He drew back long before I was ready to let him go. And in the dim light, with shadows dancing over his handsome face, he smiled at me and very gently kissed my lips. “You are my life, Natalie James. The very reason my heart beats. And I will love you across the ages. Nothing will ever change the way I feel. Nothing.”
His words were steeped in love, but underneath, I felt pain. A pain I didn’t understand. One that scared me right to the very center of my soul. Especially because he’d just used my maiden name.
I blinked, unable to hold back the tears that slid down my cheeks. “I love you too, Luc. Always. Just you.”
He kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for several moments. Then he let go of me and pushed to his feet.
Tugging his suit jacket on, he said, “They’ll bring you to the grand hall sometime this afternoon. The ceremony will happen tonight. Stay with Fee. She’ll tell you what to do.”
I swallowed hard and swiped at my cheeks. “Ceremony?”
“My vows and installazione as the Grand Duke.”
“Grand Duke?” Even though all I wanted to do was grab him and never let go, I forced myself to keep things light. To be the supportive wife he needed right now. “D-don’t get any ideas. I’m still not calling you master. Or sir.”
He chuckled, leaned back over the bed again, and kissed me one last time. “Still so stubborn. I will settle for being amore della tua vita.”
“You are the love of my life,” I said as he drew back. “Per sempre.”
A sad smile curled his lips. As he stepped out the door, he whispered, “Go back to sleep, angioletto. And dream of me.”
He quickly closed the door at his back. Alone, I stared after him before rolling onto my side and looking into the fading embers of the fire.
But I didn’t sleep. All I could do was hope and pray that he was right. And that in a few hours, everything would be okay.
It had to be. Because I couldn’t live without him.
“Everything will be in Italian,” Felicity said to me hours later as we walked up the biggest staircase I’d ever seen. “You won’t understand what’s going on, but try to pretend that you do.”
We were in an ancient building high in the hills somewhere near Florence. The structure was massive, made of pillars and stone. A plush red carpet was laid out like a pathway from the enormous double doors up the grand staircase. Torches were lit along the way, hanging from rings embedded in the wall, and candles burned on tables throughout the space.
At the top of the stairs, we turned right and made our way down another long corridor lit with sconces. At the end of the hallway, Felicity stopped outside a door, lifted her hand to knock, then hesitated.
I drew up beside her and realized why she’d stilled. Voices echoed from inside. Angry, familiar voices that made me suck in a shocked breath.
“You may act the grieving son to every one of the men here today,” Luc’s mother sneered, “but I know what you really are.”
“And what am I, Mother?” Luc snapped.
“You are a vicious liar. One who does not deserve to wear the colors of the Grand Duke. Where is Giovanni? I demand to know where he is right this moment. Rule should fall to him. Or to Dante. Never to you.”
“Dante is too fucked in the head to ever rule this House. You and Father saw to that when you murdered his wife. And your precious Giovanni ran like the coward he is.”
She gasped. “You... What did you do to Giovanni?”
“Not nearly what he deserved. Giovanni is a rapist and a murderer who deserves to be burned for his crimes. But then you already know that, seeing as how you created him in Father’s likeness.”
“I... It is not your job to pass judgment.”
“Oh, but it will be my job, Mother. In a few minutes, it will be my only job. And I promise you this. When I find Giovanni, I’m going to make him wish he were already rotting in hell with that sick fuck Benito. They have raped and tortured and tormented their last victim. And if you don’t like that, then feel free to join them.”
“Luciano! You cannot speak to me like this. I am your mother.”
“Not any more.” His heavy footsteps crossed the floor. “You’re nothing to me. As far as I’m concerned, you can die in the old world Father created, or you can live in the new one I build. The choice is yours.” He jerked the door open. “But your power is over. And your reign of terror is finished.”
The tension seeping from the room was so thick, I barely breathed. Luc and his mother stared at each other across the space, neither backing down, oblivious to the fact Felicity and I were in the hall.
Luc’s mother’s shoulders stiffened, and she slipped on the gloves in her hand, then crossed the floor in her expensive heels and perfect black suit.
She faltered in the doorway when she saw me. Her eyes widened slightly then hardened to cold ice chips, and her lips thinned until they were a tense straight line. But she didn’t stop. And she didn’t speak to me. She simply stiffened her spine and swept past me, disappearing down the hall with a click of her heels.
“Ladies.” Luc didn’t look thrilled to see me, but I didn’t care. “Come in.”
As Felicity moved into the room, I stepped into him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tight.
He smelled like rum and spice, and dressed in the black tux, he was absolutely gorgeous. But he barely hugged me back. As he let go of me and closed the door, I felt the stress radiating off him in waves.
Marco pushed up from the chair across the room where I hadn’t realized he’d been sitting and kissed Fee’s cheek. The two exchanged quiet words, and as I entered the room, it struck me that they made a beautiful couple—Marco all dapper and dark in his tux, and Fee pale and perfect in her fitted black dress.
Luc swept his jacket back and rested his hands on his hips as he moved up at my side. “Well, that went well.”
Marco slipped an arm over Fee’s shoulder, careful not to dislodge her updo. “Think she got the message?”
“One can only hope.”
I looked from Marco to Luc. “Still no word from Giovanni?”
“No,” Luc said. “But you have nothing to worry about. Giovanni’s cowering like a rat, but he can’t stay in the shadows for long. When he surfaces, we’ll find him.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. I was happy Benito and David Bonello were both dead. I was even glad Luc’s father was gone. And I had no love for Giovanni after the things he’d done, especially knowing he’d played a part in Elena’s death. But I was suddenly worried about Luc.
The rigid, authoritative man standing beside me who’d just destroyed his mother with a few ruthless words was not the same sweet, loving man who’d whispered reassurances in my ear last night.
Yes, there had always been a dominant side to Luc, but this was different. This was a callousness I didn’t understand. And I was suddenly afraid his quest for vengeance, his need to do the right thing once and for all might push him too far. That it could possibly change him into someone neither of us recognized.
“Even the lost pup can be reintroduced to the pack, and after enough time, assimilate until it is virtually indistinguishable from the other beasts.”