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Startled, my head snapped up when I heard Luca’s bellow.
No, no, no.
He couldn’t be here now.
I didn’t want him to argue with his mom. And I definitely didn’t want him to see me all weepy with smeared makeup while wearing the dress that was supposed to be the one I married him in.
Grasping the door handle, I tried to pull myself to my feet, but my legs had gone numb from sitting in such an awkward position for so long. With a whimper, I sank back to the floor and curled into a tight ball.
“Vi?” Shaw yelled through the door. “Violet! Open the door. Let me in. Please, babe.”
“I—I—” My throat was too sore to speak, and I swallowed around the emotional lump still clogging my throat.
A fist pounded on the door a moment later. “Vi?” Luca’s voice called, so full of concern it did nothing to relieve the tightness around my voice box.
“Baby.” His voice softened. “If you don’t open this door, I’m going to break it down. Do you want me to be arrested for destruction of property? Or scare our daughter?”
“Just give me a moment!” I cried, finding the strength to unlock the door and then scoot out of the way enough so he could squeeze his huge body through the small gap in the now-open door.
Looking up at him through my tear-soaked lashes, I saw he was in his practice gear. There were grass stains on his long socks and football pants. He even still had his shoulder pads on. His eyes were demented as they swirled back and forth between countless emotions. With his gaze scanning my face, I could feel the anger rolling off him in waves.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, lowering my eyes back to the mess I’d made of the beautiful dress tangled around me.
“You want to try that again, without lying to me this time, baby?”
Sucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I didn’t look up again as I shook my head.
Sensing him crouching down, I tipped my head up just a little until I was looking at his chin. “Luca…”
“I want to pick you up and hold you so badly right now, Vi. But you’re so fucking beautiful in that dress that I’m scared I’ll tear it or ruin something.”
My chin began to quiver hard. “This is the dress,” I whispered. “It’s the one. But… I… I couldn’t let her…tear me down.”
His hands balled into fists as he pressed them to his knees. “She doesn’t matter. Only you, Violet. If you’re not happy, then I’m in agony. And right now, baby, you’re crying on the floor of some shop in the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen in my entire life. How do I fix this?”
“I just wanna go home,” I choked out. “This isn’t fun. Not one moment of it was like it should have been. And our daughter had to see that. She witnessed her grandmother being so…so…”
“I would describe it as her being a heinous bitch,” he said dryly.
I nodded as a few tears rolled toward my chin. Using the back of my hand, I smeared them over my skin before they could mar the dress. “Yeah. That. Love had to see me fighting tears, and then she probably heard me in here losing it. She’s not supposed to know sadness, Luca. Only happiness and utter adoration. I promised Remington she’d never know a moment that was anything but perfect.”
“I made a few of those promises to him as well,” he murmured. “I swore on my life that I’d ensure Love Bug had more happy days than sad ones. And I vowed to always put you above everything and everyone else. I don’t intend on ever breaking those promises to him, Vi. The man may be dead, but I wouldn’t put it past him to haunt me if I don’t follow through.”
Dashing at the tears that kept falling, I finally looked up at him. “I don’t regret my time with Remington.” I watched his face, looking for any trace of hurt, but I didn’t see even a flicker of it in his eyes. “I married him the same day he told me he was sick, but I never thought of either of us as being selfish. He loved me so much, and I loved him. Now, after all these years, I can admit that love wasn’t nearly as strong as what I feel for you. Because even back then, when I saw you at that Christmas party, I ached to have you hold me and make it all better. But, no, I don’t regret a single moment I spent with Remington.”
“And I don’t want you to,” he said softly. Reaching out, he gently tucked a few locks of my hair behind my ear. His thumb lingered, caressing down my neck, offering comfort. But not even his touch could ease the pain I was feeling. “I ached without you every day, Violet. And yes, I’ll admit, I even hated you and Remington both when you first got married. But then I got to know him, and we became close. Fuck, babe, he was like my best friend at the end. In my heart, I knew what he was offering me. It was my last chance, the only chance I would ever have to be near you again. He gave me you, which I will be eternally grateful for. But when he gifted me the honor of becoming Love Bug’s daddy, he gave me a taste of heaven.”
“Having you back in my life, that’s been my own taste of heaven,” I whispered. “But your mom… She said some things today that I don’t know if I can ever forgive.”
“About Remington?”
“Yeah. It hurt, Luca.” Lowering my chin to my chest, I squeezed my eyes shut. “I’m so tired of hurting.”
For such a large man, he moved with astonishing agility and swiftness. I’d witnessed it time and again on the football field, but it still surprised me when he lifted me off the floor and stood. “Guess I’m gonna have to buy you two of these dresses. Plus one for Love Bug. Because we’re not sticking around long enough for you to change, and I’m pretty sure I just smeared dirt and grass all over this one.”
“Wh-where are we going?” I whispered cautiously as he exited the dressing room.
“Home, baby,” he said as he walked out to the sitting area where our family was still standing around arguing. “Shaw, can you take Love Bug home with you?”
