make sure that he was not slipping in life.

Jessica was the opposite of Celine. She encouraged and influenced him to do evil by living an active social life. Going to rave parties, drinking all night, gambling at higher stakes and using drugs. She unleashed the evil side of him.

Thinking about what she did made me more furious. I remembered talking to her earlier and again, I almost forgot how wicked she was. Her angelic face and innocent green eyes were so deceiving.

I went to my room and took a long shower. I was so annoyed that the image of Jessica still lingered in my mind.

Jessica's POV

I chose a dainty peach halter mini dress for dinner with matching stiletto shoes. I put my hair up in a messy bun since I had no time to fix my hair. I fell asleep after my vigorous swim and the romantic music that filled the whole house lured me to deep sleep.

I applied the skin care products that Michael from the beauty salon gave me. He also gave me a cosmetic kit to apply on my face. I used a minimal amount of makeup by following the strokes he taught me. The black mascara lengthened my eyelashes, the pinkish red glossy lipstick accentuated my lips.

I knew in my bones that I was not used to doing stuff like this. Dolled up by this very expensive outfit and makeup.

Kora warned me that the Latsis really dressed up for dinner, even when they dined only at home. I did not question it, maybe it was a thing for extremely rich people like them.

I went down in the living room early, feeling nervous meeting the whole family for the first time. Dinner started at seven, but I was there at six thirty. I felt awkward being there alone, it was like being too excited to eat the fancy food, though it was true.

All the food they had was so delicious. I had met the chef that morning, he was an international chef and had won so many awards. So amazing how rich people like the Latsis could afford to hire one of the best chefs in the world, and live in a luxurious mansion like this one that had almost everything inside the property, including a zoo. It was more than like living in a very luxurious hotel all the time.

I decided to play the piano while waiting for the others. I played the first thing that came into my mind, "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera.

"That's so beautiful. I love that song."

"Oh! Skylar." I stopped playing the piano, surprised to see Troy's twin, Skylar. With her was a blond guy who was probably in his early twenties.

"Hi, Jessica, it's wonderful to finally meet you in the flesh." She hugged me and clasped my hand. "The crash must have been a horrible experience for you. Are you okay now?"

"Thank you for your concern. Yeah, I'm okay, except that I lost my memories."

She nodded and squeezed my hand. "Mom told me. But don't worry, it will come back soon. Oh, by the way, this is my fiancé, Levi. He teaches surfing in Australia, and he's quite famous too."

"Really?" My face lit up. I felt like I had a big interest in surfing too.

Levi's face flushed. "Don't believe her. I'm not famous."

"He's very humble. We met when he taught me surfing in Australia, but it took me too long to learn. We flirted way too much."

We laughed and talked about a lot of things. I felt like the three of us would get along so well.

Edward arrived and so did Mr. and Mrs. Latsis. The living room became more lively as all surrounded me while I played the piano. Everyone sang when I played "Let it Go" from Frozen.

"Come on, Edward. Stay in tune!" Skylar complained for the second time, but Edward seemed not to hear her, and sang his heart out.

"He's also messing up the lyrics," Mrs. Latsis said.

"I'm not the only one. Dad is worse," Edward defended himself, "he's inventing his own lyrics."

"Like father, like son," Levi said and everyone laughed.

That moment was so precious. I felt the love of a real family, like I belong with them.

But my laughter died when I saw someone observing me from a distance. It was Aaron, holding my eyes as I continued to play the piano.

For a second, I saw a twinge of admiration in his eyes. Maybe I was wrong, because all of a sudden, his eyes became hard and accusatory again.

___

Celine arrived. She was a stunning tall woman, sophisticated and very formal. Her brunette hair was short, a bob-cut. Her nails were long and she wore perfect flawless makeup. Her black and white outfit exuded power.

"Celine, I want you to meet Jessica, my sister in-law," Aaron introduced us. "Jessica, this is Celine Bennet, a very good friend of our family."

Celine assessed me, as cold as an iceberg. Then she took my hand in a firm grip. "So, we finally met."