Chapter Two

Having a relationship with Christopher always meant it would be dangerous or fun, or both. It wasn't just fame that mattered. People close to him said sternly that his effort came from family. Behind their backs, many people said that the balls they threw were to boost the Duncan family's image and get more employees for the company. Christopher had many sins to atone for. It was simply in the blood, it never stopped. They liked what they did if they had fun, at the end of the day, even exhausted, they felt rewarded. His perverse business sense even attracted self-serving women like Chloe.

I left without the security guards noticing, Josephine helped me even though it was putting her job at risk. At least one day I wanted to hang out with my friends without needing security to follow me wherever I went, so I decided to spend my morning with my two best friends and ignore Christopher's calls and texts. I feel my phone vibrate and see four messages from him.

"Good morning, Melanie." “Where are you?” “Melanie?” “I'll be waiting for you at seven o'clock.”

Just the fact that we were young and healthy, we slept in separate rooms was weird enough. But the employees would say, “Oh! These rich people are all weird!”In fact, we had that talk of But the day I arrived at my new house, newly formed, as Christopher had the three floors of the building unite just for us and I received the news that I could decorate the whole house and especially the suite on the other side of the living room. the way I wanted, I didn't think it would be really separated, in fact, I didn't believe that my marriage would reach this failure that's the right word "failure", we had everything to be a perfect couple, have a perfect marriage and not where we went wrong.was because we spent so much time worrying about our careers, our jobs, traveling that we ended up forgetting that we're a couple.

I remembered how our honeymoon went. After he resolved the emergency, Christopher came back. Well technically, we were still on our honeymoon. We stayed in the same room for a few days. So I went back to New Jersey to finish my last year at journalism school and he traveled to London where he had a business meeting. At first I thought it was weird, but he's Christopher Duncan so nothing is weird.

“But you can come see me once in a while. - I told him like a fool in love and deluded.”

And Christopher responded.

“I don't know, I just don't want to get in the way of your life and your studies.

The worst he really was, but it didn't take me long to detach myself from my college life to face a life of commitment to Duncan. I kept leaving him with nothing. And he didn't know how to deal either with the situation or with the commitment that was also a novelty in his life.

When I wasn't too busy, I sometimes went to New York to see the decor of the house and fulfill some commitments I had there. Not that he was there, but I went anyway. When the diamond ring was on my finger and I signed another last name, my life changed a lot. There was no way to be married to Duncan and be hiding at home. If Christopher couldn't go I would. As soon as we got back from our honeymoon, an assistant of his gave me documents and folders about the Duncan family and especially his business.

The first year of marriage was another learning experience. I had to establish new contacts, get to know the society in which I was thrown and without the right to parachute and be forced to redo my entire wardrobe. Then I improved and discovered that I also had a knack for business. Perform my tasks like the new Duncan I've become, flawlessly

“You're not going to answer him?” Wendy asked, taking my cell phone and making my thoughts go out of my mind.”

“I'm not in the mood.”

And when Christopher said seven o'clock, it was the exact time he'd set, he was honoring the family's British origins. At least he arrived on time, I don't always. That's when I decided to give the air of grace. Because most of the time he decided to invite me, I kept him waiting. I just didn't miss out on social events where we had to look like a perfect couple. But having coffee together, having lunch with husband and wife, going for a walk? Forget it never happened. My cell phone vibrated again and I let it go to voicemail and I saw it was a message again from Christopher.

"Where are you? She is so busy that she cannot answer her cell phone”. It was the sentence he left in my voice mail.”

To this day, even silently Christopher didn't agree with the separate rooms. We could sleep together, that's perfectly possible. I'm not sure how and when it started, but there were times when I didn't want him anymore and he stopped coming to my room.

I arrived at seven forty-five humming as I got out of the elevator, he found it strange that he never sees me smiling unless I'm at a party with him. On his back, with his hands in his pockets and his posture relaxed, he was also a valuable 'item' to be included in the landscape. His custom-made suits, usually ordered from the tailors on Savile Row in London, didn't need to go to great lengths to enhance the natural effect of his well-shaped, lean, masculine body, with defined, well-distributed muscles. He was athletic and elegant, the kind where any outfit looks different just because it's on his body. He had broad shoulders, strong, rigid arms fitted into a proportioned torso that tapers slightly to the hip, well-crafted thighs over long legs to round out his six-foot-eight.

