Wildflower (Chapter 10)

Chapter 10

 

            “Wow, that dress was made for you,” Carmen said when she came in. “I should rename it after you.” The dress was a cream colored satin halter dress with a butterfly print on it.

            “You are just saying that,” Wildflower said before turning back to the mirror. Usually her Saturday nights were spent having movie night with the kids and sometimes Nicolas. He often spent the night in his office on the phone.

            “No, I don’t say things I don’t mean, well unless I’m really drunk,” she said and raised her wine glass. “Trust me when I say you are going to need a drink before you deal with these people.”

            “No thanks, the last time I got drunk some guy picked me up at a bar and I can’t seem to get rid of him,” she said and Carmen smiled.

            “Oh you are just what Nicky needed, he needs someone that can put him in his place,” Carmen smiled wickedly and took another drink. “Me, I’m going to need to be a bit drunk to deal with these b*****s.”

            “Will Katrina be there?”

            “Oh yeah she will, I think she’s on the board of this charity, whatever. Don’t think about Kat, she won’t dare go against Nicky in public; she values her life a little more than that. He would kill her if she tried to cause a scene, that’s why mother isn’t going. But Delanoz will probably be there because he likes to get into trouble.”

            “Maybe I should have a drink,” she said turning around. Carmen reached for the bottle on the nightstand and poured her a glass.

            “Don’t be nervous, you are Nicolas Capriani’s fiancé, which means you are going to be the most hated and envied woman in the country right now. Believe me when I say that the claws will be coming out tonight, but I love a good catfight.”

            “Yeah I’m going to need another drink, the more you talk the more I want to stay home,” she said finishing her glass. Before she started dating Nicolas she never drank wine, now she had it all the time.

            “Are you getting her drunk?” Nicolas asked when he came in the room.

            “What? A few drinks before is a good idea,” Carmen shrugged.

            “Don’t listen to her,” he said and took Wildflower’s second glass away.

            “My Saturdays are usually spent on the couch not out with a bunch of snobby people,” she said. He slipped his arms around her waist and turned her back to the mirror.

            “You are the most beautiful women in the world, not one of them can compare,” he whispered in her ear. “You are a queen and don’t let anyone forget that. My woman comes second to no one and they need to know that. Don’t disappoint me.”

            The way he looked at her in the mirror sent chills down her spine. His piercing blue eyes stared straight into hers. He was right, and she knew that. She couldn’t doubt herself and she couldn’t afford to let anybody else. If she wanted to be with Nicolas she was going to have to quit being the nice sweet girl and start being a b***h. Once she was that girl because of where she came from and how she lived, she had to be strong for her family. Wasn’t this the same? She had to prove that she wasn’t weak or the women would be circling around. Not only that but she had to prove to everybody that she could hold her own. It was officially time to be as wicked as possible.

            “Never,” she replied and he smiled.

******************

            “Hi, I don’t believe we’ve met,” the blonde said when she approached.

            “No I don’t believe we have,” Wildflower said. The woman, like all the others was sizing her up.

            “Penelope James,” Blondie stuck her hand out.

            “Wildflower Laiez,” she said and took her hand.

            “I heard that you are engaged to Nicolas Capriani, is that true?”

            “Indeed it is,” she replied coolly.

            “And how did that happen exactly? I thought he wasn’t dating and was focusing on his family’s business.” There was a challenge in her voice and in her green eyes.

            “Is that what he told you? Well obviously that’s just what he said to women he wasn’t interested in.”

            “Excuse me? Nicolas and I go way back, if I wanted him I could have him.”

            “Yet you obviously want him and he asked me to marry him. That sucks for you huh?” She said and it really looked like Ms. Penelope James’ head was going to explode.

            “Pen,” a brunette said when she came to join the. “Are you pissing off Nicolas’ fiancé? Let it go honey.” At that she stalked off leaving Wildflower with the brunette. “I’m Tara; I am married to Richard who is Nicolas’ good friend. And I am thrilled to meet you because I started to wonder if he just hated hanging out with us. Or if maybe the last woman I set him up with scared him off. Either way he hasn’t been around a lot and I love that you are the reason.”

