Chapter 14 #2
She shook her head. “But how?”
“He was a B-grade crook, Allegra. He was sloppy. He left evidence everywhere of his criminal ‘empire’. My investigator was able to uncover links in no time. He’s been arrested.”
Her lips parted. “But—are you sure?”
“Oh, yes.”
“But he might—,”
“There is a restraining order in the works, and an alert on his passport, in case he ever tries to leave the country. The local police are satisfied with the explanation. This is dealt with; finished. You are free.”
She lifted her hands to her lips and held them there. “You can’t be serious?”
“I don’t know if I have ever been more serious about anything in my entire life.” He grabbed her face then, something surging through him he couldn’t explain. “I need you to promise me something, cara mia.”
She blinked up at him, the tears in her eyes—he hoped—ones of relief. “Anything.”
“I do not care where life leads you, and who it takes you to. No matter what, no matter when, if you ever feel unsafe, or worried, or scared, or for some inexplicable reason do not feel you have money for what you need, you are to call me, immediately. You are to ask me for help, always. When we are no longer married, this will still always be my duty, do you understand? I need to know that you are safe. That you are well. I need to know that you are happy, Allegra. My happiness depends on that. Can you promise me?”
She stared up at him with a heart that was being ripped to shreds even as he also stitched it into shape. When we are no longer married…How easily he accepted that. How easily those words slipped off his tongue.
She closed her eyes against his words. On some level, they were a balm. A promise that she was not alone. That she never would be again. In all the ways that mattered, Luca would be there for her.
But not in the way she wanted.
Finally, she accepted what she’d started to suspect at Valentino’s villa.
She was in love with Luca. She was completely, heart-stoppingly in love. And he was planning for a life without her.
But she couldn’t think about that, now. Not when he had manoeuvred the pieces to protect her, so swiftly, so perfectly.
She wrapped her hands around his waist, and held him tight, listening to the beating of his heart and wishing, on every star in the heavens, that it would beat like this for her. Just for her, always for her.
Allegra woke the next morning to the sound of a helicopter’s whirring blades.
She shifted a little, looking for Luca. He was not in the bed, but his book was resting on the bedside table.
She smiled to herself as she saw it, then her smile dropped as she wondered if Luca was in the helicopter.
Going somewhere? No, it had sounded like the helicopter was coming closer. Landing, at the villa.
She sat up, the trauma of the previous afternoon like a tentacle at her throat. What if Luca had been wrong? What if that was the police, coming to arrest her? Or someone from the loan shark’s operation?
Except, he hadn’t been wrong. Luca’s confidence was unmistakable, his authority quiet but impossible to deny. He had dealt with this, just like he’d promised.
A noise drew her attention across the room. Luca emerged from the bathroom, a towel slung low over his hips, his hair wet and flopping a little over his brow.
He crossed to the window and pulled back the blind, eyes narrowing. “My grandfather,” he explained.
Ally’s brows lifted. “Were you expecting him?”
He turned to face her. “Definitely not. I thought we were done with that for a while.”
She lifted her shoulders. It no longer felt strange to play the part of Luca’s wife. In fact, the idea of not showing how much she loved him was stranger still. That was the bigger problem she faced: how to conceal her feelings for the next eleven or so months?
Luca would not welcome them. And if he knew, he would probably end this, no matter what. To protect her. Just like he had the night before.
“I should get ready,” she said, pushing the sheet back.
Luca turned to face her, a glint in his eye as he reached for his towel.
“There is no rush, cara. My grandfather will have to learn that it is not polite to arrive unannounced in the house of newlyweds…” and he walked towards her, his intention obvious, and her heart lifted into her throat as he kissed her.
She kissed him back with all the love running through her, saying with her body what she never would her words.
“The police were here.”
Luca’s brows shot up. “It’s in the press?”
It was early, and in a break from his usual habits, he hadn’t so much as thought to check in with the day’s news, yet. It was Allegra. In his bed, on his mind, under his skin. An obsession he didn’t know how to shake.