It was said that he resembled his father, but he would never have had such characteristics without his mother's light and sensual traits. His skin had a healthy, light shade of gold to match his brown hair so dark that out of the sun one would have sworn he was black. Christopher wore a cut that was shorter in the back and sides and longer on top, where the waves of his hair fanned out unceremoniously but were now beautifully styled and tamed. His face was striking, with defined contours, perhaps too rigid in profile. It was impossible to forget those catlike, encapsulated eyes, with their strong, dark brows and green eyes like mint leaves. The tone of his irises was saturated and he always seemed to be squinting, due to his high cheekbones, slightly slanted eyes and hidden lids. To close the package, his nose was typical of the Duncan’s, not delicate and his upper lip protruded a little more in a mouth that according to her mother had exactly the same irresistible shape as her father's.

Christopher wasn't handsome, to say he was perfect would be almost childish no matter how well made his bone structure. But he was a ravishing man, when you looked at him you would never be caught just by the beauty that would fill his eyes. He assaulted the senses, it was too much masculinity mixed with the visual arrogance that made men and women alike hate being attracted to him. He was a category of man who could make you ignore the fact that he wasn't your preferred type. It didn't matter if you liked blondes, redheads, shorts or whatever. If a man could snatch his senses and get his mind right on a thought about sweaty, exhausting, dirty, wild, unforgettable sex, it was Christopher.

And I hated him every time I remembered that and that our first time I seriously thought about ripping my panties off to get them out faster was extremely irritating.

He turned around when he heard my footsteps, from the distance I was I could see his whole body without having to look up and down. I approached, still staring, and I could see how his jaw tensed. He also looked at me, he always had this reaction when he was late for an event

“Where were you, Melanie? he asked irritably.

“Go out with my friends, why can't I?”

“You know we have an appointment.”

“I know Christopher,” I replied, pouting. “I'm punctual, but every human being is also late.”

“Next time you call and let me know, you know I don't like to be kept waiting.”

He looked at me in awe, but he only seemed to be angry for a few seconds, then his cold posture returned. He started talking less and less when we met, starting a topic just on the way to where we went.

“Is ready? he asked as he checked the sleeves of his jacket”

“Yea.”

When we got to the garage, security was already waiting. Charles, as usual, was there. Where I went, he went. No exception. Christopher's order was to protect me under all conditions. When we got married Christopher gave him an order that he literally followed either he would do this or he would be fired.

“Rain, shine, snow or if a hurricane is in town. It can be all on fire, no matter the condition or situation. You don't take your eyes off her, nothing hurts her. You do your job, going over what or whoever it is. Am I clear?”

Christopher had said as usual he was as clear and explicit as possible. I didn't like to leave doubts. And that was another one of his characteristics that he didn't know how to use with me. For if there was one thing that certainly existed between the two of us, it was doubts. As soon as we arrived, we had some disagreements about the security guards.

“I understand that I need a security guard, but I don't need one everywhere, not even when I travel with my friends,” she said indignantly”

“Melanie?”

“Christopher, you're getting paranoid.”

“I've already decided you're going to have a security guard. The matter ends here.”

“I accept a security guard and I won't touch on that subject anymore,” I replied.

In the car going to the party I kept thinking about that scene of seeing him at the restaurant with Chloe, I tried to forget several times but I couldn't, I couldn't believe what he did, I tried to ignore him, I spent the afternoon with the girls and still that it doesn't get out of my head and it was then I remembered the conversation I had with Ava the matriarch of the Duncan’s.

When I saw his mother again, I spent an hour trying to bring up the subject about Chloe until Eva told me to ask straight away what I wanted to know about her son. She got right about who I was not because I was psychic or had a sixth sense. But he didn't know a woman who had any relationship with Christopher and wasn't desperate for a lead. Ava knew how they worked, they ripped off bras and threw on panties, even offered their feelings, but none of them knew who she was dealing with. The same thing happened when Christopher called and said he was getting married next month. Ava turned off her cell phone, ordered the jet to be reserved, and left for New York, even thinking that someone had somehow managed to catch her son in a blackmail that made him accept a marriage

“Don't you dare walk into a church or stand in front of a judge until I get there. – She had told him on the phone.

When she walked into his old apartment, all she found was Christopher leaning against the window and I was sitting on the couch, extremely nervous about finally meeting my future mother-in-law. She stared at her son who had at least had the decency to come and hug him and then made the introductions. No blackmail, no sordid backstory. Obviously, knowing Ava's reputation, I could deduce that she had ordered me to investigate

“So, you're graduating from college,” Ava said at the time, and as she moved her head as if to settle down, her gaze met Christopher's over my head.”

“Yes, very little. I do journalism and it's something I really enjoy. - I commented.”

