EXCLUSIVELY YOURS
Riccardo’s POV
I parked the car and brought it to a halt as I entered the gates of my family home, a place that held twenty years of memories. This was the house where I grew up, surrounded by love from my parents and sister.
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I turned to Olivia, who was nervously biting her lip. “Hey, calm down,” I reassured her.
“How can you expect me to be calm? I’m about to go in and lié to three people. I can’t possibly calm down,” she replied anxiously.
“It’s going to be okay. Just remember to breathe, and if you can’t handle it, I’ll take care of it. You can just sit back and relax, my pretty little damsel,” I said with a smile.
“I can’t just sit back and let you do all the talking. I have a voice, you know. And don’t call me ‘little,’ I’m not a child,” Olivia replied, her chest rising and falling as she tried to compose herself. She pulled out her mirror and lip gloss, dabbing it on her lips. “And stop looking at me like that. It’s creepy.”
“I’ll look at you however I want, my sunshine. Let’s go,” I said, nodding my head towards the house.
She nodded, mustering up her courage, and unbuckled her seatbelt before stepping out of the car. Her eyes darted around, something she always did when in an unfamiliar place. She looked like a curious cat exploring new territory.
I reached out and wrapped my arm around her waist, causing her to flinch and give me a quizzical look. Olivia seemed to want to create distance between us.
I waited for her to say something, but when she didn’t, I took it as a sign to move forward. She followed suit, her steps oozing with confidence and elegance.
I couldn’t help but smile.
The maid welcomed us into the house, a face I didn’t recognize. Olivia responded with a dazzling smile, her beauty radiating.
Her smile could be the déath of me.
“Look who we have here,” my mother’s voice echoed through the room, though it seemed impossible considering the size of the house. “My son finally came to visit.”
“Mom, I was here last month,” I reminded her.
“Exactly. Last month. That’s too many days away from your mama,” she said, using the high-pitched baby voice she only used with me. “Come give your mama a hug.”
Reluctantly, I let go of Olivia’s waist and opened my arms for my mom. As she hugged me, I kissed the top of her head. “I missed you too.”
Only then did my mother notice Olivia, and she immediately pulled away from me. Her black eyes, like mine, scrutinized my sunshine. “Who are you, darling?”
I couldn’t help but smile, knowing my mother’s reaction was exactly what I expected.
“I’m Olivia…” began Olivia.
“My fiancée,” I finished for her.
My mother stumbled back in surprise, her face a mixture of shock and confusion as she looked between Olivia and me. “Your what?”
“Fiancée,” I repeated. “Olivia is my fiancée.”
“Wow. You have a lot of explaining to do,” she said, almost glaring at me in that way only a mother scolds her child. But her expression softened when she faced Olivia. “You’re so beautiful. Please, come in, darling.”
Olivia politely smiled back. “Thank you. You’re just as beautiful as Riccardo described.”
Oh, game on.
“I’m surprised he talks about me. He doesn’t usually like me,” my mother teased.
“Mom,” I interjected.
“Shush, don’t interrupt. You have this angel as your fiancée, and you didn’t even mention it,” she said, leading Olivia to the living room without sparing me a glance. “When you said you had something important to tell us, I never expected this. Please, have a seat, my dear.”
☆☆☆☆
I made my way to the garden to find my father. Our house was massive, so it took some time to get around.
As he came into view, I called out, “Dad.” He turned to face me, a grin spreading across his face. “I knew you would be out here playing golf.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “You don’t even ask your father how he’s doing.”
“How are you doing, old man?” I playfully elbowed him and picked up a golf club to join him. “You must miss me so much, right?”
My dad scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I don’t miss you at all. And don’t call me ‘old man.’ I’m still young.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Take that back.”
“Nope.”
“Riccardo.”
“Eduardo.”
He playfully gasped, dramatically covering his mouth with his hand. “Did you just call your father by his name? Bad, very bad boy.”
“I’m a man, Dad.”
“Nope. You’re a boy.”
I sighed, tired of telling him that I grew up years ago and he can stop babying me. He dropped his gold club and pinched my cheeks with both hands.
“You’re a little boy.”
“Dad,” I sharply said, stepping back with my hands on my cheeks. “Don’t do that. Olivia will see.”
“Who is Olivia?”
“My fiancée.”
He choked on his saliva and faced me with wide eyes of shock. “F-fiancée?”
I nodded.
“Isn’t that illegal considering you’re still a baby?”
I closed my eyes and tried to hold back my laughter, but failed miserably. My father has always been a joker.
“I’m serious, dad.”
“And who said I wasn’t, son?” He said in the same tone as mine and grinned. “When did you get a fiancée? You didn’t even date.”
“Well, I did. I just didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Nah. I don’t believe you. You must have paid someone to act like your fiancée in front of us, but you don’t need to. We aren’t forcing you to get married, Rick.”
“Dad, I know that and that is more reason why I shouldn’t have to pay anyone to act in front of you. I mean, why would I even do that?”
He seemed to let that sink in before he picked up his golf club again. “You’re right. There’s no need for you to pay anyone to act, but there’s a need to whàck your head with this.” My dad raised his golf club in the air, pretending to hít me, but I knew he wouldn’t, so I didn’t move. “Sílly boy. You’re not scared.”
