Chapter 11

Melody Melody stayed in the kitchen while she changed her mind about the coffee and poured water to make herself a chamomile tea, it was either that or just drink the hot water. The kitchen was practically empty, in the cupboard there were only a few boxes of colored cereal, which she loathed, and some canned peach juice, one of the many things that made her vomit. Lucy had again forgotten to go to the grocery store a few blocks from the apartment. Her friend could be as good as she wanted, but when it came to organization and shopping, she was awful. It wasn’t the first time she’d been to Lucy’s, only this time she’d definitely lived there, even though things weren’t exactly going well, she’d be incredibly grateful for the opportunity to let her stay at her place for a while, until she knew what to do with her baby and her life in general. She drank the cup of tea slowly, stirring the tea bag with the leaves it contained, it was a combination of chamomile with cinnamon, and she didn’t like to drink this kind of infusions, but on that occasion, she needed to do something, and drinking alcohol had never been part of Melody’s life.

Timothy was watching her from the other end of the room, observing each one of her movements, watching every detail she made. She stood across from him, separated only by the small, short, striped breakfast bar.

“You’ve got to be kidding, I really don’t think you came for that,” she commented uncertainly. He was looking at her so seriously that Melody was beginning to wonder if he was really being serious. “Is there a hidden camera?”

“Why do you find that so hard to believe? You’re quite a beautiful woman.”

Melody let out a nervous laugh. Beautiful?

The man must be blind, she wasn’t amongst the beauty standards at all.

“Beautiful me? You’re wrong. I am common. Passable. I’m not blonde and I don’t have endless legs, not to mention my tiny nose that hardly gives me enough to breathe.”

“Have you seen yourself in the mirror?” he asked approaching her.

“For twenty-two years I have, I’ve always seen the same skinny girl and big eyes, like something permanently scares me, so don’t come getting creative by saying I’m beautiful. You don’t need to say that to make me like you.”

“Wow,” he scratched where his beard should have been, but was perfectly shaved.

“I’m not insecure, I’m quite realistic,” she continued, ignoring his stare “You must know better than that, after all, you have money, I’m sure you’ve been with the most beautiful women in Manhattan, Oh, come on! Don’t look at me like that Timothy, it’s pure reality. You’re a young man, with money, lots of women must throw themselves at you every day.”

“Beauty sometimes is a mask to hide the shit we are.”

Melody looked at him trying to figure out the reason for such an analysis. He must have known someone so terrible that it scarred him for life.

“I’m sorry for what they did to you,” she told him taking his hand and squeezing it.

“Nothing happened to me,” he let go and brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. She had her hair down and bangs on her forehead that made her look younger than she was. “What makes you think someone like me can be hurt?”

“Call it sixth sense.”

“Will you be my wife?” he changed the subject drastically and went back to his wild proposal.

The insecurity returned and this time stronger, Melody stared at him, her gray eyes trying to find a logical reason why he decided to propose to her, the first thing she should do was ask him why he wanted to marry her, because something must be behind that façade, behind a simple question to a stranger.

But the question was not simple, Melody told herself. Not simple at all. To be honest with herself it was quite complex, no one asked a person they didn’t know to marry them unless they had a logical reason to do so, a compelling reason and she suspected that such an intelligent, wealthy, and presumably complicated man would not lightly ask such a question to a person he had met just that morning.

But what bothered her most about the whole situation was that she didn’t let him know that Equilay Thompson was related to her, that he was her brother-in-law, and that bringing him to justice for the theft of the three million, he would be destroying her sister’s life and her nephew’s. She didn’t have the nerve to tell him. She didn’t have the face to tell him, she blushed and turned her eyes away, she didn’t know how to explain the mess she had gotten herself into alone.

“What’s going through your beautiful head, Melody?” he asked grabbing her by the jaw, making she landed her gaze on him, slowly her eyes went to his lips and she blushed even more than she thought possible. “If you accept my proposal, we’ll share more than kisses,” she shuddered at that implied promise.

“I don’t understand why you want to marry someone you don’t know.” His hand was a gentle caress on her face, he didn’t remove it and she didn’t pull away either.

She let out a yawn and Timothy realized she was tired.

“I think you’ve had enough for today. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at Doyle’s coffee shop...”

“Tomorrow I have to clean up at the...”

“You clean houses?” he asked, frowning, and looking at her as if she’d blurted out something out of this world.

“Don’t be such a snob. We’re not all millionaires. Some of us need more than one job to pay for our stuff,” she angrily defended herself. “I go and help them with simple things, things that don’t weigh much, clean the house, throw some water and dust. They both work and don’t have time to do it. What I earn at the coffee shop isn’t enough for me.”

She was kidding herself if she thought for a moment that he understood her, at the end of the night Timothy was still a multimillionaire who never in his life experienced a situation similar to hers, this took him completely away from the reality she was forced to live in at that moment and she suspected she would have to deal with for quite some time, she didn’t care anymore about having to clean a house, that wasn’t so important. She didn’t mind having to wipe an old lady’s ass or having to pick up trash on the street, as long as she wasn’t doing anything wrong. Melody knew she would do whatever it takes to provide for her son with just enough and whatever he needed at birth.

