Her gaze bore into mine, her lips lifting just slightly on one side, and then she mouthed, “This one is for you.”
My pulse thrummed, my heart feeling like it was stuck in my throat as she began to slide her fingertips over the keys. I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she closed her eyes, causing everyone’s attention to focus on her. There were no sounds but the soft tune she played and then gasps as she ramped it up, slamming her fingers down so hard I wondered if it hurt her. If it did, she didn’t give any indication.
She was so entrancing, captivating like nothing else, that I barely registered when she stopped. Clapping and whooping and hollering were sent her way, but I couldn’t move from the spot I was in. She bowed, raising her hand in the air, a blush rising on her cheeks, and that was when I knew. I knew it without a single doubt.
I was in love with her.
I was in love with Aida.
I stumbled back at the realization, my body impacted by my thoughts alone. But even it knew the truth. I couldn’t live without her. Couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. We’d already exchanged “I like yous,” a prequel to what was destined to happen, but I’d never thought it would be like this, never understood this all-consuming kind of feeling.
She tilted her head as she turned to face me, a frown etched onto her features. But I wasn’t going to tell her what I was thinking, not here, not with all of these people around. I knew it now, and part of me wanted to keep it to myself in fear she didn’t feel the same. But I wouldn’t. I’d tell her when the time was right. I’d tell her when I knew she needed to hear it most.
“You okay?” she asked.
I nodded, taking her hand and leading her down the side steps of the stage. “Yeah.” I placed a soft kiss on her hand. “Go do your thing.” I didn’t want her to leave my side. In fact, if I would have had it my way, I’d have taken her home right then and there. It was her night, though—her night to bask in the opening of her very own bar. A bar she’d named after my father.
When she’d first come to me and asked if it was okay to name it Luca’s, I didn’t know what to think, but the more I thought about it, the more I understood. He was the reason we were here. He was the reason I’d fallen in love with her. If it wasn’t for my dad dying, I never would have met Aida. I never would have looked at her twice.
“You’ll be at the bar?”
“Yeah.”
I stared at her as she made a beeline for the family’s table, unwilling to move my attention from her. I watched her for hours, milling around, her head thrown back as someone made her laugh, and finally, when everyone was gone, and it was just us and the staff left, she sighed.
“My feet are killing me.” She yanked the heels off her feet and leaned against me, her eyes half-closed. “I need my bed.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and stood, taking her by surprise when I picked her up. She squealed, her soft laughter sweet music to my ears. “If I had known you’d do that, I would have come over to you sooner,” she quipped, resting her head on my shoulder as I sauntered out of the club.
Mateo stood at the door with two other soldiers and darted toward us when he saw us exit. “I’ll go get the SUV.” He ran halfway down the street and to the lone car while we waited. He pulled up right in front of us, and I moved more of Aida’s weight to one side so I could open the door. I bent down, placing her in the SUV so that her feet didn’t touch the ground, then pushed in beside her.
Mateo jerked away from the sidewalk and onto the quiet road. I slid my hand to her thigh, itching to go higher up her leg and feel her bare skin on my hand. It was already 1 a.m., so I had no doubt we’d be home in no time, and I knew exactly what I was going to do to her as soon as we got inside. I couldn’t get enough of her. Her body. Her mind. Her attitude. She was like an everlasting gobstopper—you never got tired of sucking on it. I snorted at my one thought, gaining her attention.
“What?” She grinned at me, her eyes the happiest I’d ever seen them.
“Nothing.” I dipped my head so our faces were closer. “I was just thinking about all the things I’m gonna do to you once we’re home.”
“Lorenzo.” She shook her head, but there was no denying the way her breaths picked up. “You’re so bad.”
“I’m bad?” I pointed at my chest and raised a brow. “You’re far worse than me.”
She gasped. “I am not.”
“You are too! You’re the one who keeps sneaking in the shower with me every morning.”
“I already told you.” She pushed some hair behind her ear, trying to look innocent, but I knew her way better than that. She may have been able to fool everyone else, but there was no fooling me. I knew her too damn well. “I’m saving water.”
“Sure.” I chuckled, whispering my hand up her arm and to the side of her face. “You’re also—”
“Fuck!” Mateo shouted from the front of the SUV, swerving as a car came out of nowhere and nearly side-swiped us. “Sorry, boss.” He looked frantic as he glanced out of the window and then to the mirrors. “He came from—”
The other car swerved, slamming into the side of us, and I held Aida closer. “What the fuck!” Another car came up the other side, only this one didn’t swerve into us, it opened its windows, something glinting off the streetlights, and then I realized—
“Gun!”
I shoved Aida down into the floorboard, trying to cover as much of her body as possible as the other car hit us again. The SUV tilted, Mateo losing control of it, and then metal crunched, mixing with the blasting of bullets.
“Stay down!” I shouted at Aida, feeling the blood pumping through my body and adrenaline taking me over. Her hand gripped on to my thigh, her nails digging in, and then we were both shunted forward. My head smacked off the edge of the center console, but I’d managed to keep Aida safe.
I groaned as the car rolled to a stop. I tried to take stock of everything. My ears pinged, smoke filled the inside of the SUV, and when I looked up, a pair of eyes stared back at me. Eyes I knew well. I opened my mouth, about to say something, but something smacked me in the temple. I lost grip of Aida, lost all sense of where I was, and then everything went black.
CHAPTER 19
AIDA
I wasn’t sure what hurt more: my aching body, or my thumping head. I didn’t want to move, too afraid I’d make my head throb even more, but I rolled my head from side to side, wincing as the banging inside my brain intensified. What the hell had I done last night? I screwed my face up, smacking my lips together, and groaning at how dry my mouth was. I needed a drink, and definitely some painkillers.
I reached my arm out, my eyes still closed, but it wouldn’t move. It took me way too long to realize I wasn’t in bed next to Lorenzo. Instead, I was sitting up. Had I fallen asleep on the sofa last night? I frowned as I tried to open my eyes, but they felt like they were stuck together like I’d just slept for twenty-four hours straight.
My hands jerked to wipe at my eyes, but when they wouldn’t move a second time, my eyes snapped open, blaring sunlight nearly blinding me. I slammed them close again, my heart racing in my chest as I slowly remembered what had happened last night.