            “You are the first person to actually seem happy to see me,” Wildflower said. It was true almost every woman that spoke to her had a snippy remark to make.

            “Trust me I am, this means we can go out as couples. The couples we’ve been forced to hang out with are really boring. And if one more woman asked me if I could get her in with Nicolas I was going to start stabbing them,” she said with a smile.

            “I’ll choose to believe you are genuine, mostly because I really need a break from people asking me am I really Nick’s fiancé. When I find him and Carmen I will be killing them for ditching me,” Wildflower told her.

            “Oh its ok you have to sink or swim around her and you are definitely not sinking. But I heard from a few people that you are a total b***h. I couldn’t stand them letting you face these b*****s on you own any longer. If you can’t handle these jealous w****s then you got a problem, but since you can and you definitely made Penelope cry, you’re my hero,” Tara told her. “What’s your schedule like for next week? We need to do lunch.”

            “Well I work all week so it would have to be on the weekend.”

            “What? You are Nicolas Capriani’s fiancé and you work? Wow that was unexpected, what do you do?” Tara asked staring at her like she was crazy.

            “I’m a translator, I like my job and I’ve been working since I was 14 I couldn’t just sit home all day,” she said. It was true sitting home would drive her crazy.

            “Most of these b*****s just shop all day or have sex with their trainers,” Tara shrugged. “I work but only part time, but I love my job. I’m a vet. Random, I know but I love animals and I was doing it when I met Richard so I wasn’t quitting. But being Mrs. Richard Lowe is a lot different from being Mrs. Nicolas Capriani.”

            “There you are,” Carmen said when she came rushing over. “I’ve been looking for you. Oh hi Tara.”

            “You’ve been looking for me when you and Nick left me?”

            “Sorry, it couldn’t be helped. See at least you met Tara, we like her,” Carmen said. She smiled apologetically.

            “I’ll leave you two to talk and I will give you a call Wildflower,” Tara said. With a wave she walked off and two women were instantly at her side.

            Before Blondie had come to annoy her Wildflower was looking for an escape. She came out on the terrace that over looked a beautiful garden to get air. Having people you don’t know hate you was a bit annoying and rather draining. Then there was Katrina who had to be the fakest person she ever met. All in all this was not something she wanted to do again, but she had the feeling that she would, a lot. Brooke text her to see if she wanted to go out tomorrow night, which she actually thought was a good idea. She needed to get out of the house and be amongst normal people.

            “Do you totally hate me? I’m really sorry but I had to do it, nobody will be here to hold you hand once I go home. Anyway we are going to a bunch tomorrow and a party Thursday. Friday I’m thinking we should have your family over because everybody should be in by then. And the following week we can have your engagement party, I’m working on a location for that. Oh and Tuesday after you get home from work we can meet Scarlet Davies, the best wedding planner in the state,” Carmen said. “I know it’s a lot at once but trust me its best to do everything quickly. We need to get you out there and known to people.”

            “Fine whatever,” she said. There was no point in arguing with her, she no longer got many choices in her life.

            “Oh look the two of you are chatting,” Katrina said when she came over with a big tight-lipped fake smile.

            “Kat, remember this is Nicky’s fiancé,” Carmen said to her sister.

            “Look you social climbing w***e, just because you fooled my brother and apparently my father doesn’t mean I have to like it. You were good I’ll admit, waiting around spending time with my daughter and Samantha and all of a sudden you’re in Nicolas’ bed? Now you plan to take over the family, you calculating b***h,” Katrina said.

            “Let it out Katrina; tell me how you really feel. Judge me all you like but at least I would never let a man touch my daughter,” Wildflower said. At that Katrina’s eyes got big and Carmen looked back and forth between them.

            “What are you talking about?” Carmen asked them.

