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He gave me one of his sly grins that made my heart race. “You saying you’d miss me, baby?”
“Of course I would.”
“We’re at war,” he said with zero emotion. “Anything can happen to me. I accepted my fate a long time ago. If I have to die protecting you, I will. You are all I care about, Drea.”
I could hardly catch my breath. “Luca, please be careful. It would break me to lose one of you.”
He patted my hand. “My life doesn’t matter without yours.”
“Luca,” I groaned. “Don’t say things like that.”
“It’s true.” He grabbed my hand and pressed a soft kiss to my skin. “If you die, I’m going with you.”
“No one is dying,” I said with tears in my eyes. “Stop talking about death. It’s making my stomach hurt.”
“If anything happens to me, you will marry Marcello. He will protect you.”
We drove the rest of the way in silence.
After Luca parked in front of the multi-car garage on his estate, he slid out of the car and opened my door. He ushered me into the house with his hand on my back. Marcello joined us a few seconds later. Bastian and Damian were at least thirty minutes behind us.
My handsome devil’s eyes raked over my face, and my heart crashed into my chest. I hoped for more intimacy from Luca. But as usual, he did the opposite of what I expected.
“Take her upstairs,” Luca said to Marcello before he took off down the hallway. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“Luca,” I shouted. “Get back here.”
He didn’t bother to glance over his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, baby girl. I have a party to plan. You’ll see me soon.”
I begged him to come back, but he raised his cell phone to his ear and kept walking.
I looked at Marcello. “What party?”
“We’re inviting all of our allies to Devil’s Creek to meet our new queen.”
“Luca told me about the auction.” I walked beside him upstairs and down the long hallway toward my bedroom. “Don’t you think it’s reckless to have a party when men are trying to kidnap me? Luca said they will force me to marry them, so they can steal my family’s money and some stupid black book.”
“He told you about the book?” Surprise tipped up Marcello’s eyebrows an inch. “So you know everything, then?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He didn’t hold back.”
He ushered me into the bathroom and drew me a bath. It helped me sleep, and after the night we had, I definitely needed my soothing bath beads.
Marcello tapped the edge of the tub. I sat, and he got down on one knee in front of me. He looked so handsome, but not perfect. His hair was always out of place and falling onto his forehead like he didn’t give a damn.
I slid my fingers through his dark hair. “I’m scared, Marcello.”
“You have nothing to fear, princess.” He moved between my thighs as the bathtub slowly filled with water. “No one is going to touch you. This party isn’t a social gathering.”
I climbed onto his lap and hooked my legs around his back, covering his heart with my palm. “Whatever it takes, Marcello. I can’t lose you.”
He shoved a loose curl behind my ear and licked his lips. “I’m not worried about me, princess.”
On Saturday night, Marcello walked into my bedroom without speaking a word. He went straight for the walk-in closet, and then came out a few seconds later. A red bikini that looked more like strings of fabric than a bathing suit dangled from his fingers.
“Luca wants you to wear this one.” He dropped it onto the bed beside me, eyeing up my body as if I were already naked. “Our guests are arriving soon.”
“How many Knights are there?” I shifted my stance to look up at him. “I mean in total.”
