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“Do you want to be a fashion show queen or…”
He shrugs and bites into his burger, looking at me like he’s got all the time in the world to hear my answer. I’ve rehearsed what I want out of life dozens of times in my mind but having it asked so attentively leaves me breathless.
“I don’t know,” I say.
“Liar.” He smirks. “You know. You’re just getting nervous again when there’s no need. There’s never a need with me and you. You can tell me how you really feel, how you truly feel deep down…”
“Always,” I finish.
“Always,” he snarls.
“I want to start a comfortable fashion line for the masses,” I say, my voice coming out quickly and excited. “I want the clothes to be stylish and complement the plus-size figure, but I don’t want it to be messy with buttons and clasps and lots of unnecessary stuff. I want to be able to slip it on and feel beautiful. The problem is I’ve only ever used myself as a model and before you, I never could believe I was beautiful.”
“But now you know,” he growls, “and it will make your work so much better.”
“I hope so,” I whisper.
“Every resource I have is at your disposal. Once this war is over, you can start your fashion line and hire as many workers and models as you need. Anything that gets you closer to your dream, I will provide.”
“I accept,” I say at once.
He chuckles. “You’re not proud. I like that.”
“You can’t afford to be when you’re raised an orphan, surrounded by bullies. I always told myself if I was ever made an offer like this, I’d accept. I didn’t expect the man of my dreams to be the one making the offer, though, or to ever get one.”
I avert my gaze, stunned that those words just came out of my mouth, that I spoke them without stuttering, without betraying my nervousness.
“You’re the woman of my dreams, Lucy,” he says sternly. “There’s no need to be ashamed.”
“What about you?” I ask. “Is the Mafia life enough for you?”
“No,” he says, shaking his head fiercely, his silver hair dancing in small movements. “I’ve always been an ambitious man, but my alliance with Franco has made it difficult to progress towards what I really want.”
“What, Luca?” I say, rapt, unable to look away from the glinting conviction in his dark eyes.
“I want to turn all the crime syndicates in the city into legitimate businesses. I want to eradicate crime altogether. I want to make it so people are too busy with work – or failing that, too afraid of me – to behave the way Franco does. It’s going to be a hard task, but I’ve made inroads over the years. I’ve legitimized much of my business, and made sure I have a presence, even a hidden presence, in other crime organizations.”
He ramps up, moving his hands passionately, sinking deeply into his topic. I can’t look away. He’s so enthusiastic and charismatic and compelled by what he’s talking about.
“The problem is that once a criminal organization has gone legitimate, it’s easy for criminals to fill the gap they’ve left behind. I’m going to maintain the Lioni Family so that whenever somebody steps out of line, they will know they’ve got fierce punishment waiting for them. That’s the ultimate dream, but it’s so big, so insane, I don’t know if I can do it in my lifetime.”
“You can,” I say, his enthusiasm making my voice fiery and certain. “I know you can. Seeing you speak about it like that, with so much conviction, heck, Luca… I know you can do it. I’ll support you, however, I can. I know that probably won’t count for much though.”
“It counts for everything,” he says, reaching over and squeezing my hand, letting me feel the carnal passion barely contained inside of him. “I’ve always wanted to do this, but only for the betterment of the city. Now I want to do it so you and our children have a good, decent place to live… a good, decent world even.”
I squeeze onto him, so much emotion bursting inside of me I’m afraid I might cry.
“Come on, Lucy,” he says with a smirk. “Eat your food before it gets cold.”
“Is that an order?” I banter.
“You’re goddamn right it is,” he says, staring hard at me.
I pick up my burger and take a bite, and I smile, and my man smirks back at me.
Chapter Fifteen
Luca
This isn’t how I wanted to start my day.
After the date with Lucy last night – after the talking and the kissing and the long romantic walk around the estate – I wanted to have breakfast with her and pick up where we left off. We ended the night with an intense kiss, but I sensed the anxiety twisting through her and I somehow forced myself to stop.
