"Mr. Marchetti!" A young lady, twenty-six at tops, dressed in a radiant blue overflowing gown, she was even blonder than Mea. Her skin was white. Snow white. And her lips were on fire. She is dead stunning, Mea thought. And she was coming their way. Lords! She felt so small.
She could feel the woman size her up in one quick and sharp glance, and the look only made her feel even smaller, and more out of place.
" Signorina" He greets, elbows still tightly locked with Mea's.
"I see you got yourself a date today." The lady said, again looking her up and down with those esteem breaking knives she called eyes. Just that one look, and Mea felt like she would stagger and fall if Marco didn't hold her firmly.
"I haven't seen her around before, who is she? She looks rather out of place." She scoffed, and Mea toddled two steps back, trying to hide behind Marco, away from the woman's evil eyes.
But he won't let her. He holds her firmly to his side.
"That question is as dumb as the one who asked it." He calmly deadpans. Mea looked up at him with utter disbelief, why would he say that to a lady? She wondered, but he didn't seem to care.
But the lady did, her chest heaved up and down with anger, her brows narrowed, "What?!" she hissed, her hands clenched in a blood draining fist, her face was red with rage.
"Now Signorina, if you would excuse me, I have better things to do here than waste my time with the likes of you." She'd practically been living with this man for weeks, and yet she could argue and swear that she was sure he didn't have this kind of side to him. The coldness in his eyes towards the lady was something new. It was something she hadn't seen all this while.
"My love," he turns back to her, directing her to move past the unimportant hindrance, and his face, his eyes were back to normal, back to what she knew. How was he a different person when talking to that lady, and then a totally different man for her. His gaze was as soft as his voice towards her, but to the lady, it was not the same.
Just like that, there were people on every corner greeting him as he walked in. Ladies drooling over him, making her checkmate herself. She wasn't in her normal comfort zone, that was clear, all the ladies here looked sophisticated and high class, while she was just an ordinary girl dressed in super expensive clothes.
But still, with all her insecurities, she subconsciously held onto Marco tighter, trying to hide him from the eyes of all these preying beautiful women.
"Mr. Marchetti, how come you're here alone, I'm not seeing Silvestri. Is he running late?" An elderly man dressed in a richly tailored suit stopped them, his head was completely white, and yet his smile seemed so full of life, and it made her smile too as he turned to her and gave a little courteous bow, and she could swear she knew him.
"I'm afraid he won't be here tonight Mr. Duke." At the mention of the man's name, Mea started working the math in head, Duke? That white hair, but brilliant smile? Duke? The Love and Duke foundation, the Love and Duke child care center, the Love and Duke Hospital… That Duke?!!! Her eyes opened wide with disbelief.
She'd seen him only from a very very very far distance before, she was in the crowd of over five hundred people that gathered when the foundation was opened. Never in her most craziest dreams did she dare imagine that she would get to stand face to face with the man, and yet here she was, face to face with him.
And now she could only wonder, what exactly was Marco's job? She had gotten the hint that he was big, but not big enough to be around all these sets of people.
"He's on a vacation."
"Ah, I see. We all need that once in a while." Duke said, and Mea couldn't help but smile like a fool in front of the man. She was so close to him, someone so big and powerful was standing right next to her.
Yes she'd met men who appeared on TV, but that didn't happen all the time, and it was on totally different occasions, and a lot more different circumstances that always included her being beaten up and used as a sex toy.
"Marchetti, I know you can be as thoughtless as Silvestri sometimes, but don't you think it's common courtesy to introduce the lady?" The man pointed at her, and her breath ceased, thinking… He noticed me again.
"oh, My bad. Mr. Duke this is Mea, Mea, love, this is…"
"Liam Duke, I know." she raps. Trying her best to hide how giddy she felt meeting the man face to face.
"Well Signorina it's a pleasure." He shakes her hand, and Mea looks from the man to Marco, and then at Duke again, and then at Marco again. And she had the look that totally read ``He just touched my hand, Liam Duke just touched my hand!!. And he found the look very amusing.
"Mr. Duke, you wouldn't have happened to see…"
" DeFalco ?" Marco laughs, as the man completes the question for him.
"Yes."
"Come along, I'll take you to him." He gladly leads.
"Asking direction from Liam Duke. I'm going to check that off my list." she whispered to Marco.
"You have a list?"
"No, but I'm going to make one. I can't believe you know Liam Duke. He is so awesome. And have you seen his wife, the lady is drop-dead gorgeous. I mean, this is insane." she says in one long breath. Oh! how he loved the amusement in her eyes.
He paused, and suddenly bends to her ear and "You're much more gorgeous." Lords! Her heart stopped. "Breathe, and move" He reminds her, and she nods, and follows him in a completely dazed expression. He's insane. She says to herself. Totally out of his head.