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“No. Wait.”
“Why?” I labored to catch my breath. “Don’t push me away. I can’t stand it. Admit that you want me.”
“Jesus, Donata. Of course I want you. How could I not?” His gaze dropped to my lips and then the rest of me. “It was never about how you make me feel. But about doing the right thing.”
“All this time, you did want me?” I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling. The moment didn’t call for being happy, but hearing Luca admit that he was never indifferent to me meant everything.
“You were always my dirty little secret.” He brushed the back of his fingers over my cheek. “But you and I couldn’t be. One, because I was your teacher. And two, because you were a Salvatore. And I was a Gallo. Status aside, they were never going to let us be together.”
“That stupid rule doesn’t exist anymore thanks to Rex’s dad.” My eyes welled up with tears because it felt like Luca was breaking up with me. After the amazing night we had, it didn’t make sense. “I thought we were past that.”
“We are.” He pushed off the sofa and strode to the office door. I made to follow him, but then stopped when he flipped the lock and turned to face me. “There’s something you should know.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“I’m scared too.” He swallowed. “But first you need to promise you won’t run off again like you did yesterday. Promise me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Say the words.” He braced his hands on his hips.
If I wanted to leave his office, I would have to go through him. But why would I ever want to leave him? “Okay.” I furrowed my brows at him. “I promise. Now tell me. Tell me why you can’t love me. Is that what this is about?”
A knock on the door almost made me jump out of my skin. “What the hell?”
“Luca.” Alfred rapped again. “Ms. Salvatore’s suitcase has arrived.”
“Thank you, Alfred.” Luca said through the door but didn’t make any attempt to open it. “Leave it in our bedroom. She’ll get to it in a minute.”
“Of course.”
“Our bedroom?” I cocked an eyebrow. “Why am I starting to feel like your prisoner?”
CHAPTER22
Tell Me Why
Luca
“Sit down, Donata.” I gestured toward the sofa.
I probably should’ve let her get dressed before starting this conversation. Seeing her in yet another one of my white undershirts was a real distraction. All I could think of right now was how badly I wanted to be inside her. But I couldn’t keep lying to her. Or rather, I needed to come clean about why I seduced her in the first place. Because one thing was for certain, I never lied about how much I wanted her.
“I think I’d rather stand.” She glared at me. “Out with it. I can handle the truth.” Her gaze darted between my face and the door.
I stepped closer to her. “Alright. You want the truth? Here it is.” I met her gaze. “Six months ago, Uncle Jimmy came to a dinner at my mom’s beach house in the Hamptons. He...” I slow-blinked, “for lack of a better term, ordered me to seduce you. More than that, he wanted me to make you fall in love with me so we could get married. He knew that…” I trailed off.
Donata was never at a loss for words. When her feelings were hurt, she cried. When she felt she’d been treated unfairly, she yelled. When she was scared, she fought back. This wasn’t at all the reaction I had expected. She was frozen.
“Did you hear anything I just said?”
“Yeah.” She pressed a hand to her forehead and sat on the sofa. “I heard.”
“Okay.” I sat across from her and leaned forward until my arms were braced on my thighs. “Do you understand what Uncle Jimmy is after here?”
“I’m not an idiot, Luca.” Her blue gaze had so much hate in it. “I know what he wants. He wants power. When the time comes and I replace Aunt Vittoria, he thinks you’ll be able to take over and push me aside.”
“It’s a bit more nefarious than that, but yes.” I wanted to hold her and tell I never meant to hurt her, that I was an asshole for thinking that she deserved to be lied to and manipulated. “At first, I thought I was entitled to payback. You ruined my life. And that was how I justified everything.”
