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“I know. I’ll handle it, okay? I promise.”
My heart clenches tightly and I inhale shakily. Is it Natalia? I still remember the way he looked at her when she came into the office. When they first got engaged, he seemed patient but reluctant around her, but the last time they spoke, he acted different. He was kinder, more gentle. Something about that time didn’t sit well with me and left me feeling irrationally jealous. I hide behind the door and continue to listen in, unable to suppress my curiosity. The news of their engagement being called off was shared this morning, so perhaps he’s reassuring her that it won’t negatively affect her?
I watch as he takes out his earbuds, my heart uneasy. “How long are you going to stand there, Valentina?” I tense, and he chuckles as he turns around to face me. “Are you done running away from me yet?”
I clear my throat and tear my gaze away. Luca looks amazing in a three-piece suit, but I think I like him best this way. “I wasn’t running.”
He turns the stove off and leans back against the counter, his hand disappearing into his pocket as he retrieves the golden pocket watch he carries everywhere. “It’s way past eleven, and you’re only just coming home. You’ve somehow managed to be in meetings every single day for a week straight, and you’ve been coming home late. Why are you hiding behind your work?”
I walk up to him and reach for a glass in the cupboard beside him, trying my best to act nonchalantly. “I’ve just been busy,” I tell him, but it sounds unconvincing even to me.
Luca turns toward me and wraps an arm around my waist as he moves behind me. He pushes me against the counter and presses his body against mine, trapping me in his embrace from behind.
I inhale sharply when he brushes my hair aside and leans in, his lips settling against the back of my neck. “Yeah?” he whispers. “Or are you running from this?” He kisses my neck, his touch soft as he moves his way up to my ear. “Are you just busy, or are you scared of giving into this thing between us?”
His hand moves up to my breast and a soft moan escapes my lips when he kisses me below my ear. I can feel him harden against my ass, and he thrusts his hips into me, showing me how much he wants me. “Answer me,” he demands, one hand moving into my hair even as he tightens his grip on me, pulling me against him harder. Luca grabs my hair and pulls on it, exposing more of my neck. His lips trail down to my throat, and I inhale shakily.
“Just busy,” I lie, my voice husky.
He chuckles and lets go of me, eliciting a frustrated groan from me. “Oh,” he says, taking a step away. He leans against one of the counters and runs a hand through his hair, his cock clearlyon display for me through his gray sweatpants. “My bad,” he adds. “I guess I got it wrong, huh?”
I blink in disbelief, disappointed he’d stop there. He looks into my eyes, his gaze provocative, almost as though he’s daring me to walk up to him and ask for more. I bite down on my lip and tear my gaze away, my eyes settling on his phone. I stare at it for a moment, unable to push aside the unease I’m feeling. He was definitely speaking to a woman earlier. I have access to his work phone, but not his personal phone, so there’s no way for me to figure out who it was.
He promised me fidelity, but I can’t enforce that. It wouldn’t be too late for him to regret marrying me and rectify his mistake. When it comes down to it, Natalia is better suited to him than I’d ever be.
Luca glances at his phone and chuckles as he picks it up. He stares at it for a moment and shakes his head before holding it out for me. “The code is my grandmother’s birthday, paired with my mother’s. It’s 327812.” I frown and shoot him a questioning look, but he merely smiles at me with the kind of patience he’s never shown me before. “Take it.”
“I… um… why would I—”
“Just do as I tell you to, Valentina.”
My hand trembles as I take his phone from him, my heart racing. I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of him with someone else.
“Check who my last call was to,” he says, his voice soft.
I look up sharply, but he merely tilts his head and looks at me, his eyes filled with something I can’t quite describe.
My fingers tremble as I put in his code and unlock his phone. Part of me doesn’t want to do this for fear of what I’ll find, but a larger part of me needs to know.
“Sierra,” I whisper, profound relief washing over me.
Luca takes a step closer to me and cups my face, tipping my head up toward his. “I don’t know what’s going through your mind, Valentina, but I can tell you this much: I will never, ever, cheat on you. I will never mistreat you or wrong you, you hear me? I know I fucked up in the past. I treated you harshly, and I went way too fucking far when you quit your job. I know, baby. But all of that? It was only because I didn’t want to lose you. I will never do anything that will make you want to walk away from me.”
I look into his eyes, taking in the fierce sincerity in them. “Why are you being like this?” I ask, my voice trembling. We agreed that we wouldn’t fall in love, so why is he looking at me that way?
His thumb brushes over my lips and he smiles, but his gaze is unfocused, as though he’s lost in a memory of his own. “Because I recognize the worries in the questions you refuse to ask. I recognize the damage of betrayal, Valentina. I don’t know who he was, and I don’t want to know either, but I’m not him. For as long as we’re married, there won’t be anybody but you.”
A different kind of jealousy settles deep in my stomach. “Who was she?”
Luca pulls his hand away and smiles humorlessly. “Someone who will stay in the past, which is exactly where I expect you to leave the man who made you doubt me over a simple conversation with my sister. The way you looked at me… that wasn’t damage inflicted on you by your parents. It was more than that. I’m not him, baby, so don’t look at me with so much mistrust.”
How could there be a woman I don’t know about? This must either have happened before we met, or he managed to keep a relationship hidden both from me and his family. Something about the pain in his voice guts me.
“Stop hiding from me, okay?” He looks away and musses up his hair. “If you keep this up, we don’t stand a chance of convincing our families we’re in love.”
I blush and look away. It’s odd to be standing here with him in this situation. He’s the man I loved to hate, but it’s starting to look like that hatred was misplaced, and I don’t know what to make of it. “Understood,” I murmur, unsure of what else to say.
He smiles and brushes my hair out of my face tenderly. “Wait here,” he tells me, before walking away, leaving my heart pounding. This is part of the reason I’ve been staying away. He makes me feel weak and vulnerable, and I never want to feel that way again. It only leads to heartache.
