#INSIDE ART STUDIO
The penthouse Art studio room was silent, bathed in the soft, post-dawn light filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Melissa sat as staring at her currently new Art painting that's she's being working on for a while now, And then the memory of earlier encounter with Luca hitting her mind.
#MEMORY, About An hour ago.
*She's Lay nestled in the crook of Luca's arm, her body humming with the residual echoes of their passion.
His steady breathing was a lullaby against her ear, a stark contrast to the storm of confusion still swirling within her. He loved her. She knew that in her bones.
Thoughts of the way he had worshipped her body hours before was a language beyond deceit.
Yet, the image of him with Sasha—smiling, intimate, captured by the flashing cameras—was a splinter in her heart she couldn't dislodge.*
#Back From Thoughts/Memory.
She snapped herself from all distractions of the thoughts , sighed softly before her eyes flickered upon the *Unfinished portrait of Luca stared back at her from the easel, his painted eyes seeming to hold a secret.
She picked up her phone, the screen cold and accusing. With a deep breath, she typed "Sasha Leonardo" into the search bar.
The results were a deluge, Sasha, arm-in-arm with Luca at a charity gala three years prior, Sasha, in a stunning bridal gown for a Milan fashion show—the headline screaming. "Leonardo's Heir's Runaway Bride Chooses Runway Over Altar/love." Recent photos showed her at a gallery opening, looking effortlessly chic and… alone.
Then, the new pictures from yesterday, Luca and Sasha at Caffè della Pace, deep in conversation.
Another shot, wider, showed two other men —stern, older, one bearing a striking resemblance to Leonardo her father and Vittorio, Luca's grandfather.
The caption speculated: "Moretti Dynasty Reunion? Leonardo Meets with Moretti's Associates Amidst Family Rumors."
*Family rumors.* Melissa's stomach clenched. Luca had mentioned Sasha needed help with her father.
What did that mean? Before she could spiral further, her screen lit up with a call from Sophie.
And when she picked up Sophie putted a loud speaker, she's with Chloe they both were worried about their friend, Melissa.
"Mel? Are you alive? I saw the pics!..... we are here for you" Sophie's voice was a burst of frantic energy.
"I'm… processing," Melissa murmured, turning her back on Luca's portrait , on the other side Chloe grab the phone from Sophie's hand.
"Processing? The man gets papped with his ex-fiancée—the supermodel ex-fiancée—and you're *processing*? Did you confront him? "Chloe said.
"We… talked." Melissa's cheeks warmed, remembering the exact nature of their 'talk.'
Sophie, knowing her best friend too well, groaned. "Oh, Melissa.....He deployed the 'make-up' arsenal, didn't he? And it worked, I can hear it in your voice."
"He.... He said Sasha is just… Past .. in a bind." She said.
"Past who was once hours away from marrying him," Sophie stated flatly.
"Just be careful...That kind of history doesn't just fade"Sophie said.
"And a model in a bind is a drama vortex waiting to happen...but we both know Luca loves but....no one is certainly sure if already got over her "Chloe added.
"I just don't know what to do"
"Do nothing..... just place a bet girl.....What you all needed is that he loves you" Sophie said and Chloe agreed.
"Okay, I will "Melissa agreed and then hung up.
After the call, Melissa tried to lose herself in her paints, mixing blues and grays, but her mind was a canvas of doubt and desire.
#LATER-ON-DINNER.
Later, as she and Luca sharing a quiet dinner on the terrace, he was tender, attentive, his fingers brushing hers as he passed the olive oil.
(He promise transparency, swore the meeting was purely about a complex financial situation regarding Sasha's father.)
"It's messy, *amore mio*. Family debts, old obligations. Vittorio is involved.... I have to navigate it carefully," he said, his thumb stroking her wrist.
"But you are my only compass...My only truth."
She wants to believe him so badly ,half of her still not ready, she doesn't even know why that so.