            “Ask your sister the real reason her son left, I bet you it’s a different story then the one you know,” she said. “Katrina you can believe whatever you want about me, I don’t care I don’t want your approval. So what if my family never had a lot of money, I don’t care about money. What I do care about is your daughter because if I don’t I don’t know who will. Chase after your husband all you want but even I know why he ‘works late’ and has so many ‘business trips’. Don’t mess with me, I’m not going to play nice much longer,” she warned.

            Maybe it was wrong but she had wanted to say a lot of things to Katrina for a long time. Both Carmen and Katrina looked at her stunned. She put up with it every time Katrina came over accusing her of being a gold-digger and tried hard to talk Nicolas out of being with her. Not only that she had a lot to be mad at Katrina for. Sugar needed a mother and Katrina was not any kind of mother to her. That was why Sugar was always out partying and having sex with random guys. More than once she had to go get Sugar from a party where she was too drunk to find a way home.

            “You know nothing about my marriage,” Katrina said after awhile.

            “Apparently neither do you,” she replied.

            “Ok, let’s not do this,” Carmen said. “Katrina you know better than to cause a scene. What the hell is wrong with you?”

            “Me? What because she’s marrying Nicky king of the world we have to be nice to her and like her? Maybe I should expose her as the gold-digging trailer trash she is,” Katrina challenged.

            “Oh Katrina,” Nicolas said he seemed to appear out of nowhere. “Didn’t we talk about this? I won’t tolerate you causing a scene, not unless you want to air your dirty laundry as well because I know there are things you wish to keep to yourself.” For some reason Katrina actually looked like she was scared of him and she couldn’t look him in the eyes. That was very odd. “Now, I think you should apologize.”

            “Sorry,” she said and walked away.

            “I’ll go talk to her,” Carmen said and she dashed away.

            “Why is your sister afraid of you?” Wildflower asked.

            “Because I know things,” he shrugged. “Come on I have some people I want you to meet.” He slipped his arm around her waist and guided her along. There was something really odd going on with him and Katrina, but Wildflower didn’t feel like trying to figure out what.

 

 

            “Think you can do that again?” Nicolas asked, it had been a long night and he was happy to be home.

            “The question is do I want to do it again, the answer to that is hell no. But apparently Carmen thinks I need to go to a bunch tomorrow and make friends,” Wildflower said sounding annoyed. “I have friends I do not need new snobby ones.”

            “If it makes you feel better Tara likes you a lot,” he said.

            “No, sorry doesn’t make me feel better,” she sighed.

            “Half the women are afraid of you, does that make you feel better?”

            “Not completely but it helps,” she said and laid her head on his chest. They were in bed and finally alone. “Nick, about our wedding, I’m not sure if I can handle it.”

            “What do you mean? Isn’t Carmen hiring some expensive wedding planner?”

            “I don’t really want a big wedding but Carmen says I don’t get that choice because of who you are. So running off to Vegas sounds good right now.”

            “You don’t want a big wedding then we won’t have one, its that simple. I don’t like a lot of people in my business anyway, the smaller and more private the better.”

            “Can we exclude Katrina?” She asked with bitterness in her voice.

            “As much as I would love to do that, I can’t. But she and I are going to have a long talk tomorrow and she won’t be happy,” he said.

            Katrina was always in his business and he tolerated it because she was his sister. He let her hand pick every woman he went out with, until of course he met the one he wanted to marry and Katrina had no control over. The other women she could intimidate and manipulate, Wildflower she couldn’t. So Katrina wanted her gone. There were a number of good reasons his sister should be afraid of him, none he was going to tell his bride-to-be. Certain things she didn’t need to know, he didn’t want to taint what she thought of him.

            He was impressed by Wildflower; she really never let anybody mess with her. Her fight with Katrina actually amused him but Katrina needed to be put in her place. And he was starting to become concerned for his niece, Sugar needed rules and discipline, neither of which Katrina could offer. She wasn’t always this bad, it gradually happened over time with each different husband. He tried to help her but she didn’t want his help and she just kept finding worse and worse men. That wasn’t his problem anymore; he had more important things to focus on.

