LV1. Wolf's Wife

29. Alexandra - Timestamp

"Why are you doing all this?" I asked him one evening. I couldn't look him in the eyes, so I watched my fork drawing circles in the leftover rice on my plate. I slurped on my mango lassi from time to time. This was the third night we had Indian, and there was always mango lassi in the delivery. He noticed that it was my favorite and ordered it for me without asking. For that alone I could have fallen in love with him.

Sitting here, across of him was one of those moments I would treasure forever. The way he rolled up his shirtsleeves before he accurately put all the food containers on the counter. The way his dark brown hair fell to his forehead and made me want to smooth it back. And the most importantly as his plump lips always pulled into that easy smile, whenever he looks up. That always made me wonder how it would feel on my own lips.

Every time we sit like this, in silence I felt a twinge of loss. There was a time stamp on our marriage. Next June was far away, but it would arrive too fast. Unless... Could I ruin everything with wanting more?

My chest ached as I waited for his answer. It seemed that I wasn't getting one. I still wasn't able to look up, the rice becoming blurry in my vision.

"Have anyone ever told you when I first met my father?" He asked a shocking question instead.

"What do you mean?" I lifted my gaze and he was watching me intently, with his head cocked slightly to left.

"Come on, let's snuggle on the sofa and I will tell you the story." He reached out for my hand and pulled me with him. For once we didn't tidy up the kitchen before the night.

I had to admit, this was one of my favorite things to do. We sat side by side on the huge sofa, my legs tucked under me, and my face buried into his shoulder. The glittering sight of Vegas stretching before us, you could not feel anything other than being on top of the world.

"This was Gabriella's apartment before I came to Vegas." He told me and I almost purred when his fingers sank into the tresses of my hair at my nape. "She told me that she chose it because of the view. You have to agree with her. It's worth it, I guess."

He let out a short chuckle, but it didn't sound happy.

"You know, I don't even know how much this penthouse costs. It was just given to me to live in. Though they asked me if I liked it. I was so stunned at the time that I didn't even consider that my dad would totally buy me something else if I wanted to."

"But why was you so surprised?" I asked, it didn't make sense at all. "You must have known..."

"The thing is, that I didn't know. Not at all." That derisive chuckle again. The twinge of pain grew in my chest, and I had to rub it with my free hand. Sadly, it didn't go away.

"I'm not the prince charming you might have thought me to be." He shook his head, and the motion almost dislodged me from holding him close. I burrowed my nose deeper into his neck and inhaled deeply. I loved his scent that hinted pine forest and safety.

"I met my father for the first time the day before our wedding."

"What?" I sat up at that and looked him into his eyes. Of course, he wasn't joking.

"I was born in Miami. My mother run away with this man, Lorenzo. When she died, he adopted us. I found out about dad when Lorenzo died." He told all this in a rush, like it was a shameful secret you had to get rid of. "I guess he had some sort of weird revenge on all of us, especially on my dad."

It was only then when I realized that his hand fell from my nape and that I put some distance between us. Suddenly I was unsure if I could go back hugging him.

"That's..."

"Batshit crazy? Unbelievable? Pathetic?" He still used that chuckle, I was beginning to hate with whole my heart. I reached out to put a palm to his mouth to silence him.