If Loving You is Wrong

3: Confusion

Liana stood at the side of the yacht for a few bewildered seconds before she gathered her senses and turned to Emilia with a smile,

"What's wrong Em?" Emilia looked confused for the moment,

"I came out to find you, see if you're okay...are you? Okay that is?" Liana laughed nervously, although she'd hoped it come out nonchalantly.

"Of course everything's okay, why wouldn't it be?" she said taking her friends arm and turning to head back inside.

"Then what was that about with you and Antonio?" Liana fanned at her friend dismissively,

"I have no idea what you're talking about, he came out a little before you did; talkative as ever and now here we are."

Emilia didn't look convinced but decided to ignore it as she said with a nervous smile,

"He is rather weird isn't he, he hasn't said ten words in a row all evening!" Liana shrugged as they closed one of the sliding doors behind them,

"No idea what his problem is but who even cares, how is Julian?" Liana proceeded to tease her friend as Emilia went into one about how hot Julian was.

When they finally returned to the dining room, Liana noticed immediately that Antonio wasn't there. She couldn't very well ask where he'd gone and so as the night eventually wound down; she retired to her room without seeing him again.

----

The next day at breakfast, once again everyone was in attendance except Antonio but she had a natural opening to ask,

"Where's your friend?" she asked David.

Asahd and Saima were feeding each other grapes while Julian and Emilia were wrapped around each other like vines. Julian however peeled his attention away from Emilia to say,

"Working, that's all he does!" the other guys laughed and so the joke from yesterday made sense.

"He's a workaholic then?" Liana asked as she poured herself some coffee and the other three men nodded.

"The fact he's even on this trip with us is a miracle. All he does is work when he's not at home." David said before biting into a croissant. Asahd and Julian agreed just as Liana's phone rang.

Looking at the caller ID, her face erupted into a smile as she picked up,

"Daddy!"

"Hello my darling daughter, how are you?"

Liana excused herself and left the dining room to head into another cabin to take the call with her father.

Leonardo Vargas was a billionaire financier who, along with his entrepreneur wife Leia were the most important people in Liana's life. Along with her older brother and sister, Liana came from a family that was all about honesty, respect and togetherness. These attributes had always been drummed into her growing up and she was forever grateful for having such wonderful parents to have raised her,

"I'm fine daddy, how are you?"

"Busy," he said with a sigh. "There's a lot going on at the moment with your brother."

"Leandro, what's he done?"

"It's nothing he's done actually but enough about him, what are you up to?"

Liana went on to explain that she was going to be in Abu Dhabi for a few days before returning to America. He asked that she try and visit them before school officially began and she promised that she would.

"Give mama a kiss for me, I love you."

"I love you too Liana, speak soon. Bye."

"Bye daddy," she said softly and hung up.

Liana stood there for a moment with a stupid grin on her face, thinking about her dad when her attention was refocused to movement in the corner of the room.

"I thought you'd never finish that call."

Liana's eyes widened as she saw Antonio rise from where he must have been laying, on a high-backed couch.

She noticed immediately that he was wearing his suit from the previous evening and that he looked terrible,

"What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped at him, embarrassed that he had listened to her private conversation.

Antonio sauntered over to him but even as he exuded confidence in his strides, she noticed a subtle sway. When he finally stopped inches from her, she caught a distinct whiff of whiskey. She knew the exact kind because her father drank it all the time,

"Are you drunk?" she asked in confusion as Antonio peered down at her.

"What if I am bellissima?"

"Don't call me gorgeous, why were you listening to my conversation?" she demanded,

"You speak Italian?" he seemed surprised,

"Parlo molte lingue" I speak many languages. Liana snapped at him, "You still havent answered my questions!"

"And I don't intend to," he said simply as he walked away from her but Liana refused to be deterred by this man who had plagued her thoughts since she'd laid eyes on him.

She spun around before he got to the cabin door and said,

"Why did you kiss me?"

She watched his shoulders slump in defeat and heard the biggest sigh,

"It was a mistake...it never should have happened." Liana hated that his words hurt her,

"Maybe, but...why?"

She thought he wasn't going to answer as she watched his fist tighten around the door knob. Slowly, Antonio turned his head to the side and said,

"Because I had to."

"What doe..." she didn't get to finish her question as he exited the room without a look back.

****