“After you convince your father to release Dante, then what happens?”
It was the one question I hadn’t anticipated, and it rattled me. More than I liked.
I turned toward her and leaned back against the sink, feeling helpless in a way that crippled me. “I don’t know.”
“Will we stay here? Will we go back to the South Pacific? I’m in this now too, Luc, regardless of what either of us wants.”
I knew she was. Just as I knew “we” wasn’t a word she particularly liked right now.
“Then,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, “I’ll find a way to convince my father to let us leave. I’m confident he’ll agree. As long as I play the game and keep showing my face at events like the heir I’m supposed to be, we’ll be fine.”
“But you’ll still be part of all this. This House and these rituals and the illegal activities they promote.”
I didn’t answer. There was no reason to answer. We both knew what I would say.
Fuck, I hated what I’d dragged her into. And I hated that empty look in her pretty blue eyes. The same one I’d seen on my island. The same one that cut me to the quick and made me feel like half a man.
“Look,” I said, hoping to lift her spirits, even just a little. “If we’re lucky, he’ll let me go back to my job at Covet in New York. All the other shit... Away from this damn country, it’s not as bad as it seems.”
“Except for the part where you go back to being CEO of a fashion magazine that’s primary purpose is recruiting unsuspecting young girls into your House’s beta program.”
Yeah, except for that.
My jaw tightened as I stared at her.
Fuck me, I hated my life.
“I’ll find a way to make it work,” I said, meaning every single word.
“How? You hate that place. We both know it.”
I did hate it, but I could survive it. I could survive anything for her.
“It’s not fair you have to sacrifice yourself for your stupid House.”
My heart pinched because I wanted to read way more into that one comment than she intended.
I quickly pushed away from the sink, knowing if I didn’t get away from her soon, I was going to give in to every one of my urges and show her with my hands and lips and body just how much I wanted to read into that comment.
Something I knew wouldn’t go over well considering the current status of our strained relationship. Something I knew would only gut me even more in the long run.
“I learned long ago not to want things, because every time I did, my world turned to shit. This time I’m determined not to let that happen.”
I moved past her for the living room, locking down the guilt and pain I felt anytime I was around her, knowing it would only hinder me where I was heading next.
“Please put your ring on before you leave this villa,” I said. “I trust Marco and Fee, but I don’t trust their staff. There are eyes everywhere. It’s safer for all of us if everyone you encounter thinks you actually want to be my wife.”
She didn’t answer. I didn’t expect her to.
But in her silence, I had a sinking feeling I was fighting a losing battle, and that before long, there’d be nothing left for me to do to keep my world from turning to complete shit once and for all.
My insides were a knot of twisting, liquid fire I was afraid might burn a hole through my belly. Or at the very least give me a giant fucking ulcer.
“You sure about this?” Marco asked at my side as we moved up the front steps of my parents’ country estate.
Happy I’d nixed the tie and left my dress shirt unbuttoned so it couldn’t strangle me, I tugged at my sleeve, wishing I’d gone for one with buttons instead of these irritating cufflinks that kept getting caught in my jacket. “No. But the sooner we get this done, the easier it’ll be to breathe.”
I glanced sideways at my friend, dressed in a very similar designer white dress shirt, black slacks and jacket. “At least for you.”
Marco grinned, flashing white teeth that contrasted with the dark stubble on his jaw, and slapped a hand against my shoulder. “I will try to breathe for both of us, fratello. And if only one of us leaves here breathing, I vow to take good care of la tua bellissima moglie.”
“You lay one hand on my pretty wife and Felicity will castrate you with a dull knife.”
Marco laughed, the sound—for a moment—relaxing me. “That she would. And I fear she’d enjoy every moment of it. Ah, aren’t we lucky? Two stronzi who, despite our flaws, somehow managed to find the most incredible women to love us.”
Yeah, we were lucky. Or, I had been. For a few days, at least.
Tension churned in my gut as I came to a stop on the top step and looked at the arched iron door. I willed thoughts of Natalie out of my head, knowing they’d do me no good here. Drawing one last breath of free air, I pushed the button and waited while the bells chimed inside the ancient castle, announcing our arrival.
Seconds later, one side of the massive double doors flung open, and my sister Ariana threw her arms around my neck, her long dark hair with that one strip of white near the front swaying behind her.
“Luc!” She gripped me in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re back.”
I captured her before she could knock us both off our feet, thankful she was her normal boisterous self and not in any way damaged by what had happened with Dante. “Me too.”
She let go of my shoulders and dropped to her heels. With one quick smile at Marco, she glanced past me with her dark eyes. “Where is she?”
I knew who Ariana was looking for, just as I knew I wouldn’t tell her. “Not here.” I looked over her into the foyer of the house. “Are Mamma and Papá home?”
“Yes, they’re—”
“Luciano?” My mother’s terse voice echoed through the entryway in time with the click of her heels. Moments later, she appeared at my sister’s back with nothing but disappointment in her light blue eyes. “Come in or leave, but do not stand there with the door open. You’re letting all the cool air out.”
I clenched my jaw to keep from turning around as I wanted to do, and moved into the foyer. “Mamma.” I air kissed her cheeks, but I didn’t make contact, and I didn’t show any affection. She knew why. She showed me just as little in return. “I’ve come to see Papá.”
Ariana moved up on my side. “He’s in the—”
“Ariana,” my mother snapped. “You have schoolwork that needs to be finished.”
“Yes, but—”
“No buts. Get upstairs now.”
My sister’s shoulders slumped. She looked up at me with worried dark eyes. “You’re not leaving Italy right away, are you?”
“No.”
Relief passed over her features. “Good. Because if you leave without saying goodbye again, I’m going to disown you forever.”
She pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, then stepped around me and moved for the stairs. Not wanting to get her in trouble, I watched her move up the steps, then glanced at my mother watching Ariana with a perturbed expression on her cultured face.
When Ariana was out of earshot, I said, “She’s twenty-two years old. At some point, you’re going to have to stop treating her like a child.”