Divorce Me Once, Your Loss

Nico

“We checked in Istanbul sir, the lead was wrong.”

“Never mind,” I speak to the phone, “I found her. Abort the mission.”

“You mean to call off the squad in Italy too?” the PI I hired asks through the phone.

“Call it all off,” I order, before hanging up.

Looking for Brianna for a whole year proved more difficult than I care to admit. It was as if she disappeared off the face of the earth and only resurfaced when I hired one of the best private investigators to dig her up and it turned out she was making a name for herself in the business industry.

I can’t say I wasn’t surprised when I found out about her recent success because the Brianna I know was as timid as a rabbit in a predator’s gaze. I was always the predator, she the prey.

But seeing her in person explained everything. She isn’t the Brianna I knew from a year ago. This version of her . . .

Phew.

My eyes involuntarily trail to where she sits cross-legged by the window, staring as the world floats around the helicopter.

Brianna Page has changed so much in the past one year. For one thing, she let her hair grow farther than she usually lets it and now it hangs at a loose wave down her waist. Her eyes are clearer because she dumped the round glasses and it’s easy to see the blue flecks in her grey eyes. Her body is toned, curved at the right places and dipping where it should.

I’ll be the last to admit it but she looks nothing like Brianna Page and everything like her sister – Arianna.

The only woman I wanted but couldn’t get.

She turns sharply and catches my eyes trained on her.

“Got something you want to say?”

Not only her physical appearance changed apparently. Her whole demeanor. The Brianna I knew had no single bone of sass in her. She was a scaredy cat who had no idea when she was being picked on.

Nevertheless, she still reminded me of the woman I could never have.

“I wasn’t staring.”

“Yeah right,” she is in white shorts and a white tank top, coupled with a wide hat and a tanned skin, she looks a fashion model.

I force myself to look away. Six more months with this woman and I can say goodbye to her for good.

She flicks imaginary dirt from her nails, “I remind you of her don’t I?” she says, “Arianna.”

Red flashes before my eyes. “You don’t get to say that name,” I warn.

What happened to Arianna was my fault. My fault and mine alone. Yes I detest Brianna for being here instead of her but she is the greatest reminder of what I lost and how I brought it all upon my own self.

She gets up from her spot on the chair and strolls to mine, her eyes teasing. “It must be hell for you, seeing me and knowing you can't ever be with –”

I yank her arm so that she is pressed flushed on the seat beside me, “I said you don’t get to mention that name.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore, Nico,” she deadpans, “you lost that right when you decided to – huh.”

She cuts herself off, her eyes roaming my face, “It’s not going to be the same anymore, dear husband.”

I feel her hand trail down the buttons of my shirt slowly, teasing as she whispers. “Not going to be the same.”

“What are you doing, Brianna,” I snarl.

“Just curious,” her eyes meet mine, their shape taking on a doe-like fashion. “I never actually touched you before.”

I never actually knew her to be flirty. But then, I don’t know anything about this woman before me.

However, I can see where she is going.

She is intentionally pulling at my patience, pulling the threads, hoping to ignite an emotion from me as she carries on with her hand, tugging at my simmering anger.

I’m not going to give her the satisfaction.

“What do you say I make do of our time here?” she purrs, her fingers inching lower.

I smirk.

She might be a rebranded version of herself but those eyes staring back at me still carry the innocence of the Brianna I knew a year ago. That same innocence and inexperience that is all too familiar with Brianna Page.

Her fingers pop the button at the base of my neck, ruffling my shirt, “What do you say dear husband? What do you say we —”

My hand tugs at her waist, pulling and lifting her whole so that she is no longer pressed against the seat but instead she is forced on top my laps, squashed between my chest and my hand on her waist while her slender fingers grip my shirt.

Her eyes go wide confirming my suspicions of her innocence. “Nic-o.”

“What were you saying about making do of our time here?”

Her cheeks flush a crimson red. “I was obviously –”

“Bluffing?”

My hand tightens on her waist and she squirms under my touch. I’ve never cared enough to touch Brianna Page in the past and I’ll be the last to admit that her body fits perfectly against my palm.

“Let me go, Nico.”

“Where’s all that bravery now, huh?” my hand wrap around her silky hair and I tug at it so that her face is tilted upwards, “You know better than to mess with me Bri.”

“Yeah,” here comes the sass, she can't help it even when she is totally at my mercy, “what are you gonna do abou—”

I grunt under my breath, “Oh, I’ll show you,” before coursing her forward and crashing my lips against hers.

I’ve never kissed Brianna before. I don’t know why it is happening now.

But once that ship starts sailing, there’s no way of stopping it.

On its own accord my hands tightens on her body, pulling her closer to me in the process. Her body squirms on mine while her mouth responds to the kiss as though in conflict with each other. My lips moves expertly over hers, kissing, sucking, biting.

I feel rather than hear a moan escape from her throat and onto my mouth as she opens up her lips further, welcoming the heat of my tongue. Her fingers circle around my neck as her body leans into mine and –

I don’t know how long we stayed there, kissing but after a few seconds, she springs to her feet suddenly and we are both out of breath and panting like we just ran the marathon and won.

She glares at me although she is very visibly shaken, “Never—”

“What?” I tease.

“Never. Do. That. Again.”

With that she storms off, leaving me smirking and satisfied on my seat.

She should never have brought it on. She asked for it and I delivered.

Brianna is nothing like the timid woman I remember. But then, I hope that timidity still remains somewhere within her because Brianna Page can never find out the real reason why I went through hell to find her.

She must never know how I plan to destroy her and her family till I get exactly what I want.

And deserve.