The Secrets She Kept

Chapter 6

After climbing onto Luca's boat, he drove us out to our cove again. The one we always ran away to as kids. It's weird, now we've brought our child here. "Are you ready?" Luca hopped into the water and extended his arms out to Leah. I watched as she held onto his arms tightly as he lowered her into the water. Luca was an amazing swimmer. I watched as he showed her how to make bubbles and taught her to hold her breath. I thought back to the last time I'd been here before I had Leah. "Momma! Come on!" Leah shouted to me. "No it's okay baby, momma's fine here." I smiled at her. "Is THE Milana Bradley scared of the water?" Luca teased. "No, I'm fine here." I honestly wanted to get in the water, but I didn't want to ruin their time. "Come on Momma! Please!" Leah begged. Looking around at the beautiful cove, it somehow taunts me. Suddenly I felt the urge to hop in. After all, I did miss the ocean. I slowly stood up, and only took off my shirt, revealing my bikini top. I went to the side of the boat and dove headfirst into the water. As soon as my body was surrounded by the water, I was filled with complete happiness. I'd forgotten how much I loved the water. Still, underwater I dove deeper until I could see coral and sand. The sunlight danced through the water, sparkling and shimmering around me. I soon turned and swam quickly to the surface. "See Leah I told you she'd come back." Luca splashed the worried look off Leah's face as she giggled. I silently swam by myself. It felt weird being here and not really being on good terms with Luca. I can remember the way he held me in this very water. In our little hidden cove. "Feels good to be back, doesn't it?" I looked over at Luca who was smiling at me. "Kind of." I gave him a light smile. "Remember coming here on your sixteenth birthday?" Luca smirked. I smiled to myself thinking about it.

"Don't remind me." I groaned.

"No, it was the best day! I was leaning in for our first kiss! And you got so nervous you fell off the boat fully clothed." Luca laughed at the memory.

"It wasn't funny, I choked on water." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah but I hopped in with you and stole our first kiss in the water." An awkward silence fell at the memories flowing back.

"We were just kids then."

"Crazy kids." Luca agreed.

"The dumbest." I giggled.

"I've loved you for a long time before that day. That day, stealing that kiss, was one of my greatest accomplishments." Luca chuckled a little. I didn't like talking about our past. Although it was great, the growing-up part hurt. I realized how different we were, and how dangerous he was. Maybe I liked that part though, the temptations of dangerous love. The adrenaline of being with someone I shouldn't be. Then again maybe I was crazy. I looked over and couldn't help but admire the sight of my daughter playing with her father. Maybe I could still love Luca? But like I said, that's a dangerous game to play. I need to be able to put my daughter before myself, and before my desires. After a while of swimming and enjoying our day at the cove, we climbed back into the boat and headed to Luca's. I admired my beautiful daughter as I noticed how quickly she'd grown comfortable here. Something about the way that girl looked on a boat reminded me of myself. Pulling into Luca's dock, I watched as Leah's eyes widened in awe at the sight of his beautiful waterfront mansion. "Daddy, is this really your house?" She looked over at him in excitement. "Yeah baby girl, and yours too." He chuckled. Those words filled me with anxiety. Maybe Leah would want to move in with Luca. How would I explain to her that she can't? She'd be in a lot of danger if she were to move in. As we walked onto his back lawn, we were greeted by Kate. "Hey, baby!" Kate scooped up Leah and squeezed her. Leah let out giggles. I looked over and noticed Delilah standing closer to the house glaring at us. "Why's she here?" I motioned towards Delilah. "What Delilah?" Luca turned to look at her. "She lives here." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Why?" I suddenly sounded jealous. Not that I was, I was honestly curious. She did say she worked for him. "Her father worked for Luca's." Kate answered for Luca. "What kind of work?" I pushed more. "The kind that we repay by taking care of her." Kate smiled knowing what I was doing. "What are you talking about?" Leah's brows furrowed as she looked from me to Kate. "We take care of people, who take care of us." Kate kissed Leah's cheek quickly turning and heading towards the house. It felt weird being back at this house again. Memories of Luca and I hanging around here hit me, surprisingly leaving a small ache in my heart. "Wow." Leah's head turned in all directions, as we entered the house. It was beautiful and luxurious. Leah had never seen a house this big before. She's only ever known shitty city apartments, with no views and trails of rat poop. This all must've seemed so magical to her. "This is really MY daddy's house." Leah suddenly sounded like a teenage girl having a freakout. "I told you, it's yours too." Luca smiled, picking her up, and admiring her adoringly. "Come on, dinner is almost ready." Kate headed towards the dining room. We entered the dining room allowing Leah to take in the view. Their dining room had large windows on every side giving a beautiful view of the ocean and beach. There were no other homes around either. We all took our seats when an unexpected guest arrived. My heart dropped as Luca's entire expression changed. He was no longer holding Leah, but instead, hugging this strange girl. "Alexa, you didn't tell me you were stopping by." Luca smiled nervously. The girl wore a black suede hat, a bikini top with a long white see-through button-up, and short blue jean shorts. She had long brown hair and green eyes. She looked absolutely gorgeous and almost perfect, too perfect in a way. "You didn't tell me you had guests." She looked at Leah and then me, in disgust. "Actually this is the daughter I never had, Lana, and this is her and Luca's daughter, Leah." Kate's tone was very taunting. I could tell she didn't like Alexa. Was she Luca's girlfriend? She seemed comfortable enough for it since she stopped by unannounced. "What?" Alexa looked back and forth between all three of us. "Is there something you need?" Luca didn't seem to like her staring at us. "I just wanted to see you, wait is this true?" Alexa cringed and Leah and I. "Alexa, we're trying to have dinner. Is there something you need?" Luca's voice was more irritated. "Can we speak in private?" Alexa whispered. Luca sighed, turning to us with a stone expression. "Go ahead and start without me." He turned and quickly stormed out. Alexa followed, stopping at the doorway to give us one more disgusted look. "Who was that?" I asked Kate once they were gone. "That's the devil. She's after Luca's money, she's been coming around here trying to seduce him. And Luca's too stupid to see it's working." Kate groaned. "Wait, are they..." I stopped myself before slipping up in front of Leah asking if Luca was sleeping with Alexa. "Not that I know of, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. She follows him around like a pup, and he's always giving her money, and letting her take part in business meetings." Kate took a sip of her tea. "Some things never change." I thought out loud. Luca was always being chased after by girls. It never took much to get a girl naked. "He is a man after all." Kate sighed. I looked over to Leah who listened to us confused. I'd have to defend my daughter from her. There's no telling how Alexa's presence would affect Leah and Lucas's relationship. The last thing I need is my daughter finally happy with her father, only to have his time and attention ripped away from her.