Tale of Two Hearts

Chapter Ten

One month later:

If you had told Seto Kaiba the shy girl who had entered his life less than a month and a half ago would currently be arguing with him about  how to cook bolognaise.
"No! You don't put THREE ONIONS in bolognaise AS WELL AS three garlic cloves!" Sophia exclaimed. For an hour they argued how to make things, bolognaise being something they both agreed they could eat.
"It is! Three large onions, three garlic cloves and one carrot."
"NO! It's two large onions, three garlic cloves and TWO carrots."
"Well I've always cooked it this way. Mokuba always loved it."
"Nonni always made it my way."
"Yes well Chef Luca Romano showed me this way and I believe him over a ballerina." he nudged her playfully, but Sophia was still red in the face. He chopped up the ingredients,and then his mobile went off. "Let me get that." he walked out of the room quietly, and Sophia saw her chance. Quickly, she took one third of the onions away, throwing them in the bin, and diced up a carrot as quickly and quietly as possible. Adding them to the sauce, she made herself look busy by stirring them in trying not to smile to herself.
"What's that face for?" Seto appeared at her shoulder, looking down at her face from the side. He had a small smirk on his face, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. In public they had planned out their every move. 'Affectionate' hand touch here, hold hands there, swift hand on the back when guiding her somewhere. It all looked kosher in magazines and on television. So now small touches were ingrained. A learned behaviour. Still, Sophia felt a small flutter in her stomach as she looked up at his face. His powerful features, his sapphire eyes, blazing with... something strong and powerful. She smiled as she stirred, ducking her head and blushing. He leaned down, moving stray hairs from her ear. She could feel the heart in her chest hammering so fast, so fast she was frightened it might be quite audible. Her breathing quickened, and he whispered: "wanna turn up the heat?" As he took her wrist and slowly travelled up her hand... and turned the hob up higher. Pulling back up to his full height, he said:
"You had it way too low! It'd take forever on that heat." He smirked. She was astounded. Speechless!
"Yeah..."

A half hour later, Sophia plated up the spaghetti for herself and the Kaiba brothers. They say at the long table that could seat ten, four on each side, one at each end.
"See Sophia, I told you it tasted better this way." He made a triumphant smile as he ate his food. Sophia rolled her eyes, knowing if she admitted to changing it now, it'd cause an argument of sorts. She silently glowered at him. Head strong, stubborn idiot.
"We're going to a charity auction and ball this Saturday."
"What?" She frowned. Was he honestly telling her what to do now?
"I can't, I have nothing to wear."
"It's fine, I'll take you shopping."
"Can't you take Mokuba?" She sighed. Auctions and balls were foreign to her, the closest event she had gone to was her high school prom.
"No. Not after last time. And anyway, you're my fiancée. It'll be expected of you."
"Expected of me..? I have lessons on Sunday morning and have to be up at 6am."
"Skip it."
"You do know how much those girls pay for me to teach them, right?"
"It's just one lesson, it'd be fine." he pressed, not even looking her in the face as he commandeered her life.
"I'm not going."
"Well... it's either that or bad press. Which means your father will be on the phone, complaining." he smirked triumphantly.
"You're an ass." she stood up, leaving her plate half finished and got up off the table.

"Asshole." she leaned into her mirror, brushing the black eyeshadow brush over her lids. "Who does he think he is?" applying the eyeliner to her smoky eyed look. She brushed her curls a little, enough to make it sit nicely around her face and shoulders. A sharp knock came from the door of her room.
"Sophia. What are you doing?"
"Getting ready."
"Getting ready to..."
"Go out." she stood up, smoothing the back of her dress off. She wore a sweetheart lace black lbd. The black Louboutins she wore were four inches.
"Go out where?" "
"I'll find somewhere. I need some space and a drink." she swung open the door, coming face to face with Kaiba. He was angry, red flushing his cheeks and his teeth were gritted slightly.
"Where will you go? You don't know Domino city. You don't know what kind of losers you'll meet. Just... come on." he sighed. He had shed his suit for a park of blue jeans and a light cotton tshirt. His feet were bare.
"I'll have one of the guys shadow me if that makes you feel any better." she snapped her clutch bag closed, ensuring she had everything.
"It doesn't."
"Too bad." she stood up, still not the same height as him, but was still defiant.
"Sophia... why are you doing this? It's stupid, you won't be safe."
"I'll be fine, Kaiba." she moved past him angrily, walking downstairs while poking at a keypad.
"Parker." the intercom sounded as Simon Parker answered the call.
"Hey Simon, can you bring the car round front? I'm going out."
"Is Mister Kaiba coming with you?"
"No. Just me." she heard Kaiba run through the house.
"Sophia, come on. It's dangerous." he said in a low, desperate tone, but she ignored him, walking towards the front door.
"It's a night out. I have my credit card, I have my phone, and I'll have Parker stay with me. Okay?" she slammed the door behind her.
"Okay Parker, can you stay on me tonight? Mister Kaiba is worried."

