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I can simply be with him.
“We should try meeting in the day sometime,” Luca says, kissing my head again, sending warm tingles all over my scalp. “Maybe you should come for a family lunch.”
“Family, or capital-F Family?”
“Elio, Scarlet, Mom, Dad, and me.”
“You want me to meet them all already?” I ask.
He smirks, raising his eyebrows as though this is a silly question. “Of course…”
My thoughts stray to Scarlet, wondering if she remembers the part I played, wondering if she hates me for it. Or was I as invisible to her in high school as I was to everybody else? After everything I’ve experienced, it just makes me feel even worse. I want to be a better person, though. I don’t want to be afraid all the time.
He smooths his hand down my face. “What is it? The stuff about your dad freaking you out?”
I sigh deeply and then shake my head. All the while, my soul is shaking, too. “I don’t know what to make of that if it’s true,” I tell him. “I’m still hoping you’re wrong, but deep down, I know you’re not. It’s just…”
When I trail off, he says, “The fact we’ve only met a few times, and I already want to introduce you to my parents?” His smile is so complicated. It’s like he’s experiencing the same tension coursing through me, but he’s handling it better, somehow. I wonder what he’d say if I told him the truth.
“It feels weirdly natural,” I admit.
“Almost like we were meant to be?” he teases.
I put my hand on his chest, meaning to push myself away. Yet when I feel his solid build burning through his shirt, I end up pulling myself against him. He kisses me with so much passion, with so much ownership. As I sink deeper into the heat, part of me wishes we were texting instead.
As our tongues clash and my body sends urgent signals pulsing through me, I wonder how much easier it would be to type it all out in a message. To explain what I did. To explain why his sister-in-law might hate me.
“Have you spoken to your family about me?” I ask when the kiss is over.
“Yeah, and they want to meet you. You should’ve seen my mom’s face when I was describing you.”
“Describing me how?” I whisper, more tingles shimmering through me.
He wraps his arms around me, holding me close to him. Every time he kisses the top of my head, it’s like warm, soothing water trickling through my scalp and over my cheeks. “I said you glowed,” he whispers.
I laugh. “Glowed? Maybe I need to go see a doctor.”
He squeezes me. “I mean it,” he says. “There’s something special about you, Ruby. You shine. It’s your kindness. Your beauty.”
“My kindness,” I repeat. “You don’t know if I’m kind or not. I could be a complete douchebag, Luca. I could be a bully.”
He takes my shoulders and lengthens his arms so that there’s enough space between us for him to look down at me. With a soft shake of his head, he says, “You could never be a bully. Say yes. Say you’ll come to dinner. It’ll be good for my folks to see I can have a real relationship.”
“A real relationship? As opposed to what?”
He takes my hand and turns away. “Shall we get going? If we stay here any longer, I won’t be able to hold myself back. I’ll maul you.”
It’s obvious he just changed the subject, but I laugh anyway. “Maul me? Is that supposed to be a good thing?”
He laughs savagely. “I think so. It sounded good in my head.”
“My big mafia bear,” I tease, tickling his side. “You’re going to maul me.”
Even as we laugh, I can’t stop thinking about what he said—a real relationship. So what does that say about his life before we met? He obviously has a past. I can’t fight that. I can’t expect anything different, but it doesn’t mean I have to feel good about it.
CHAPTER 14
Luca
The following day, I drive to Elio’s office in the city. He doesn’t work anywhere near as often as he used to. He spends a lot of time with his wife and newborn but still puts in decent hours. He’s typing something when I push the door open. He gestures to a seat, his eyes focused on the screen, his fingers moving quickly.
I sit down and wait for him to finish. With anybody else in our lives, this would be a power play. Luckily, brothers don’t have to worry about petty crap like that.
“So,” he says, with a sarcastic smile, “how can I help you today, sir?”
I’m about to reply when my phone buzzes. “Hold on.” I take it out and check the text. It’s my woman. Let’s do dinner, Luca. I know it’s complicated. I know it’s crazy, but let’s do it!
