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The cool jewelry sent a shiver all the way down to my toes. I hated that we couldn’t tell anyone. I was dying to call the guys, especially Rex, and give them the good news—that I wasn’t wrong about Luca, that all this time, he did have feelings for me.
But, for now, the necklace resting on my chest was enough. Aunt Vittoria was going to have a heart attack when she found out. But by then, we’d be married and possibly pregnant. Because as archaic as that sounded, a baby was the only way to keep Aunt Vittoria from annulling our marriage.
“What are you thinking about?” Luca smoothed my hair away from my face and pulled me toward the bed to sit on his lap. “I can see the wheels in your head turning. What now?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head, smiling. “Just thinking about what it would take to keep you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Luca.” I pressed my forehead to his temple. “Aunt Vittoria loves me. And she respects my opinion. But when it comes to family matters, her word is law.”
“Uncle Jimmy is the same. Except he doesn’t give a shit about anyone’s opinions. And I doubt he loves anyone but himself.” He arranged the engagement ring, so it sat right in the middle of my chest. “At least he agrees with me on this part.”
“Do you really think he’ll help us?”
“This was his great idea.”
“Yeah.” I glanced down at my hands. “Would you have considered it otherwise?”
“I would’ve considered anything just to keep you.” He bent down and kissed me.
I slid my hands up his chest and into his hair as I got lost in his kiss. For a moment, I wanted to imagine that this was our fairy-tale ending, our happily ever after. Tomorrow, we would find a very accommodating priest to perform both a civil and religious wedding. We needed all the laws available to man to bind our union. Though as hard as I tried to see us together past our wedding day, I couldn’t.
Because, as it always happened in our mafia world, the games we played were the zero-sum kind. The minute Don Gallo won; Aunt Vittoria would lose. I wasn’t as naive as Luca thought I was. After all, I was raised by the formidable Signoria Vittoria. I understood what was at stake. My marriage to Luca put her life in danger.
“How soon after our wedding do you think Don Gallo will put a hit on my aunt?”
“Hmm.” He puffed out a breath. “I’d say immediately.”
“How do we stop him?”
“How do we stop Don Valentino from coming for you?” He touched his fingers to my cheek. “He’s expecting to see you by his side this Saturday.”
“Is that your plan? To let Don Gallo and the new king fight it out?”
“It’s not much of a plan, is it?”
“No.” I rose to my feet. “But I’m not giving up that easily. They don’t own us.”
The phone rang upstairs, making Luca groan as he rose to his feet. “I better get that.”
“Don’t. Stay here. Let’s pretend the world doesn’t exist for one more day.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest. When the phone stopped its incessant noise, I glanced up at him. “See? They’re gone.”
Not a minute later, Alfred knocked on the door. “Sir?”
“Jesus.” I threw my arms in the air. “He has the worst timing.”
“Yes, Alfred,” Luca called out, but he didn’t make to leave. “What is it?”
“Don Gallo would like a word.”
“Fuck.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I’m so tired of these calls. I better get it. If I don’t, he’ll show up in person.”
“Yeah okay.” I stepped away from him.
With long strides, he sauntered to the door and opened it. Alfred handed him the phone. After a quick nod in my direction, he left. Luca turned to me, as if trying to decide something.
“What is it?” I mouthed.
