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He kissed me once more, long and thorough. A kiss that was full of every sinful promise a man could make.
Chapter Fifty-One
Nico
“I don’t think Tommaso planned to betray us, at least not when he started working at Onyx,” Gabe said in quiet undertones as we stood outside Dante Luca’s hospital room.
Raven, Dominic, and Leo were gathered around him while he glared at the nurse who was taking his vitals.
It felt odd to be standing so close to a bunch of Lucas, but not nearly as strange as it would have yesterday.
Gabe had given me the rundown of all that Berlusconi and Tommaso had said, and I was inclined to agree with him. I hated to admit it, but it was probably a good thing that Tommaso had died at Berlusconi’s hand.
I wasn’t sure how I would have felt about having to kill him.
I heard a set of footsteps behind me; it was unlike the usual chaotic fashion of doctors and nurses.
I didn’t need to turn to see who had arrived.
I’ve been waiting for him since we arrived here.
I’d filled Raven in on what my mother had told me on our drive over here. I hadn’t wanted to tell her—I didn’t want her to know that I was the reason our mothers had gone to great lengths to keep her from me—but instead of anger or resentment, she’d looked atpeace.
“Our mothers love us very much,” she had said after a painstakingly long moment of silence.
“All of your family loves you, Raven,” I had responded, knowing there was still one reunion left to come.
The footsteps stopped directly behind me, and I turned around.
His face was etched in deep lines, some of them from age and others, I was sure, from grief. He was as good as the rest of us at keeping his emotions close to the vest, so there was no way I could have anticipated it when he put his arms around me and patted my back. It was a brief embrace, over just as quickly as it had begun.
“Grazie, Nico,” Vincent Luca said as he drew back. His expression was blank, but there were tears in his eyes. “You saved my daughter. I will never forget that.”
I nodded, at a loss for words.
“I know your father is a… difficult man, Nico. But your grandfather, he would be proud of you.”
“Grazie,SignorLuca.”
Vincent nodded, and I stepped aside.
Vincent walked through the open door of the hospital room. He moved quietly, as if he didn’t want to be noticed just yet.
I found myself holding my breath, waiting for the moment she would turn around.
Vincent stood there for just a minute before his presence caught the eye of his daughter.
She froze mid-sentence, staring at him for just a second before she flew across the room.
“Papà!” she cried, flying right into his open arms.
The man looked happier than perhaps I’d ever seen a man look. I could guarantee Lorenzo would never look at one of his children that way, but it wasn’t jealousy I felt—far from it.
It brought me more happiness than I could ever have imagined to know Raven was so loved, that there were so many people who I knew would go to the ends of the earth for her.
She looked up at me as her father held her tight. “I love you,” she mouthed silently, and my heart did some weird flip-flop thing that wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
“The perfect venue for a family reunion, right?” Leo joked, elbowing me. He’d sidled up next to me, giving Vincent and Raven some space.