“Not that I know of.”
Luca shook his head. The bloody staff. “Rosa?” he queried, guessing—correctly, going from Valentino’s reaction—which of the housekeepers had reported the prior day’s events to Valentino.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing you need to be concerned with.”
Valentino’s gaze narrowed. “You know me better than that.”
Luca expelled an angry sigh. He did. He knew his grandfather would not leave until he had his answers—even if that meant speaking to Allegra. He wanted this dealt with before she appeared, and already he sensed he was living on borrowed time.
“It’s a matter from Allegra’s past. I have managed the situation.”
Valentino moved to one of the leather armchairs and sat in it with the agility of a man half his age. “Tell me.”
Luca stared towards the windows, and at the ocean beyond. “She was being blackmailed.”
“Because of her marriage to you?”
“No.”
“Something to do with her father?”
Luca ground his teeth. “It’s not your concern. Believe me when I tell you, I’ve dealt with it.”
“Luca,” Valentino sighed. “We should talk.”
Luca crossed the room on the pretence of pouring a coffee. He held a mug towards his grandfather, who shook his head. Luca stood, and watched.
“I know about your marriage.”
“What about it?” He was careful not to betray anything.
“I have a statement from one of the waitresses who was working, the night you met. You offered Allegra money, in exchange for her marrying you.”
Luca’s heart thumped hard into his ribs.
Why hadn’t his investigator done that? Because he’d asked the man to look into Allegra, not the circumstances of their marriage.
His throat felt dry suddenly, at the realisation that this had been his plan all along.
Had Allegra told him then about her predicament?
No.
Even as he asked himself the question, he knew the answer.
His grandfather had handed him the key that had unlocked his memories.
Bit by bit, the night was coming back to him.
He’d wanted her, but once they’d started talking, he’d had a sense that she could help him.
He’d propositioned her almost by chance, but she’d agreed so quickly.
Now he understood why.
She’d been terrified, and he’d offered a chance at escape. That was why they’d married.
Fear.
She’d had her back against the wall, and he’d offered escape. It had never been about him, or an attraction to him.
He ground his teeth, his jaw set hard.
“Don’t you get it, Luca? I do not care that the marriage is fake. While it’s true that I’ve always wanted you to show me you could commit, that you were ready to settle down, there is more than one way to achieve that.”
Luca stayed very still.
“You, and you alone, did what was necessary to meet this requirement. You proved to me that you will do anything to make this company yours, to be a success.” Valentino’s eyes were shrewd. “The marriage, in the end, was immaterial.”
A muscle jerked in Luca’s jaw. He was the only one willing to go this far. To use a woman to get what he wanted. To lie to his family, and everyone who knew him. To up-end Allegra’s life, so that he could acquire what he’d always wanted.
A company she’d made him realise should be shared, not possessed solely by him.
Was she right?
Was there a path that involved Paolo and Dante? He’d never liked them. Nor trusted them. But how much of that was to do with Valentino’s obsessive need to let the best rise to the top?
“The company is yours. I’ve had the papers sent to your lawyers. I’ve signed them.”
Luca’s gut dropped.
“What?”
It was at that moment he realised Allegra was in the room. She’d walked in silently. It was only then, when she sucked in a quick breath of air, that he realised. He turned to face her, tried to understand what she was feeling, and what she wanted.
Knew, already, his own feelings.
“Congratulations,” Valentino said, smiling wolfishly. “You win.” Why, though, didn’t he feel that? “And you, my dear, gave a splendid performance. I do not know what remuneration you agreed to, but I hope it was generous. You certainly earned it.”
Luca didn’t need to look at Allegra to know it was the worst thing his grandfather could have said. But how could Luca refute it? How could he say that their marriage had turned into more. That what he and Allegra shared had nothing to do with their deal?
How could he admit it to his grandfather when he could barely do so to himself?