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My heart did something funny in my chest, and I slowly turned around to face him, finding he stood less than six inches away, his head angled down at me, the emotion in those dark eyes pure and desperate.
All I could say was, “What?”
“We probably won’t be able to do anything until the smoke clears, but I’ll work on getting everything set up in secret. I’ll do whatever I can for you. I told you that before and I meant it. If that means getting a divorce, then… then that’s what we’ll do. You’ll have me at your side whether you’re my wife or not, Giselle.”
The breath that left me was an uneven, ragged one, and I found myself needing to touch him, so I brought a hand to his cheek and ran my fingertips down along his jaw. “Oh, Luca. I think I’m starting to like you.” His face was warm under my hand, smoother than I thought it’d be.
The right side of his mouth quirked up in a boyish grin. “Only starting to?”
I chuckled softly as I dropped my hand to my side. “I am a tough nut to crack, so don’t feel too bad.”
“Cade cracked you, and Damian seems to be in mid-crack—not to mention that priest—so I’m feeling like my odds are pretty damn good.” He flashed me a pearly set of teeth.
“Comparing yourself to the others is probably not a good idea,” I warned him, fighting the smile that threatened to spread on my face in return. “They have a pretty big head start on you.”
He made a psh sound. “Damian doesn’t.”
“No, but he did buy me that gun—and I really like that gun.”
“Ah, so I could buy my way in?”
I found myself leaning towards him, brushing my front against his chest as I murmured, “You don’t need to. I think you already started to crack me.”
“Maybe I should kiss you just to be sure?”
I would’ve rolled my eyes at his lack of smoothness in this situation if I wasn’t feeling the need to kiss him myself. So instead of rolling my eyes, I let my eyelids flutter shut as I whispered, “Maybe you should.”
Luca’s hands found my hips the same moment his lips came down on mine. He kissed me like he had something to prove, a truth he wanted to confess. The firm, eager kiss backed up his words and reaffirmed what I already knew.
Any girl really would be fortunate to have him as a husband. He’d make a good one. A great husband, a fantastic father… he would rise above the shadows of Rocco and Miguel and put them to shame.
But it couldn’t be me. If, by some miracle, by some sudden twist of fate, I survived this whole thing, I did not want to be shackled to somebody’s side, even if it was Luca.
The kiss was over just like that, and as Luca pulled himself away, my eyelids fluttered open. I watched as he took a step back, a silly little grin on his face. He didn’t want to pull away; the only thing that boy wanted to do was keep kissing me—perhaps go farther than that.
But, alas, he sighed and told me, “I should get back. I’ll call you later, okay?”
I didn’t want him to go. I wanted him here, but at the same time I knew he had to keep up appearances, so I held back all the things I really wanted to say and settled for, “Of course.” The last thing I saw before Luca ducked out of the room was his smile.
Oh, that dimpled smile could do things to a girl if she wasn’t careful. It really was too bad I was trying to turn over a new leaf, otherwise I would’ve been tempted to dive right in.
Shay came the day after that. She didn’t know she was meeting me, of course, so I’d have a lot of explaining to do once she arrived and we sat across from each other. Shay was on the Hand, and added onto that was the fact that I’d flirted with one of her boyfriends and she’d found out. I probably wasn’t the person she wanted to see.
And yet she would.
I hoped I could trust her. I hoped she wouldn’t turn right around and go tattle on me. During our meeting, I had to tell her the whole truth. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Mostly the last two, because there wasn’t much good about any of this.
Things were fucked. I’d known that for a while, but being here, stuck in this freaking house, made it all the more real, the only thing I could think about. I had some hope that, together with the guys, I’d take down Miguel and his empire, but when I was alone dark, pessimistic ideas crept around in my head.
There was a lot riding on this meeting with Shay, so I had to do it right. I’d put all of my cards down on the table, show her my hand, and pray to whatever divine deity would listen that Shay would side with me.
I was sitting at the dining room table when Damian poked his head through the front door, gave me a half smirk, and said, “You got a guest here, baby girl. Shall I send her in?” Acting like he was my assistant or something, like I was the boss and we were in an office together.
Right.
All I could do was nod. I’d told him I wanted privacy with Shay, and that meant no one else could be in the house while we were talking. All the curtains were drawn, blocking out the light from the outside. No one would be able to see in; it would be just Shay Arrowwood and me.
My view of Damian disappeared, and seconds later, Shay strolled in. Her dark eyes surveyed the empty area once before landing on me in the dining room to the right. Her lips, painted in a dark red color—the same color her shirt was, actually—thinned when she spotted me, though she didn’t say anything as she came over and took the chair across from me.
