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8
Iwas in the living room, waiting for Luca to pick me up and drive me to my first summer school class, a course on Culture, Society, and Catastrophe. Despite the shock of learning that Luca would be my chauffeur and guard, I was excited for the chance to study disasters through an anthropologic lens. Ever since I’d taken an elective in Anthropology as a junior, I’d been enthralled by the subject. Not only that, but Jewel was also taking this course.
Jewel was living on campus since her father was still doing time in an upstate federal penitentiary, and her mother had flown off to Monaco. This class was the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. Now I only had to see if Luca would let me have lunch with her. He was a busy man, so I wasn’t sure he had the time to spare.
The summer was going far better than could be expected. The marriage had been pushed off until the fall for Tasa’s wedding, which I was thrilled about. I wouldn’t have to abandon my summer classes to go on a honeymoon, I’d live at home longer, and it gave us more time to scrounge up the money for this over-the-top wedding. Cristo was on my side about tempering the wedding expenses, but my parents were adamant about maintaining appearances.
My mother was still disappointed, but I consoled her by reminding her that she now had more than six measly weeks to host a wedding for several hundred people. I also promised to become more involved, which I had been avoiding like the plague up till now. I’d actively pushed away any thoughts of trying on a wedding dress, and I cringed at the thought of going with her to taste test the wedding meal, but I’d suck it up to please her. She was still weak after finishing her last round of chemo and I was willing to do anything to bring light into her eyes.
I was still getting over my surprise that Luca would be ferrying me back and forth to school. When I asked my father why Nicu wasn’t driving me, he answered that it wasn’t appropriate. He added that Nicu supported the decision. Cristo cursed under his breath and Simu looked like he was about to murder someone. And that was just about a car ride. Neither of them knew a fraction of what had transpired between Luca and me. A shiver shot down my spine at the thought that either of them would find out that Luca slept in my bed an entire night. God forbid they ever found out about what transpired in the bathroom. I couldn’t even think about Luca jacking off without heat shooting in my core and my cheeks turning red.
Clasping my hands together, I leaned into the bay window overlooking our street as a sleek black Lamborghini SUV pulled up to our home. My tummy flip-flopped. He hadn’t even gotten out of the car and already nerves exploded inside me. I didn’t know how I was going to handle being alone with him. Since he was soon to be my brother-in-law and nothing could ever happen between us, I had to look at this time together as an opportunity to channel my feelings for him into friendship and platonic respect. Any other option would be emotional suicide.
Luca stepped out of his car and buttoned his fitted jacket over his tapered torso as he took the steps up to the front door. The man was devastatingly handsome. Compared to his tall, suited frame, I felt decidedly young in a casual summer dress. His sandy blond hair was groomed and under control, not like the time he woke up in my bed, with his wavy locks in a riot. He smoothed his hand down his patterned royal-blue tie, his long fingers gliding over the silk, the red of his rose tattoo contrasting sharply with the impeccable tie. God, what I’d do to have him caress me like he did his tie. I bit down on my bottom lip, forcing myself to stay in place as the doorbell rang.
I wanted to jump up and rush to open the door, but he had to get past one of my parents or Cristo first. Waiting with bated breath, I heard the heavy clop of two men coming up from the basement. My eyebrows lifted as I spotted Simu behind my father. Simu’s pout reflected his foul mood. He reached the front door first. This was about to get brutal, for sure. From what I could recall, he and Luca had issues going back years, something about insulting his father. Men could be so juvenile sometimes. Considering what they did for a living, I marveled at how bent out of shape they could get over verbal insults.
From my seat at the bay window in the living room, I watched as Luca entered and greeted them. Compared to Luca, my father suddenly looked diminutive. Luca was at least a couple of inches over six feet, and with his broad shoulders, he towered over my father. After shaking his hand, my father stepped to the side and waved Luca in. Simu stayed glued in his spot, trying to intimidate Luca with a ferocious scowl. Ha! There was little chance of that working.
Luca didn’t bother extending his hand for a handshake. He passed Simu with a nod and a smirk on his face. When his gaze landed on me, thank God, my father couldn’t see his expression. Luca’s eyes flared hot, the silver giving way to a dark gray. My insides vibrated and I was left short of breath. How a color as cold as silver-gray could express such heat was a mystery to me, but there was no denying the path of fire he left in his wake as his gaze swiftly traveled down my body. I wasn’t wearing anything sexy or even particularly revealing, but it was like he had X-ray vision because I felt undressed by him. I’d seen lust on men’s faces before, especially Simu, but I had never had such a forceful and immediate reaction to it.
I desperately hoped that my bra covered my nipples, which had hardened instantly. I couldn’t cross my arms without giving myself away to him, and possibly Simu, so I hunched forward in the hope of hiding my arousal.
Schooling his expression, Luca approached me coolly. When he bent down and kissed me on the cheeks, his spicy cologne, mixed with his underlying musk, enveloped me in a swoony feeling. The instant I felt the rough bristles of his jaw scrape my cheek, my skin crackled. My simple dress suddenly felt too tight and constricting.
Quickly stepping back, he asked, “Ready?”
His eyes dipped briefly to the swell of my breasts, exposed to him from his position standing so close to me. Shifting in place, I nodded and grabbed my backpack with my laptop.
“I’ll have to stop by the college bookstore afterward to buy my books,” I blurted out.
“Not a problem. I brought my laptop with me so I can work while you’re in class. We’ll stop by the bookstore after class.”
My father carefully watched our interaction from the foyer. Simu, right behind him, was throwing daggers at Luca’s back.
At the door, Luca said, “I should have her back around two or three, depending on the traffic.”
“Two or three?” spat out Simu. “It’s not going to take that long.”
Luca raised an eyebrow at Simu’s tone. “I thought we could have lunch and get to know each other.”
“Lunch?!” Simu’s face screwed up into a rageful grimace.
He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut in and said, “Jewel is taking the class, as well. I’ll invite her to join us. I was planning on asking Luca anyway.”
Darting a pleading glance at Luca, I asked, “If you don’t mind hanging out with two silly teenagers instead of just one?”
He gave a shrug as he twisted the knob and pulled the heavy wooden door open. “Sure, not a problem.”
I kissed my father and Simu on the cheeks, although Simu possessively clamped a hand on my arm.
As I walked past Luca, he said, “Do you have a light sweater or something? The air conditioning in these classrooms is always high. I’ve taken enough summer classes to know.”
Simu let out a low growl behind me.
I paused, looked up at Luca’s serious expression, and was battered with another wave of heat and lust. Flustered by his concern, I reached into the closet and pulled out a light jacket. Clasping it tightly to my chest, I said goodbye and skipped down the steps to the car.
Luca spoke to my father for another few beats before clicking the doors open with his fob. Perhaps I should have waited for him to be a gentleman and open the car door for me. His Romanian upbringing would have prompted him to, but I needed to be out from under Simu’s eagle-eyed stare.
