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Luca takes his time dishing up two bowls of chili and carrying them to the breakfast counter where I’m waiting. As we settle in to eat, he says, “Matteo, or rather his son, Nico, came up with a way to prevent both the war and your marriage to the Albanian.”
Shocked, I look up at Luca sharply. “Matteo agreed to help me? He wasn’t angry that you kept me with you and didn’t tell him right away?”
He smiles enigmatically and responds, “I forgot how difficult it is to keep anything from the old man. He’s known all along that you’ve been here.”
“So, what is his magical solution to fixing everything?”
“It’s simple really. You’ll marry me instead.”
My jaw drops and my spoon clatters to the counter. I can’t have heard that right. Marry Luca? My father’s most hated enemy?
But he’s more than that. He’s the first person to ever make me feel loved and cared for. He protected me even when he thought it could cost him his life. How could I not want to marry this man? But is it what he really wants, or is he being forced into this?
Gathering my composure, I attempt to keep my voice neutral when I ask, “Is that what you want, or would you do it just to thwart my father’s plans?”
Luca sets down his own spoon and finally turns to me. My breath hitches at the intense look in his eyes and the emotion I read there. “I would do nearly anything for my family,” he says. “But I would burn down the entire world, including the Rossi empire, if it meant keeping you forever. There’s nothing I want more than to marry you, princess.”
I have to force my words past the lump in my throat as I throw my arms around Luca’s neck. “Then let’s get married,” I whisper in his ear. He pulls back and smiles before kissing me softly. Then he reaches for a piece of paper I hadn’t noticed on the counter. When he shows it to me, I see that it’s a marriage license and he’s already added his signature. The only thing that’s missing is mine.
“Is this real?” I ask.
Luca shrugs and smiles. “It’s not exactly the correct order of things. But I don’t think anyone in this city will question a marriage license witnessed by Matteo Rossi.” I smile back at him and take the pen he offers me, signing my name with a flourish.
“We’re married,” I say, turning to the man who is now my husband, well, we still have to file the license with the records office, but that’s a minor detail.
“There’s just one thing left to do now to make it official,” Luca says with a wicked grin.
“Oh? What’s that?”
“We have to consummate our union, of course.” And with that, he scoops me up and carries me back to the bedroom, leaving our dinner forgotten on the counter. We make love in our bed, and the connection we share is unlike anything before. Afterward, we grab a shower together, making love again under the hot spray. There is no resisting this man, my husband, and his perfect body.
Once in bed again, my gentle giant draws me into his arms under the covers, pulling me flush against him, and soon, he’s out like a light.
I stay up for hours, listening to the sound of his breathing and thinking of how much I want to spend every evening for the rest of my life feeling warm and protected in the arms of the man that I love.
I love Luca more than I have ever loved anyone in my life, and I want to live out the rest of my life with him, but . . . I need to leave.
At least for a few hours.
I’ll be back before he even notices that I am gone.
“I love you, Luca,” I whisper, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on his lips before climbing out of bed.
My heart hammers in my chest as I quietly slip into my clothes and exit the bedroom. I am half afraid he will stop me, but I don’t hear anything as I grab the key card he left on the entry room table.
I have a moment of hesitation as I step into the elevator, but I don't turn back. I need to do this.
I can’t let go of everything I’ve worked for, and at the same time, I need to close the door on my past. I’ll show Luca that we can be together without him having to lock me up in his apartment to protect me.
As the elevator doors slide closed, I can’t help the heavy feeling that settles in my chest.
Chapter Nine
Luca
I love you, Luca.
The words slam into me harder than any fist that’s ever landed on my face and undo me just as fast.
