AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I told Stefano what they did but he said that it had to be a misunderstanding.”
“A missunder—”
“He explained that Giulietta would never do what I was accusing her of and admitted that they sometimes got a little wild. He’s sure that it was a misunderstanding. That they thought I knew the drinks were laced. They said they were sorry for not being sure that I was cool with it and wanted to make amends.”
“Tell me you don't believe that load of bullshit?” I seethed at the excuses the man who claimed to care about Mira was making for these other women who treated her so terribly.
Mira looked offended. “Of course not! But Stefano does, so I agreed to this shopping trip in hopes of recording a confession from Giulietta. I want concrete evidence that she knew exactly what she was doing so Stefano will know what kind of woman she really is.”
“That was dangerous considering what happened last time, and this time you take off to another city with them? That was more than reckless, that was stupid.”
“I know what they're capable of now and I know how to protect myself. Does Teo know that you're doing this? This could be a nightmare for the alliance with Stefano's father.”
“He knows that I had something planned but it was better to give him plausible deniability about the details. He told me to do what I needed to do. Although, I'm sure he wasn't expecting me to kidnap his kid sister in the process.
I'm protecting Teo by not letting him know the details but that also means that the girls can’t know that we’re Venturi men. We've gone to great lengths to make sure that they don't suspect your family. We're speaking French, wearing masks...”
“And what's your game plan here? You're planning on trafficking these girls to teach them a lesson?”
“Of course not. You know me better than that. I'm only going to let them think that they're going to be trafficked before accidentally letting them escape. They'll go home thinking that they barely made it out and hopefully they'll think twice before putting a woman through anything like they put you through.”
“You're crazy.”
“Only when it comes to the people I care about. In a few minutes I need to take you back out there. I can't let you go free, or they would be suspicious. I need you to continue to act scared or however you would act in a situation like this, just try to act natural. But until then, can I get you something? Some water, food?”
“No. I'm fine.” Mira still sounded a little annoyed, but her anger had faded.
“Good.” I lowered my voice and softened it as I leaned in a little closer. “Then you can tell me why you've been avoiding me.”
“Because being around you isn’t good for my relationship with Stefano, not while there's still this tension between us that he can pick up on.”
“So, he's jealous and he told you not to see me anymore,” I stated bluntly.
“No. He said no such thing. This was my decision, and it's not that we can never see each other again. I just need some space until everything between us isn’t so new.”
“I see, but Stefano isn’t right for you.”
“And who is? You?” Her voice sounded like venom.
“Yes, me. I can talk to Teo. He's my friend. He's your brother. He will want us both to be happy.”
“That’s what I tried to explain before, but you said that you could never...” Mira looked truly upset and she turned her gaze from me.
I lightly gripped her jaw and turned her face back toward mine. “I know what I said. And I'll always be loyal to your family, but I can't hide the way I feel for you. I want to be with you and it's worth at least having a conversation with Teo to see if he would be open to us dating, not sneaking around, really dating.”
“We can't.” She yanked her face from my grasp, but I forced Mira to look at me. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Why not? Isn’t that what you wanted? Because I know it's what I want. I know that I took a long time to get around to this but you're what I want. I realize that I'm not worthy of you, but I promise that I will work every day to make myself a man worthy of being with you.”
“We can't be together.”
“Because of Stefano? I know you don't love him. There's no way you could.”
“It doesn't matter. I'm going to be with Stefano.”
My expression darkened as I leaned in close. “Fuck this. I'm done playing the cordial gentleman. You are mine. You've always been mine and you always will be. You go ahead and get this little prick out of your system. I'm a patient man. I'll wait...for a while but eventually you will be with me. Even if you marry that bastard, if I have to sneak into your honeymoon suite and make you a widow on your wedding night, you will be mine.”
“Luca, stop.”