“I know you have no money, you told me that this morning, but I didn’t think your situation was so...delicate and complex. I’m not a snob, I understand what you’re saying.”

“I seriously doubt you understand. You have money. Don’t make that face,” she told him when she saw him get upset. “It’s the truth. I was pretty much the same, well except I didn’t have a driver and my family didn’t have a company...okay, I wasn’t the same.”

“Do I make you nervous Melody?” he moved his face closer, and Melody didn’t move. She couldn’t, her feet were welded to the floor by the desire she felt for Timothy. “You talk too much.”

“So, I’ve been told,” she scolded herself for not being able to be honest with him, to spill right away that she knew Equilay, but she wanted to have one more moment with this man so close to her. “I like to talk.”

“I noticed that already. You look like a parakeet.”

“Why, thank you. Any other compliments?”

“And you make me hard as a rock, crazy to have you under me begging to make you mine.”

Melody said nothing, she couldn’t, she just wanted to kiss him again, she shouldn’t feel that way about him, she was ashamed to do it, but it was impossible for her not to see him and lust after him at the same time, so strong and masculine, so vigorous that it was impossible for her not to give in to temptation and break the distance that separated them.

“Cara mia, you will finish the little stability I have left,” he murmured before seizing her mouth.

Timothy’s mouth was carnal, strong, velvety-lipped but thick. She enjoyed his warmth, parted her lips and felt his tongue pierce her wet cavity; she was turned to butter. She put her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, Timothy put his hands on her waist and pulled her close until she almost melted against his body.

She had never been kissed like that, she had never felt anything like this with any of the men she had kissed and that included Richard. She felt his hands settle on her ass and squeeze them, she let out a moan of pleasure and desire.

“Wait,” he pulled away from her and looked at her with glistening eyes.

“Did I do something wrong?”

She had almost no experience and doubted she even knew how to kiss the right way. She shared a few peck kisses with two boys in college, and with Richard who was the one she lost her virginity to, she hadn’t even been able to feel the pleasure she read so much about in romance novels. Sex was a disappointment for her, it must have been underrated. Maybe doing it in Richard’s car played a part, although he came out saying it was a good fuck, which made her feel dirty and like a slut.

“You haven’t done anything wrong, quite the contrary, if we go on like this, we’ll end up in bed and that’s not what I want.”

“No?” she didn’t know where to stick her shame. She was confused.

Why was he kissing her like that if he didn’t want to take her to bed?

Why was he looking at her as if he really thought she was beautiful?

Men were undoubtedly more complicated than she realized.

She turned away from him and went straight to the door.

The little dignity she had left she was going to use to make him leave the apartment.

She couldn’t let him see her like this, as heated as she felt, so wet between her legs, eager for him to fulfill what her eyes promised.

“See you tomorrow.”

She was a con artist. A backstabber. She was playing with a double-edged sword, with a knife that was sharp on the top and the bottom. She forced herself to put her foot down and flashed him her best fake smile.

“I’m not interested in taking you to bed either,” he moved closer to her, motivated by a drive Melody didn’t understand.

“That’s not what I felt when you were kissing me a moment ago.”

“Correction. You kissed me.”

“I didn’t see you put up a fight, or hit me, or pull away. I think you like me and don’t want to admit it. But relax...” he took his tailored jacket and pulled down his shirt sleeves, groomed himself perfectly and ran his hand through his blond hair, “the desire you feel is normal. It’s what I cause in women.”

His arrogance was supreme, unbelievably this only made Melody more attracted to him, the Italian must have a pact with the devil himself, no one could have the privilege of God to look the way he did, nor to kiss with such lust.

“You are insufferable,” she opened the door and pointed him out.

“Tomorrow I’ll pick you up and we’ll go to lunch, wear something with sleeves and some slippers, the restaurant is black tie.”

“What makes you think I’ll go out with you, Timothy? It’s one thing for me to listen to you and another to do whatever you want,” she crossed her arms over her chest, she was annoyed at how he smiled, as if nothing mattered to him, while she melted by just having him around, “and I’ll let you know one thing Timothy Giannato, I don’t know what kind of woman you’ve dated, but no one likes to be told what to wear to go eat at a restaurant, no matter how five star it is.”

His comment only meant for her to feel more impoverished and minimized than she should. Melody was not the kind of woman to be intimidated for any reason. There was an economic difference between the two of them, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t educated enough or that she didn’t know how to dress properly, maybe not in silk clothes, not with diamonds or pearls around her neck, but she could manage when she put her mind to it. His comment was somewhat out of line and this had really stung Melody’s pride. Such it seemed that he got the wrong impression about her, he saw her in frayed jeans, white faded shirt and now he saw her in almost see-through pajamas.

“I didn’t mean to offend you,” he mused fixing his suit lapels. “I’m never want to put you in a position you’re not comfortable with and that’s precisely what I’m trying to avoid, by telling you to dress in a proper manner. Because I don’t want when you walk into the place, the people who are there will stare at you as if you are less than them. You must learn something now that you are going to be my wife, we live in the media spotlight, therefore, we have an image to maintain.”

