“I’m scared, Luca. I’m so freaked out by all of this!” I gestured to the gilded ceiling where shadows from the water danced with the movement. “Your world is so big now, and I’m becoming such an insignificant part of it.” As soon as the words left my lips, I regretted them.
Luca responded by shoving us both into the water.
“What the hell, Luca?” I screamed.
He pulled us under, and I resurfaced, gasping for breath and pushing my long hair out of my face.
“Because you’re such an idiot sometimes and I thought you needed to cool the fuck down.” Luca looked angry. He was raising his voice, and I could see a vein pulsing in his forehead. He splashed me, and I splashed him right back. When he smiled, it was contagious, and I had to bite my cheek to keep from smiling back. Luca walked slowly toward me. I stood my ground with my arms crossed.
“Stephanie, I fucking love you. I love you so much that I’m going insane!” He waved his hands at the opulent room “This? This is nice, sure, but it’s bullshit. It’s meaningless. You and me? We’re for life,” he said, poking himself in the chest with emphasis. “Let me make myself abundantly clear. If I had to choose between you and this, it’s you, Steph. Always. By a landslide.”
In two strides, he reached me, his eyes twin burning flames of fierce emotion. He slipped one arm around my waist and tugged my hair with the other hand, pulling my head back while he stared deeply into my eyes. I knew he was serious about his pledge—Luca lived his life with integrity, and he always meant what he said. He looked like a man possessed, and he looked hungry.
“None of this means anything to me without you.”
As he held me to his chest, I absorbed his words and I believed him. True love was banging down my door, and I only had to be brave enough to answer it.
“You are everything I’ve ever wanted. How do I get that through your stubborn head? I’m so fucking angry right now because I have to defend my feelings toward you when I have never wavered—not even once. You’re it for me, Steph. You’re all I’ve ever wanted. I need someone to share this with, and I want it to be you.”
For a minute I thought he’d cry, but the energy that poured off him wasn’t sad. It was charged with love and excitement.
“You’re it for me too, Luca. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“I want to make you mine in every way. You are branded on my damn soul, Stephanie. Your face is what I see whenever I close my eyes. You have any idea what it’s like to want you so damn much? To be separated and think of nothing but you? I’m sick of waiting. I’m sick of making room for your unfounded insecurities!”
Before I could respond, he yanked my hair even harder and crushed my lips with a brutal, bruising kiss. His kiss was forceful and full of passion yet somehow still gentle. I didn’t know Luca was capable of so much emotion, but I should have—his passion always came through in his music. I lost myself in the kiss and finally became present in the moment, with Luca’s stiff erection pressing into my belly and his mouth on fire, devouring my lips.
He cut the kiss just as abruptly as he started it. He moved to my ears, and in the softest voice, so soft that I barely heard him, he said, “Every song I ever wrote is for you. So no more doubting, baby, because I can’t fucking take it.” He looked at me then, his eyes piercing and pleading.
“Every single one?” I smiled at him as water dripped from my hair and lashes.
He pressed his forehead to mine and looked into my eyes. “You’re my muse, baby girl. The whole reason I make music is because of you.”
I leaped into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist. It didn’t make sense to doubt the one person who’d always been truer to me than anyone else.
Luca walked to the stairs, still carrying me in his arms.
“I can’t believe you’re so clumsy you fell into the pool.”
“Fell,” I scoffed.
“You’re going to have to wear a life preserver to bed. I can’t have you sleepwalking like a klutz.”
I kissed his head and smiled into his hair. I trusted Luca implicitly, and I was ready to show him with my body just how much he meant to me.
He carried me into the bedroom, which was just as opulent as the entryway and communal space. The bed was low and wide and the largest I’d ever seen.
“Call the boys, because we’ve got room for the whole band in here.” I was joking, but Luca’s brow furrowed and he nearly growled at my comment.