“Scared of what? You? Nah. Why would I be scared of an old man?”
He lightly smacked the back of my head and laughed. “Why didn’t you tell us though? This is a big deal, Riccardo. You should have told us.”
Whenever my dad calls me by my name, I know it is time to be serious. He is playful most of the time, but when he’s serious, he is serious.
Eduardo Torrence is a name known all over the world, and everyone in the business world respects him like a god. He is intimidating when he puts on his serious face.
“I know.” I muttered, all playfulness gone. “Liv didn’t want us to announce our relationship when we started dating because she wasn’t sure we were going to last this long…”
He held his hand up, cutting me off. “Wait. Who is Liv? And how long is the long you’re talking about?”
“Liv is Olivia, Dad, and long is three years.”
My father’s eyes widened with surprise again, and this time, he lightly smacked my shoulder with the golf club, causing me to wince. “Dad.”
“Don’t dad me.” He smacked the back of my head with his hand. “You, sílly boy.”
“If you guys keep hítting my head, I’ll get a concussion.”
“That’d be very good. Maybe I should hít harder. I don’t know why you hid that from us for three whole years.”
“Dad, you know how the internet is, and Olivia was worried that it would ruín the relationship, so we kept it a secret for this long. You need to see it from her perspective.”
“The internet couldn’t have stopped you from telling your family that you’re in a relationship.” He said, turning around to walk to the lounge chair. “I’m very upset with you, Riccardo. Seriously.”
I sighed and sat beside him, resting my head on his shoulder, and he let me, even though he wasn’t happy with me. “I’m sorry, Dad. You know you’re the world’s best dad, right?”
“I know. You don’t need to tell me.” He retorted, a smirk pulling on his face. “I’m just so perfect.” My dad used his index finger to wipe away a non-existent tear from his eye in an overly dramatic manner, and it made laughter spill from me. “Don’t laugh. You don’t have permission.”
“You should have been an actor.” I said, trying to stifle my laughter, but it wasn’t listening to me. I held my fist to my mouth to hide the laughter from him, and he smacked my head again. “Oww.”
“Can I go next?” My sister’s voice reached my ears in its natural low and calm tone. “My little baby brother needs a lot of smacking on his head.”
Little?
Baby?
Excuse me, I’m not a kid!
“Go on, honey. Smàck him all you want.”
Nicole glared down at me, her hands on her hips and her black eyes, lighter than mine, glaring at me. I tried to give her my irresistible smile, but she just rolled her eyes. “That won’t work. I can’t believe you hid this for three years.”
“Exactly. Me too.”
“Daddy, have you seen her? She is so pretty, like a modernized fairytale princess. She is beautiful.” Nikki’s voice didn’t change in tone, but the astonishment, excitement, and a hint of anger could be heard in her tiny voice.
“Oh. Really? You’ve never called any of his girlfriends beautiful before. I need to go check her out myself.” He stood up and left before I could even say a word.
Nikki took his place on the lounge chair and hít my head again. “Why didn’t you tell me? I’m your big sister. You tell me everything.”
“We didn’t want it getting out, Nikki. I’m sorry.”
“And by ‘we’, I suppose you mean you and the pretty girl Mom is currently obsessing over right now?”
“Oh God, I know I shouldn’t have left her there alone with Mom. I mean, I know how she is.”
“Yep. Let’s go save her.”
I smiled and pulled my big sister into a hug. She gasped before wrapping her hands around me and patting my back. “I missed you so much.”
“Yeah, I totally believe that.” Her sarcasm was evident in her voice.
I pulled out of the hug, getting up from the chair. “How is Stefan?”
“You can ask him yourself when you see him.”
“Where is he?”
“In the living room with Levi.” She replied in a tone that made it seem like I just asked the most obvious question in the world.
Levi is her six-month-old baby boy. He is the cutest baby I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’m not saying that just because he is my nephew. It’s the actual truth.
“Where did you find Olivia?”
“She fell from heaven.”
“My baby brother is in love, and she loves you too.”
What?
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know that?”
“She smiles when she talks about you, more than usual.”
My Olivia is a natural actress. I knew she could do it.
I stopped in my tracks and stared at my sister. “You don’t know her usual smiles.”
“I do now. She has this radiating vibe that makes everyone around her like her immediately. I’ve only been with her for a few minutes, and I already like her. I must say, she has charm.”
Of course, she does.
Her charm caught me the first time I laid my eyes on her.
“Why do you think I fell for her?”
Nicole beamed a little smile at me. “If I wasn’t married, I’d turn gay for her.”
“Okay, first of all, eww, and second of all, I don’t like that joke.”
“Who said I was joking?”
“You know I don’t like sharing.”
“Oh, I do.”
I ruffled her hair, and she slapped my hand away with a cute frown on her face.
“Hey! I’m the one who should do that to you, not the other way around.” She said, combing her fingers through her hair to fix it. “I’m your elder sister.”
“And I’m taller.”
“Take that back!”
“Nope.” I replied and ran before she got the chance to smàck my head again.
My Olivia is doing a great job, and I promised her that I’ll be there to help her, but I wasn’t.
She will be màd at me.
I don’t like a màd Olivia.
Although she is awfully cute when she’s màd, I don’t like her being màd.
I need to fix this. Fast.
TBC 📖✍️