They went to the office for an hour and then I went over there to listen to their conversation.

“A young lady coming out of college. – Ava said for the tenth time at the last minute. 'Leaving college Christopher?' What are you going to do with her? I should forbid him from coming near that girl.”

“Too late mother. – Christopher had limited himself to answering. “And believe it or not, Melanie didn't make it easy”

"Has she recovered from the shock on you yet?" Ava asked

“Which part? See me without clothes or know you're going to join the family.”

“I thought you were never going to get married. I even preferred that, because I know what you're going to end up choosing, you know who I'm talking about. But now I'm in doubt. You're going to hurt her, you're going to ruin everything. I know it will. She put her hand on Christopher's shoulder and headed for the office door.”

Today's party was full of politicians and Christopher had no intention of ever getting involved in politics, he preferred the dignity he achieved in his work. The only relationship he liked to have with politicians was money. He donated money to the campaigns he tried to believe in and if the person was elected, he would surely find legal ways to thank him, such as, for example, fulfilling the damn promise he sponsored.

“I think they better serve something decent, I haven't had a proper dinner in two days and I don't want to pay twenty thousand a plate to have another indigestion.” Christopher looked at the invitation and remembered a stodgy dinner that had given him days of heartburn.”

“I'm glad we like to go straight to the main course,” I commented.

Those were the situations we knew best about each other. Because that's what we did, go out into that dinner category. So he knew what category of wine I liked best, vice versa. But it was better not to ask how we had breakfast at home, what cookies we like to have for lunch, or even which side of the bed we currently prefer.

“Are we going to sit with someone I can't stand, but need to know details about your personal life? I took my little mirror out of my tiny bag and reached for the makeup.

"I don't know, I was hoping you'd tell me," he replied.”

“Dark date then,” I replied, looking at my cell phone while I was reading through the messages Evelyn had sent me. For the first time we went to an event where he was driving the car and not one of the security guards.”

We went down and crossed the red carpet that was there. Fortunately, we didn't go to the same parties that celebrities of the kind attracted hysterical fans. Outside there were only photographers a little less desperate than the 'paparazzi', from there they could go out on all the websites or all the photos on social networks. There were politicians and they could always say something relevant or make a faux pas. We were used to showing up everywhere, especially me, even though interest in menswear had grown rapidly and Christopher was suffering from his patterned pants, shoes and accessories.

But talking about my dresses and shoes is more popular than repeating about the blouses he wears. There are fashion blogs that follow me on Instagram, I couldn't go anywhere without having a photo captioned where everything I wore was from. Sometimes I didn't even remember where I got that blouse or that boot, but bloggers always knew.

“Now is when we put on a 'show' on the floor,” said a man sitting next to me for his wife.”

They got up and danced, Christopher looked at me and I turned away immediately, which was no longer a surprise to him. But today I don't need to be in my best social state, I was usually friendly and communicative even with people I couldn't stand. All for appearances. But the Glades were great table companions, and I preferred to remain uncommunicative. She usually looked at Christopher, pretending to be happy. But today, when she looked at him, she despised him.

“Do you wanna Dance? he asked, usually pretending not to be bothered when most people went to the dance floor.”

I almost laughed at him, but I managed to stop myself. Now he wants to dance? Because? I looked at him, wondering if he already knew what I knew.

“No! - I replied seriously and turned my face back and looked at the dance floor.”

Christopher raised his eyebrows, this was a little surprise as he realized I really wanted to dance. He knew that I liked at least in my past I liked to dance. Two years ago. Now, I wasn't sure anymore. But the problem was, I didn't want to dance with him

“Melanie, shall we? - Enzo said, pulling me to the dance floor.”

“Only if you go now.” I jumped up from my chair and went to dance with him.”

I danced so much that I felt exhausted, I don't think I ever danced like I did that night. An hour later, we were in the car. No security driving, so we had some privacy.

“I thought you didn't like dinner tonight, but I was wrong,” he said, as I remained silent.

“I hardly like it.”

Christopher watched me and while I kept looking out the window.

“And why didn't you ever tell me?”

“It was unnecessary.”

“And now it's not anymore?”

I just moved one shoulder like I didn't care and started fiddling with my phone. It irritated him, but I ignored it. We didn't have opportunities to share a topic that made m

shoulders or look like I didn't care.

"I prefer it when you answer me with words," Christopher said, seeing that I was still ignoring his gaze.”

That sentence made me stare at him, so I looked him straight in the eye, mimicking his cold posture.

“I want a divorce,” I informed him.”