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“With Luca? Why?”
The waitress returned with our coffees, and we waited awkwardly for her to leave.
Stefano leaned in closer, resting his arms on the table. “When you were in trouble at the club the other night,” he hesitated, glancing away before meeting my eye again. “You called him.”
“So?”
“You called another man to come rescue you. I wasn’t the one you turned to when you were in trouble. It was him.”
I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed in frustration. “I called my family’s enforcer, one of my best friends. It’s not like I just called up some random guy to come save me.”
“I know. I know that. It’s just, there is something there between the two of you, I can feel it. I can see it. He’s always there.”
I let out an exasperated laugh. “You’re jealous?”
“It’s not jealousy. I care about you, Mira. I want to be the one you turn to when you need someone.”
“And you will be.” I reached over and placed my hand on his. He looked so vulnerable admitting his insecurities that way. “Luca and I have a long history. We’ve known each other since we were children. He works for my family, and he looks out for me as my friend.”
“That’s really all it is?”
A pang of guilt hit my gut because that wasn’t all it was, not really, but it was all it ever could be. I forced a smile and gently squeezed his arm. “Really.”
Stefano’s whole body sagged with relief, and he let out a heavy sigh. He met my gaze and smiled. “I’m so sorry I ever doubted you.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure it’s hard to navigate all these new people in my life that you’ve never met before, all while still trying to figure out where we stand with one another.”
“It’s just...” he reached out and took my hand, lightly rubbing little circles with his thumb. “I know you had a life before me, before our fathers set us up. I guess I just doubt your feelings for me sometimes. I worry that you’re only with me because of some feeling of duty to your father.”
“I am not that girl. Trust me, if I didn’t want to be with you, there is no way that my father could make me stay in a relationship. It’s true, he was the one who made the initial suggestion, and I was hesitant because it was him who was setting me up, but I’m glad he did. I’m so glad that I met you.”
Stefano leaned over the table, lightly brushing my hair from my face as he cupped my cheek and drew me in for a soft, tender kiss. “What do you say we spend the rest of the day together, just you and me? I feel like I have some apologizing to do, and I think I know just the right way to do that.” His voice turned to a sultry rumble as his suggestive words alluded to all the pleasurable promises I knew he had in mind.
“I think that sounds like an amazing idea.”
***
After spending the rest of the day with Stefano, and the whole night in his bed, I lay there still tangled in his sheets, his steady, even breath behind me, indicating that he was sound asleep, but sleep evaded me.
After sex, I was usually ready to pass out for the night. After our romp in the sheets ended in both of us seeing stars, Stefano rolled onto his back and pulled me tight against his chest but as we laid there in post-orgasmic bliss, and I was just about to drift off to sleep, thoughts of Luca popped into my mind.
My being around Luca and turning to him first had made Stefano insecure in our relationship. And he had every reason to be upset, more so than he even knew because Stefano had no idea that Luca and I had slept together.
Stefano didn’t do anything to deserve being made to feel less than and he certainly didn’t deserve my dishonesty. He’d done nothing but be there for me whenever I needed him. Did I love him? It was too early to tell, but he was a good man, and I did enjoy our time together. I loved Luca, but we had no future so I had to make a choice, choose a man who could make me happy, who made me a priority, or throw it all away obsessing over something that would never be.
I knew what I had to do. And as Stefano lay behind me, his arm around my waist as he held me to him, I made a decision. I had to let Luca go. I needed to make more of an effort with Stefano and do my best to stay away from Luca, at least for a little while until our feelings had a chance to fade. Once I had a clear path forward, it wouldn’t be so hard to be around him and hopefully restore our friendship since that was how we started off anyway.
I made the decision, but I still couldn’t seem to find the peace I needed to drift off to sleep.
Chapter 15
Luca
Mira was avoiding me. It’d been weeks since she called me from the club to come and save her. She didn’t call her brothers, or that bastard Stefano. She called me.
Maybe that didn’t mean anything. Maybe I was the easiest number to get to, or maybe she figured as head enforcer, I was the one to handle that, but I didn’t believe any of those maybes. She’d called me because she wanted me to come to save her. Because she knew that I would. Because I’d always protect her no matter what.
Could she be avoiding me because of what I’d done in killing those men? I’d only done it to protect her and other women like her who could wind up as their next target. Could she be afraid of me, knowing what I was capable of? No. Mira knew who I was and what I’d done long ago. She knew what being an enforcer for the mafia meant. She wasn’t some naive girl, she was mafia royalty.
