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Valentina stares at her engagement ring and holds it up to the light, watching the diamond shimmer. A soft giggle escapes her lips, and my heart skips a beat. It’s been a few days since I proposed to her, and she still isn’t over her ring. I’m so glad I ended up proposing to her. She deserves every bit of happiness I can grant her — I just wish there was more I could do, more I could give her.
Being with her in this way takes away every single doubt I’ve ever had, but I’d rather live with my fears for the rest of my life if it means showering her with everything her heart desires. This isn’t the life I want her to have. Because of me, she lost the job she fought so hard for. She’s being shunned by the industry she rose to the top of on her own merits, purely because she’s my wife. Is it truly okay to ask this much of her?
“Luca,” she says, her hands sliding up my chest and around the back of my neck. “What are you thinking about so hard?”
Her expression conveys concern, and I hate that. She doesn’t smile as much as she used to, and though I know that it’s partially because of the grief she still carries, it’s also because of me. Valentina won’t admit it, but I know she’s growingincreasingly concerned about our future. She knows as well as I do that a WindsorKiss of Deathmeans we won’t be able to find jobs in our industry. No one will risk offending my grandmother.
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I say carefully, my arms wrapping around her.
Valentina leans back in my embrace, her gaze curious. She looks at me with such utter faith, and nothing scares me more than letting her down.
“I received a job offer from a company in Canada. I’m not sure we can escape my grandmother’s influence if we stay here, you know? I have no doubt she’ll tire of this eventually, and I don’t think she’ll punish us forever, but we also can’t keep living with this kind of uncertainty.”
Valentina nods, her gaze icy and calculating, and oh so fucking sexy. It’s been a while since I saw her look so cunning. “Take it,” she tells me. “Moving will be expensive, but if there’s anything I know about us, it’s that we can make it anywhere. We’ve done it before, Luca. We’ll do it again. I love your grandmother dearly, even now that she won’t speak to me, but I won’t sit back and let her ruin everything we’ve worked for. Let’s salvage what we can, and let’s focus on our own happiness.”
I nod and cup her face gently. From what I understand, Raven and Sierra have been distant recently, both no doubt barred from extending their help to us. Valentina tried hiding it from me, but I know she’s gone to my grandmother’s house a few times, only to be denied access. I never expected my grandmother to take things this far, and I’m hurt on Valentina’s behalf.
I understand punishing me, not only for going behind her back and marrying Valentina, but then breaking the agreement she offered me too. I’m fine facing those consequences, but she should have left my wife out of it. I’m not sure I can forgive her for the pain she caused.
Valentina takes a step back and rummages through her wardrobe. “If we have to, we could always sell this.” She opens up a jewelry box, and my eyes widen.
“Valentina, where did you get that?”
She stares down at the ruby encrusted jewelry set in her hands, her gaze bittersweet. “Your grandmother gave it to me for my birthday.”
“When?” I ask, my voice soft, despite my urgent tone.
She frowns. “It was shortly after Ares’s wedding. You and I weren’t on speaking terms, and I hadn’t come over for family dinner in a while. She must’ve known I was here instead of at my apartment, because she showed up and said she’d been craving Abuela’s food. We had dinner together, the four of us, and she gave me this as a belated birthday gift. She told me that she missed me, and that there would always be a place for me at her table.” Her face contorts in pain then, and she looks away. “I guess that wasn’t true, in the end.”
I take the jewelry box from her and stare at the diamonds and rubies in the heirloom necklace that has somehow found its way into my wife’s hands, exactly where it should be. I put it down on her desk carefully and reach for my pocket, unable to keep my hands from trembling.
“Look,” I murmur as I grab my wallet and take out an old, faded photo of my mother. I hand it to Valentina carefully, and her eyes widen.
“This... this… shouldn’t this be in your pocket watch?” she asks, confused. She looks a little closer, and her eyes widen. “My necklace. Your mother is wearing it in this photo.”
I nod at her and gently push her hair out of her face. “This is the necklace my grandmother gave my mother when she married into the family. It’s a sign of acceptance, but it’s only meant for daughters-in-law. I know Raven received a similar heirloom piece when she married Ares, but… it wasaftertheygot married. Why would she give you something this significant when shortly after, she forced me to get engaged to Natalia?”
Valentina stares at me, her eyes mirroring my confusion. “That can’t be true,” she whispers.
Grandma… what is she playing at? She’s a master strategist, and increasingly, I’m starting to feel like Valentina and I are caught in a web of her making.
“Hey,” my wife whispers. “If this photo is in your wallet… what is in your pocket watch?”
I look away awkwardly, and Valentina narrows her eyes as she reaches into my pocket. Her eyes widen when she opens my watch, and she looks up at me with so much love in her eyes that she nearly brings me to her knees.
“I remember this day,” she tells me. “We were about to go to the Kennedy charity ball, and you asked if you could take a photo of me. Why is it in here? What about your mom?”
I cup her face and smile at her. “This pocket watch used to be my dad’s. He always told me that he’d give it to me when I got married, and at that point, I should replace the photo inside with one of my own wife. He told me that every time I’d check the time, I’d be reminded what I’m doing it all for, and every time, I’d have to assess whether my time would be better spent at home or at work. He said it kept him grounded and reminded him of what was most important in a world that was becoming increasingly noisier. He was right, you know? Every time I check the time, I think of you, and it changed everything for me. It reminds me that nothing is more important than you are. You’re my family now, Valentina, and you come first. You always will.”
“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you,” she tells me, “but I’m so grateful to be your wife. I love you, Luca. I know you’ve been discouraged lately, and I know you’re disappointed, but I promise you that we’ll be fine. I have faith in what we can accomplish together, and I hope you do too. I don’t mindrebuilding brick by brick, so long as I’ve got you. I’d do it a thousand times over if it means I get to be with you. Nothing matters more than you do, Luca. Not my career. Not money. Certainly not prestige. I just need you. Only you.”
I stare at her and nod, my uneasy heart put to rest. She’s right, of course. She and I can make it anywhere. I just wish our love hadn’t cost us so much. All I want to do is provide for her and make her happy, and I feel like I’m letting her down.
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Luca
“Please call me when you land,” my mother-in-law says, her gaze filled with concern. She’s been nothing but supportive in the last couple of weeks, and I can’t help but wonder if seeing Valentina and I persevere helped her heal some of her own wounds. It certainly seems that way. She no longer seems scared that I’ll hurt or abandon Valentina, and my wife also seems much more at ease. I never realized how much distance there still was between us, but she’s right. There was a sense of inequality between us, in part because I held more leverage than she did, and in part because our marriage was built on contractual terms that felt forced.
