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Luca's jaw hardens like granite. The silence is so deep it’s almost deafening. He takes a deep breath. “Before you decide, there’s something you need to hear.”
I straighten, senses heightened.
“I learned the truth from my parents. About why they kept us apart all these years,” he says.
“I'm listening.”
Luca recounts the sordid story, sharing what he learned from his parents in excruciating detail. I listen in stunned silence, blindsided by this dark history I knew nothing about.
I was learning of his great-uncle Lorenzo's doomed love affair with my grandmother for the first time.
The news rocks me.Raw anger and hurt lodge in my throat. I understand these old fears run deep, but this is on a different level.
We spent years living under the shadows of our ancestors, pawns in a game we never asked to play. They acted not to protect us but themselves.
Strains of conversation and household noise filter through the walls. The thought of facing my parents makes me sick to my stomach. At least the truth is out, ugly as it may be.
“So we’re paying the price for something that happened to our grandparents years ago? And with a great uncle you didn’t even know about until tonight?”
His brows furrow. Sensing my distress, Luca pulls me into his arms again, stroking my hair gently.
“That’s right. It’s not our fault.”
A wave of guilt washes over me. The shame is suffocating and makes me want to scream. “I should have stood up for myself. Stood up for us.”
With his eyes downcast, Luca shakes his head.
“I made mistakes, too. I believed that courage meant staying away from you. I was wrong. So wrong.”
My fingers find his, intertwining as if holding onto our shared future.
“Luca, if things hadn’t worked out the way they did, with us working together, I would have lived my life full of regret.”
Luca’s eyes reflect the same longing and desperate need I’m feeling. “We’re together. Nothing else matters.”
I can’t wait to go home to Luca’s, but more questions churn through my mind.
“Your parents must realize that keeping us in the dark was wrong. Did they explain why they finally confessed?”
Luca’s jaw ticks, the old anger resurfacing. “My father said it was ‘ancient history better left buried.’ But I refused to let the matter drop.”
I nod, contemplating what I now know.“What do we do now?”
He gives me a heart-melting smile. “We’ll stick around until the New Year’s Eve wrap party. We have no obligations after that. What would you say to taking the first plane out of here and starting over?”
Starting a new life is tempting, but just because it’s possible doesn’t make it right. We need time to restore trust, but I won’t give up hope.
“Running from our problems will only repeat the cycle. We'll face it head-on.”
Luca’s brow creases. “You’re more forgiving than me. I don’t know how to face them after this betrayal.”
“I’m proud of you, Luca. You’re hurt but strong.”
He smiles ruefully, a compromise of sorts. “Anything for you, Auds. You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment. How many nights I’ve dreamed of us being together.”
“The holiday season is all about miracles,” I muse, not stopping to think about it too deeply, or I’ll lose my mind.
I’ve avoided conflict and difficult situations my entire life, and this time, I’m ready to fight for what I believe in and need. But what I won’t do is compromise my core by pretending to be someone I’m not.
