Moving quickly, I wrapped my arms around Luca. I needed him to know I was there. His muscles relaxed as he returned my embrace, but his breathing was still labored. Muffled by his chest, I asked, “What does that have to do with me?”
“After Dante died, Adriana completely shut down. She isn’t the same woman my brother married. Paranoid doesn’t even begin to explain it. She’s convinced the same thing will happen to me. She doesn’t want anyone else to go through what she has.”
My heart ached for Adriana, and I felt terrible for all the mean jokes I had made in my head at her expense.
“Have you received any threats?”
His body tensed under my arms. Pulling away to look him in the eyes, I couldn’t catch his gaze. “You have! Fuck,Luca!”
Dropping my arms, I tried to walk away, only to be trapped in Luca’s grip.
“There’ve been threats, but I’m not my brother. I’m not ignoring them. My father and I will find these assholes, and they’ll be dealt with.” His voice was rough and forceful, sending a shiver through my body. This was the powerful millionaire Luca Moretti I rarely saw, the man that owned a good chunk of the city, the man that had no business being with the likes of me.
“Should you get a bodyguard or something?”
Luca smiled down at me. “There are always eyes on us. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Us?”
“You’ve had a tail since the night at The Monocle. There’s always someone there, just in case.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Heat coiled in my belly,but I wasn’t sure if it was anger or something else altogether.
“Sasha, nothing’s more important to me than your safety. I will not let my circumstances hurt you.”
“I can’t decide whether I should punch you in the gut for having some goons following me or push you down on that bed and fuck you stupid for being all protective.” Pushing the loose hair from his eyes, I tried to make peace with this new reality. “Promise me you won’t keep me in the dark anymore. Honesty, remember?”
He sighed, a small smile on his face. “I promise. I’m sorryI didn’t tell you before. I didn’t want to scare you away.”
My fingers walked up his chest. “You could never scare me away, Luca. I’m the scary bitch that loves you.”
His lips parted. After a moment of him staring at me and not saying anything, he shook his head and kissed me. It was a warm, gentle caress that made me sigh.
His forehead resting on mine, we smiled like fools. I felt closer to him than ever before. He’d shared something scary and huge with me. Something that, for some, would be a deal-breaker.
My heart raced at the thought of him being in harm’s way. Any bastards that wanted to snuff out this beautiful man would have to go through me.
“Let’s head down before mom comes looking for us and finds me fulfilling an adolescent fantasy on that desk over there.”
We tried to hurry down the stairs without being noticed, but that wasn’t in the cards.
A man that looked like Luca in thirty years stood at the base of the stairs, glaring at us. Sneaking away from a bedroom is not how I wanted to meet Luca’s dad.
As we reached the bottom step, Mr. Moretti scoffed. “Luca, your mom’s been looking for you. It’s time to sit down for dinner.”
Luca tensed, letting my hand go, only to wrap his arm around my waist. “Dad, let me introduce you to Sasha Mitchell.”
I plastered on my most professional smile and held my hand out. Mr. Moretti had a firm shake as his eyes gave me a once-over. His forehead creased when he noticed the gems sparkling around my neck.
“Pleasure to meet you. Thank you for including me in your holiday celebration.”
“Luca’s mother wouldn’t have had it any other way. Please excuse me. I need to find my wife.”
The salt and pepper fox walked away, leaving me to wonder what a girl had to do to be accepted into this family. “That went well.”
Luca hugged me from behind. “Don’t mind him. He doesn’t like anyone.”
“That’s reassuring,” I grumbled.