“That I’m not going to marry you!”

“You are going to. It suits both of us. It’s the right thing to do.”

“Can’t you see I’m pregnant? In less than six months I’m going to give birth to a child, one that’s not yours. Doesn’t it even bother you to think about it? You don’t look like you want to be a father.”

“We all have different levels of importance. What seems like a simplicity to you may be the end of the fucking world to me,” he put his hands on either side of her face, making a prison that Melody couldn’t get out of, she raised her eyes to him, because Timothy was several inches taller than her. “I need a wife; you need money and stability.”

“Not your money.”

“You don’t know that. You women are easy to please, you’ll see how you get used to it. Think of my proposal tonight Melody, look at it as a financial transaction, something between friends.”

“You’re not my friend Timothy. You’re just a millionaire who thinks he can solve everything by buying people.”

“People, companies, cars. Everything has a price,” he removed his hands and walked out of the apartment. “I don’t want to hurt you, I’m not going to deny that I want you, but this thing we’re going to do will be a contract sort of thing, it’s an all-out proposal. I don’t want to hurt you and I really think we can benefit from.”

“I doubt it,” he murmured.

“Good night, cara mia. Get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow at two o’clock in the afternoon.” Melody didn’t know what the words he said to her in Italian meant, and when she asked him, the answer left her somewhat excited. No one had ever spoken to her like that before.

He turned to leave, but then it occurred to Melody that she had no way to reach him in case she couldn’t make it to lunch.

“I don’t have your number; how can I reach you if I can’t see you tomorrow?”

“Find your cell phone so you can record it.”

She moved quickly.

She couldn’t believe she was considering the marriage proposal, it was absurd, kind of silly, hilarious, but even considering the proposal was stupid, Melody watched herself in slow motion as she reached for the cell phone to save Timothy’s number.

She really needed the money and if being with him ensured a good future for her son, she would accept his proposal. She was tired of cleaning the Coleman’s house, she was not like that. As much as she repeated herself, she would do anything for her son, she could not deny the reality: in her house she had not moved a single dish, she did not have to clean, she did not have to cook, studying was enough. Becoming pregnant was a reality check, a hard enough shock that she was now beginning to fully assimilate. Three months after having the baby in her womb, she was beginning to understand that life was not easy but she was not going to give up, she was not going to give the pleasure to those people who believed that she would not be able to give birth to a child and take care of him as she should, including her parents and her sister, she would graduate from college and still give her son a good education and a relatively good life, and if for that she had to marry Timothy Giannato, she would do it, no matter what kind of clause the contract had. She would sacrifice anything to be able to give him enough to provide a good life. She ignored how good kisser Timothy was, she wouldn’t succumb to him, she couldn’t afford to fall in love. Just as he said, it was a business thing. She didn’t know his motives, nor did she care. All she cared about was that he had been interested enough in her to propose.

The bad thing about all this was that Timothy had no idea that she was related to the Equilay and if he found out everything would go to shit. She promised herself that the next day she would tell him and if he still wanted to go through with that marriage proposal, she was saved.

“Is that your phone?” Timothy looked at the mobile in Melody’s small hand and almost had a heart attack from laughing.

“I use it for calls.”

“Are you really twenty-two? Don’t you chat? Don’t you text? Don’t you have friends to gossip with?”

“This gives me what I need. I can’t afford a cell phone. My father...” she paused, the less he talked about his past, the better everything was going to turn out. “Give me your number and I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

“Don’t fuck with me Melody, I’ll come looking for you if you tell me tomorrow that you don’t want to see me,” he told her after she put his number away.

“But I really don’t want to!” she snapped angrily. “You don’t understand. There are things you don’t know. Things I can’t tell you today.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not ready,” and she thought she would never be. Timothy had given her his help without asking for it and telling him the truth made her a possible accomplice and a traitor and she didn’t want him to judge her.

“Fine. Tomorrow you’ll tell me.”

She thought about the best way to ask him and finally gave up.

“By the way, where did you stand on the issue of the man who conned you?”

“He didn’t con me; he stole from me. An employee of my own company embezzled three million from me. But I’m already on to him, I know who he is, I’m just gathering information, I’m meeting with my detectives first thing tomorrow.”

“That means you have no proof it was him,” Melody concluded letting out the air she hadn’t realized she was holding.

“Oh yes I do. I know and I’ll make him pay every dollar,” his green eyes grew darker, brutally furious, “no one steals from me and gets away with it.”

“Maybe you’ve got the wrong guy, maybe this Equilay didn’t mean to do it.”

“For not knowing him you defend him pretty well Melody. I don’t know if you’re too innocent or don’t know anything about business,” he looked at the watch on his wrist and made a click. “I’ve got to get going. I’m meeting my cousin in less than fifteen minutes.”

She was saved by the bell. Timothy was almost suspicious of her relationship with Equilay.

“Have a good time. Good night.”

“Until a few hours, beautiful. Rest and dream about me,” he smiled mischievously at her and walked off slowly, as if he were in his waters.

The hallway was too small for him.

Just as Melody would be if she fell into his net.

She was keeping up a lie and it would result in no good.