The Contract Wife. book Series #1 (COMPLETED!)

C16: Lucius again

(Seven months later)

To say Derek and Victoria had grown attached was an understatement, as a matter of fact, they were always together.

"Wow, look at this." Victoria smiled as she raised a small pale pink bunny pajama for a baby. "Its really cute." She said in a mummer when he didn't answer. "Are you listening?"

"I am." He said as he held another shirt in the air, a baby boy's shirt with countless silly drawings on it. "All of these are ridiculous."

"They are cute." She objected then sighed as she glanced down at her bulging belly under a thick sweater she had on since it was a very cold day.

They sat by the fireplace with a tray of hot chocolate in front of them to keep their insides warms and the fire to keep their skin warm.

"I don't think so." He said as he dropped the shirt in the pile of the fresh set of clothes they had ordered. "I'm tired."

"You only picked four shirts-" she was cut short when her phone began to ring behind Derek. He reached over to the stool and checked the caller ID before giving it to her.

"Lucius is still alive?" He asked with a forced smile as she stared at the phone for a moment before answering.

"Hello? Hi... I miss you too. Oh this afternoon? Well.... No uh. Sure. Okay... Bye." She cut the call and bit on her lip as she glanced up at Derek who had been staring since the call.

"What does he want?" He asked and she smiled sheepishly.

"Hr wants to take me out." She said and cleared her throat when he frowned. "Just for lunch."

"You promised we would go out today." Derek stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. "That we would eat out today."

"I know... But he's leaving soon and... Come on Derek." She pleaded and he looked away from her and towards the fireplace. "Derek."

"You're six months pregnant now and I can't let you." He said as he shot his eyes back to her. "He knows you're on a contract then why can't he leave you alone?"

"Derek don't be so..."

"Don't be so what?" He asked in anger as he shot her a glare. "He might hurt you."

"He wouldn't do anything like that to me. He loves me." She said and he clenched his jaw tightly.

"You kept asking if I was afraid of falling in love right? Its because I did have someone I loved. But she was murdered just because she was with me. They killed her just to make me suffer. Now I've kept you away from public eye for six damn months but people still know your face and if you go out there, you might get yourself killed." He said and she stared at him in shock.

"What was her name?" She asked and he eased his shoulders a bit as he sighed out.

"Her name was also Victoria." He said then cast his eyes down to the pile of clothes in front of him. "Victoria Walkers. We were born on the same day and her parents wanted her to marry me. I fell in love with her when we were eighteen and she got killed a year later." He said and she furrowed her brows in pity. "I wasn't given time to know her. So when she died I wasn't in much dread. But seeing how her parents screamed at me for killing her made me wonder how I would react if she was rooted into my heart."

She stared at him in pity as she bit onto her lip, knowing he didn't want to reach a certain point where he had to tell her about his Victoria.

"Is that the reason you gave me the contract?" She asked and he stared at her with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I guess I should tell you now." He sighed out and ran a hand through his hair. "Mrs Welling? Your boss if you could say, she's my sister. Older sister. She's the first born of the family. When you got into the company, she's been telling me how much you reminded her of the Victoria that left... I ignored her all the time so when my parents started pinning me into marriage details, she suggested I hire you. I accepted and here we are."

"Didn't your parents find it odd that I have the same name as her?" She asked and he shrugged his shoulders again.

"Well for starters you hardly look anything alike." He said and tilted his head to the side. "But the name did make them slightly uneasy. But I lied to them that I wanted to so that I can erase her memories." He said and she tensed up uneasily.

"B-but... that's awful." She said shakily. "That's wrong... She should hold a special part in your brain... She deserves to be there."

"Well you should have said that earlier. You seem to have already replaced 90%." He chuckled only to notice she wasn't happy about it. "You think its bad because you want to respect her, but believe me I'm much happier with your memories than hers."

"You think that's going to make things better?" She asked and he smiled softly.

"Not really." He said then sighed. "Look, Victoria, even though you feel like replacing her is a problem, which it is, but instead of everyone thinking of her dead when they mention her name, they think of you. Even her parents. I told them only to discover they believe in reincarnation." He chuckled. "They might want to see you one day."

"Oh no." She said as she blushed and glanced down at her hands. "Do I have to?"

"Yes." He chuckled and bit on his lower lip as he enjoyed the sight of her blushing. "I like it when you blush."

"If you like my laugh and my blush then why don't you just start loving me." She chuckled out and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I'll think about it." He smiled then frowned when her phone began to vibrate again, with Lucius name appearing on the screen. "Are you going to eat with him?"

"If you'll allow me..." She said as she answered the phone. "You're outside? Already? Its only ten... Anyway, I'll meet you there." She cut the call and sighed as she struggled to get up. Derek sprung to his feet and grabbed her hands, helping her to stand. "He's already outside."

"So you're eating out with him?" Derek asked once more and she nodded. "Okay."

"Wow.... You've actually agreed!" She laughed out and he rolled his eyes as he escorted her to the doors.

"Because I know you won't listen either way." He chuckled as they stepped out of the house and into the front yard, where a black car stood just in front of them with a man standing just beside it. He smiled at Victoria as she made her way down with Derek beside her, holding her hand. "You must be Lucius."

"And you must be Derek. The guy that wrote the contract." Lucius said coldly, making Derek tense in anger.

"You could say that." Derek said as Victoria tagged on his arm. "I hope you take good care of her."

"Why wouldn't I?" Lucy's asked as he raised a brow towards him.

"Just protect her." Derek rolled his eyes then turned to Victoria who smiled at him. "Be safe okay?" He asked as he leaned in and planted a small kiss on her lips.

"Seriously?" Lucius asked as he crossed his arms on his chest. Derek couldn't resist a nasty smirk as he leaned on again and kissed her deeply.

"Okay Derek." Victoria chuckled nervously as she pulled away from him, then turned to Lucius who smiled and held his hand for her to take.

"Two hours." Derek said as Lucius walked towards the car with Victoria. "She should be back by one."

"Alright contract maker!" He said with a laugh as he helped Victoria into her seat before heading over to his.

*****
Wow! Some tension there!
So much tension even greater than the tension I get when I try on smaller shoe sizes. Am I right!?

Comment and vote! What do you think about this triangle?
Is it even a triangle or is there a strong connection between either two people?