I’m quiet as I lead him into my home, my thoughts turning back to the last time he was here. I still remember his drunken pleas, and the way my heart wavered. I’d been so determined to leave him in the past, so how did I end up standing here as his wife?
Luca pauses in the middle of my living room and looks around. “For this to work, we’ll need to act like we’re head over heels with each other. Besides, you know that there are rules relating to marriage and my inheritance. We can’t risk fucking this up. I need you to be on my side, Valentina, until the very end.”
I nod and look up at him. “I’ve always been on your side, Luca.”
He smiles at me, and the way my heart races makes me lower my gaze. I suddenly feel vulnerable in a way I never have before, and I’m not sure what to make of it. I walk away under the pretense of packing my things, but Luca follows me into my bedroom. Standing here with him, in such a small intimate space… it makes me oddly nervous. If I can barely handle this, how am I supposed to share a bed with him?
“Valentina.”
I tense when I feel his hands on my shoulders, and my heart skips a beat. He slowly turns me around, our bodies so close to each other that my chest brushes against his.
“Do you regret it?” he asks, his voice soft.
I look up at him, taking in the hint of concern in his brown eyes. “I’m not sure yet,” I tell him honestly. “It doesn’t really feel real, and I’m worried we rushed into this.”
Luca cups my cheek, his touch gentle. “We can have a proper wedding, Valentina, with all of our friends and family present. If that is what you want, I’ll make it happen.”
“No,” say. “This… it’s perfect for us. The fewer people know about us, the better.”
His expression hardens. “Who exactly are you trying to hide me from? Is there someone else?” There’s an edge to his tone that I’ve never heard before. Is he… is hejealous?
“No,” I reassure him. “But we both know this’ll end someday. Three years will fly by, and once it’s all over, I want true freedomof my own. I want my own life without being tied down by the past. Sometimes it’s like you forget who you are. It’d be impossible for me to escape the Windsor name if our marriage was publicized.”
Luca sits down on my bed, his gaze pensive. It’s odd having him here. I’ve lived in this apartment for the last five years, but he’s never once been in my bedroom. He looks huge sitting on my small bed, and having him in my space makes me feel strangely flustered.
What will it be like to live with him? Despite our close working relationship, it isn’t common for us to hang out together. I have no idea who he even is when he isn’t working. I’ve seen him around his family, but that isn’t quite the same.
“I’m ready,” I tell him as I close my duffel bag. “This is all I really need for the next few days.”
Luca nods and takes the bag from me. “I’ll have some movers come in to pack the rest for you.”
I glance around my bedroom, my heart heavy. This is the first real home I’ve ever had of my own. It feels bittersweet to leave it behind. “What will happen to this apartment? Will you give it to another staff member?”
Luca glances over his shoulder and chuckles. “Mrs. Windsor,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “You don’t quite realize that you’re the only one in my entire company that got this specific perk, do you? This apartment is yours. It always will be. I just never formally signed it over to you because I was worried you wouldn’t accept it.”
I stare at his broad back as he leads me back to his car.Mrs. Windsor.I suppose that’s who I am now. It’s so surreal.
Luca holds the car door open for me, and I frown. Normally, that’s the driver’s job, and when the driver isn’t there, like today, it’smyjob. “You’re my wife now,” he says, a small smile on hisface. “It’s my duty and privilege to do these kinds of things for you. We aren’t at work right now, Valentina.”
My thoughts are reeling as I take a seat. Luca seems different now, less abrasive, and I don’t know what to make of it. “Is it true?” I ask when he sits down next to me.
He turns to face me and grabs my hand, holding it in his. His gaze drops to our hands, and he slowly entwines our fingers, his touch gentle. “Yes,” he says.
“Why? Why would you give me company perks no one else had?”
The way his thumb rubs over the back of my hand is distracting, and it throws me off. I wasn’t expecting him to be gentle with me. I thought everything would stay the same with the exception of us sleeping together occasionally, but this tenderness… it’s surprising. When he acts this way, it’s like I don’t know him at all.
Luca looks into my eyes, his expression one I’ve never seen before. “Does it matter?” He looks away for a moment and sighs. “To be honest, I’m not sure either. I just knew I wanted to do more for you, but I never really thought too hard about why. I just did it.”
I stare at his profile, admiring his straight nose and his strong jaw. I always tried not to look at him too long, out of fear it’d be considered unprofessional, but today I’m getting my fill. “For years, I thought you hated me.”
He smiles then. “I did, at the start. I still don’t know why my grandmother hired you back then, and I don’t like that. I felt manipulated, and I was convinced you had ulterior motives... But at some point, those feelings morphed into something else altogether, without me even realizing it. I kept convincing myself that I couldn’t stand you, but all the while, I kept relying on you more, until you became indispensable to me.” Luca looks into my eyes, and my heart skips a beat. “How could I hate you whenyou’re the only person I can see myself spending three years with? When you told me that you quit, I was a fucking wreck, Valentina. Nah. I don’t hate you. I hate how much I fucking want you. I hate how beautiful you are, and I hate how much you mess with my mind. Above all, I always hated that you weren’t mine.”
I tear my gaze away, my cheeks flushed and my heart pounding wildly. The man holding my hand… he isn’t the cold and indifferent Luca I know. I don’t recognize this version of him, and it terrifies me.
It terrifies me, because this version of Luca? This is a man I could lose my heart to.
Chapter Twenty-Six