She *did* believe him, in the sunlit bubble of their terrace. But the world, she was learning, had a way of popping bubbles.
"Luca.... I'm going to continue with my college studies...As there's no reason to hide.....no more Calvanos" She said.
"I never thought you didn't like Dr. Flinch teaching you "
"I didn't say that...." She murmured.
"Then why you wanna go to College while I can afford paying Dr.Flinch?"
"It's not even about money Luca... I need to socialize "She said as clam as possible.
"I never stop you,*Mi Amor* "He said
"Socialize in college, I meant" She said and Luc fell in moment of silence before he could nod.
#TWO DAYS LATER
The pop came two days later, in the form of a public relations nightmare dressed in a cream-colored power suit.
Melissa had planned to meet Helen for afternoon tea at a hospital and Melissa already talk to doctor regarding her mother condition, and it seems like soon she's going to be discharge.
As Melissa was heading towards her mother's in fourth floor, pressing the elevator waiting for a minute before could opened and Suddenly....
"Melissa? Melissa Vance? My goodness, what a small world."
Melissa looked up, it was Sasha Leonardo stood inside the elevator, a vision of poised elegance.
Up close, she was even more breathtaking, with eyes the color of aged whiskey and a smile that didn't quite reach them.
"Sasha," Melissa said, her voice thankfully steady,"Hello" Sasha said And then Sasha asked her for a moment to talk with her about the situation,in nearby hospital's restaurant.
"May I?" Sasha didn't wait for an answer, sliding into the chair opposite.
"I was hoping to run into you....I felt I owed you an explanation after all that unfortunate media noise."
"Explanation?" Melissa kept her tone neutral, her artist's eye noting the perfect, almost imperceptible tremor in Sasha's hand as she adjusted her napkin.
"About Luca and me...the pictures." Sasha leaned forward, a whisper of expensive perfume enveloping them.
"It's all so clinical, really, My father… he made some poor investments with Bruno's old contacts... It's a legal quagmire.....And Luca... sweet Luca, is the only one with the influence to untangle it, he's doing it for Bruno's peace of mind,And for old times' sake." She paused, her gaze intensifying, Melissa controled the urge to believe her.
"You must understand, Melissa... What Luca and I had… it was a different lifetime, a business arrangement, nearly. What he has with you…" She gave a soft, wistful sigh.
"I see it in his eyes when he speaks of you..... It's real, I just… I need you to know I'm not a threat...(leaned back),I'm just a woman trying to save her family....to save my father"
The speech was flawless, disarming, Yet, something felt rehearsed, the emphasis on *sweet Luca*, the dismissal of their past as a 'business arrangement'—it felt like a performance.
"I appreciate you telling me," Melissa replied carefully. "Luca has already explained the situation."
"Has he?" Sasha's eyebrow arched, a flicker of something—surprise? calculation?—in her eyes.
"I'm glad... He's a good man. Protective Sometimes… perhaps too protective....he wouldn't want to worry you with the uglier details." She placed a hand over Melissa's, her touch cool.
"We'll be working together quite closely for a while, I'm afraid.....these things take time ,I just hope it won't be… awkward for you."
Before Melissa could formulate a response, Helen arrived, walk straight to the scene.
Introductions were made, stilted and polite, before Sasha excused herself with a final, dazzling smile, leaving behind a cloud of unease and the faint, lingering scent of her perfume.
Helen watched her go, then turned to her daughter. "That woman,I can sense something bad" she said, stirring her tea with deliberate calm.
"is a masterclass in passive aggression...'Working together quite closely'? 'Uglier details'? She's planting seeds, Melissa... Be very careful."
"I'll be careful mom,.....wait!, how did you know I was here?and how did you know about her?" Melissa asked her.
"(Chuckle) I can feel in my veins, You are my daughter....By the way I have my ways" Helen said.
"You mean social media, Mom!"She said as laughing, and then they continued with conversation.