"Why of course. Would you like me to stay outside or come inside."
"Come inside, just give me some breathing room yeah? Don't want anyone thinking you're my boyfriend now, do we?"
"Will do, Miss Giovanni." he smiled slightly. He was an attractive guy in his thirties, at least from what she could see, with light stubble and a strong chin. He always wore black sunglasses, a black suit, and black tie, and a black bluetooth handsfree speaker. The same uniform was used by all of the security staff, and it was like the men in black headquarters in the Kaiba mansion.

They arrived outside a thumping nightclub, which Sophia saw a neon sign reading "Cheetahs" in pink. "Thanks Parker, I'll give you the signal when I'm ready to go." she smiled, patting his arm. Getting out of the car, she walked into the line, waiting. She was probably there for about two minutes, when someone shouted: "Guys! Look! It's her!"
"Ohmygawd, it's Sophia Giovanni!"
"Seto Kaiba's fiancee!" a bouncer came to the back of the line, and said; "Hello Miss. Free VIP entry for you tonight, is Mr Kaiba with you this evening?" Sophia shook her curls.
"No! He's working."
"Well you and Mr Kaiba were put on the VIP list. Youll have your own table and a bottle of champagne. Come, come!" She was led away from the rabbles, earning angry sighs and comments from the others in the line.
Stepping into the throbbing nightclub, she was hit by mixed smells. The scent of people, the scent of booze and sweat and fresh paint assaulted her nose. She was led towards the roped off VIP section, where she was given a booth made for roughly ten and a bottle of Grey Goose and a bottle of Don Pergnon on ice. She sat, a small slim figure in a huge booth, and her mind wondered to the ice cold billionaire at home.

"Hey, Yugi. Ain't that Seto Kaiba's fiancée?" Joey nudged Yugi's arm, pointing to the VIP section. Yugi stopped dancing and turned to cast his eyes in her direction. Sure enough, the blonde girl definitely was Seto Kaiba's betrothed.
"Yeah I think you're right Joey."
"So where is rich boy? I haven't seen his mug in months." He said, clenching his fist. Joey was still bitter about the last duel they had where Seto had destroyed him in less than ten moves. A 'lucky hand' was what Joey called it. Tea looked over at the obviously lonely girl, and stepped away from the group. "Where are you going?" Serenity asked her quietly.
"Come on." She pulled her along, right up to the velvet red rope. She waved at the blonde girl to get her attention and motioned her to come over.
Sophia looked up from her phone to see two girls of similar ages to her by the ropes.
"Hey! Come here I need to talk to you!"
Sophia stood up and approached wearily.
"Wanna come dance with us? You look a little sad." The older girl asked her, reaching her hand over the rope as she motioned her over.
"Can you save my table, please sir?" She asked sweetly of the bouncer, who in turned blushed and mumbled: "Of course Miss Giovanni." She scanned the room for Parker, who was stood by the bar nursing what looked to be an alcoholic beverage, but Sophia knew better. Sunglasses akimbo, he was looking in her direction. He did a small two finger salute with his unoccupied hand, and Sophia smiled at him.
"So this is Duke, Tristan, this is serenity, I'm Tea, that's Yugi, and this is-"
"Joey Wheeler, pleased to meet ya." Sophia giggled as a thick Brooklyn accent cut Tea off, and his hand was outstretched. He wore a big grin on his face, the kind you'd see on a school boy. What a cutie, Sophia thought. She shook his hand.
"You're probably wondered why we called you over here." Tea said to her quietly. Sophia quickly became worried, but kept her composure as best as possible.
"It crossed my mind." She smiled awkwardly.
"We saw you were alone. You looked a little lost in thought, and you looked like you needed to let loose a little. That's all." Tea smiled at her again, as did the younger girl.
"Thanks guys."
"So, I gotta ask. I heard Big Guy over there call you Miss Giovanni. Are you Seto Kaiba's fiancée, by any chance?" Joey asked, subtlety not his strong suit.
"Yes."
"Where is Rich Bo- Kaiba, anyway?"he again looked tense, but relaxed when she told him he was at home.

After an hour of dancing, Sophia suggested they go back to her booth. Looking around, she saw Parker was now second floor, watching her from above. She did the two finger salute to him, which he raised his drink at.
"So. How did someone as nice and well-" Joey motioned around her face and body "get with Kaiba? He's such a stick in the mud." Joey laughed, while Duke and Tristan nodded in agreement. Sophia felt a sudden urge to defend her 'fiance'.
"My fiancé has an empire to run. He works hard, and he may work long hours, but he loves his brother and he loves me. I met him when I lived in Sicily. Poor guy wouldn't leave me be. Turned down a tonne of dates before I agreed." She smiled, finding the lie funny as Seto Kaiba's doesn't seem to be the sort of man to chase any woman. "He knows what he wants, and he'll do what he can to get it. He's supportive of my career and interests. I greatly admire that in a man, abs once you get to know Seto, there's so much to love about him." Her face split into a smile, a genuine, happy smile.
"Couldn't have worded it better myself, Sophia." Who stood at the head of the booth? None other than Seto Kaiba.