            “Have you thought about kids?” Wildflower asked surprising him. “Things happened with us kind of quickly and we never discussed things like that.”

            “Well you know I love kids, but I hadn’t really thought of us having any, just never really crossed my mind. I was too busy you know thinking about you,” he said.

            “Evan asked me about it, he has abandonment issues,” she told him. “He never got to know our father; he died before Evan was born. And things with my mom weren’t good after that and he’s always been afraid that I’m going to leave him.”

            “Why don’t you just tell him he can live here with us? I could tell he’s attached to you since he did sleep in our bed last night.”

            “I’m sorry; we just kind of fell asleep.”

            “It’s not that big of a deal, he is your brother. You just better never let me catch you in bed with another man,” he said seriously.

            “Why would I be in bed with another man? Do you know how crazy you are? The only males I’m ever around are my brothers and you,” she said. She was staring up into his eyes with that wicked look he loved on her.

            “Don’t ever be alone with my brother,” he told her.

            “Which brother? I have yet to meet Jose and you never talk about him.”

            “Either brother but especially Delanoz, I don’t trust him where you are concerned. And you shouldn’t trust him either.”

            “Why? There’s always something with your family so you better get talking if you want me to listen to you.”

            “You are so demanding and too smart for your own good,” he shook his head.

            “Nobody ever said I’m smart before, but it doesn’t get you out of answering me. Remember I have 9 brothers and I had two sisters, I can spot secrets a mile away,” she said. He seriously hoped she couldn’t, some secrets didn’t need to be discussed.

            “The thing about Delanoz is that he loves women, probably more than he should. I personally think it’s a sickness because he can’t always control himself,” he paused not wanting to go on. “He’s been accused of rape a few times. Of course it was kept quiet and money exchanged hands. My parents thought it was a phase when he was a teenager only he did it as an adult too. He’s been in a lot of therapy and hasn’t had anymore incidents, but I trust him. And I would kill him if he hurt you.”

            “Nicolas, please tell me you didn’t just say your brother is a serial rapist?” She sat up and stared at him, he regretted tell her any of it. But he wanted her to be careful.

            “Nobody ever said it like that but yes he is. As far as I know he hasn’t done it in a long time. Trust me when I say I would rather you not know this but if he’s going to be around here then I don’t want you alone with him, ever.”

            “No need to worry about that,” she shook her head. “Would you really kill your brother?” She asked unexpectedly.

            “If he hurt you, yes I would,” he said honestly.

            “And you are serious aren’t you? How could you seriously say you would kill your own brother?”

            “Because you are the most important person in the world to me and I would do anything to protect you, especially from him.”

            “Sometimes you scare me,” she admitted. “You get these looks in your eyes.”

            “I would never do anything to hurt you,” he promised.

            “I know, I’m not worried about me, I’m worried about everybody else.”

            “Don’t be,” he told her and pulled her to him. “There’s nothing for you to worry about, I’m just naturally an intimidating person, I don’t always mean to be. Being the youngest I always had to make sure nobody thought young meant weak, I’m not a weak person. In business you can never afford to be weak.”

            “Well I guess I’m glad I’m not your enemy,” she said. There was an odd look in her eyes, like she was concerned for her safety.

            “You are my everything,” he told her. “Don’t forget that.”

 

Reviews

[Katie]

So much drama its like a soap opera

[Maram157]

OMG, how could you compare that to twilight.....unbelievable..... It's sooo much better. Anyways... I really liked the cat fight with Nick's sister-Katerina- very amusing.

[romancewriter09]

i think it is alot like twilight but not that much

[MarkGMelvin]

Vegas Vegas I live in vegas she had not get too cozy with that brother and girl oo he said he would bury his bro bro
she must got some mean good good mhm nice chapter,keep em comin,
excellent job
thanks for letting me know it was done.I appreciate it.
Thanks Lady Harper

peace
wmmelvin

[deeps]

Wow! This chapter is full of life!
You bring magic to your words
I could visullize all of this.
Such a wonderful chapter.
Wonderful detail and characters.