Chapter 43 Home Is Where The Heart Is #2
Dawn is approaching by the time we’ve cleaned up and crawled back into bed naked in accordance with my number one bedroom commandment.
I’m lying on my back, muscles relaxed in our post-orgasm euphoria.
Sophia is curled into my side, her head heavy on my chest. A distinctly different heaviness than the one that burdened me the entire time she was gone.
My phone pings, interrupting my momentary feeling of bliss. I don’t want to look at it, but given the events of the past few hours, I don’t want to risk missing something important.
Luca:
Thanks for having my back tonight, bro. I owe you. Arabella is sleeping. I’m gonna stay and keep an eye on her.
Me:
Always, bro. You gotta figure that shit out with her.
Luca:
I know…it’s just complicated.
Luca:
P.S. I have lots of questions about you and AJ and a business deal. WTF bro?
Me:
Noted.
I snort a mirthless laugh and click out of our text thread.
I’ve got enough complications without taking on his.
Right now, I want to enjoy being cocooned in this dream moment with the naked woman molded to me like she’s the missing part I’ve been looking for.
Stroking her hair, I watch her eyelids flutter, fighting sleep.
“What happened? Are Arabella and Luca home safe?” she asks groggily, needing the reassurance.
“Both fine, but the Arty problem became a bit more complex.”
She looks up at me, more alert. Concern and confusion lace her delicate features. “How? What does Arabella have to do with Arty?”
I give her a quick rundown on what transpired tonight.
Being lured by Rizzo so he could warn me to stay away from Arty.
The way I connected the dots about Arty’s role in Rizzo’s business.
My concerns about Luca, specifically the hold Arabella has on him.
I saw it tonight. He’ll stop at nothing to protect her.
Sacrifice everything. It’s a feeling I know well.
It’s admirable—but a dangerous fucking dance.
Especially when the instinct for self-preservation has been obliterated by obsession. Luca is a man on the edge.
It’s not my usual MO to let people in or talk about the things plaguing me. But one look into her pools of caramel eyes, imploring me to trust her, and it’s hard to resist the pull to let her in—to see her as the person I can share the good and the bad with. The sweet and the sticky.
Not to mention, all those traits that will make her a damn good lawyer will not rest or grant me the rest I’m in desperate need of until she has at least some of the answers she’s looking for.
I go to tell her about becoming the new owner of La Rosa, but the vibration of her cell interrupts our hushed murmurs.
She tries to ignore it, but I’m intrigued by who the fuck would be calling her before sunrise and grab her phone off the bedside table. Dad flashes on her caller ID.
“What the fuck? Why is he calling you at the crack of dawn?” I say, arching my eyebrow.
Pressing cancel on the call with a sigh, she replies, “Most likely to check I got his shitty voicemail. I didn’t want to interrupt you before, but it seems that Arty has clued my dad in on what happened—except he’s painted you as a dangerous thug and told my dad you threatened him.”
“He fucking what!” I explode, my body tensing, ready for combat. I look down at her face, a patchwork of conflicted emotions. Her eyes brim with unshed tears.
She hits play on the voicemail. I listen to it, vibrating with rage.
How could he ever think I would put Sophia in danger?
I’d put my life on the line before I let anything happen to her.
If he bothered to get both sides of the story instead of blindly believing the shit that comes out of that man’s mouth, he would see the only dangerous man is the same one he’s defending.
I haul her body onto of mine and hold her close. Like I can protect her from his shitty words. She nuzzles into my chest, and the drip of her tears burn where they land.
“Truth or dare, Kitten?”
A watery laugh escapes her at my attempt to use the familiar decision-making tactic to stop her from spiraling into unwarranted self-loathing or shame.
“I’m starting to think you’re trying to make up for all the times you refused to let me play truth or dare in high school but blamed Sebastian.”
Clearly I wasn’t as discreet as I thought. The truth or dare games at our parties senior year were legendary. Sophia came to a few, and while Sebastian was too busy being entertained by the ladies, I put a stop to Sophia playing quickly.
I chuckle into her hair. “There was no fucking way I was willingly going to feed you to the sharks. In my eyes, you were always mine.”
She nuzzles into my neck affectionately, before giving me her answer.
“Dare.”
“Move in with me.”
Her breath hitches, and she lifts her body to look at me.
“Wh-what? Won’t everyone think it’s a bit soon?” she stammers, bewildered by my request. Shock and excitement at the possibility play tug of war in her eyes.
“Fuck everyone, baby. This is about us and what we want.”
“Yeah but what about my Da—”
I cup the back of her head and cut off whatever she was going to say with a searing kiss that I hope she feels from the top of her overthinking brain to the toes I want to see curled in pleasure every day when I make her come in our bed.
I’ve waited six years to find out the fate of my decision to let her walk away.
It was a gamble. She could’ve found love and comfort in the arms of someone else.
For a while she did, and that cut like a thousand knives.
While I don’t romanticize much about life, I do believe in true love.
Finding the other half of your soul to complete you.
I think I knew from the time we were kids our connection was palpable.
A knowing deep within that she was my person.
The way we were effortlessly attuned to understanding what the other needed—but also trying to mask it when we couldn’t quite make sense of it.
The truth is, being together is the only thing that makes sense right now.
I draw shapes on her back lazily with my fingertips, loving the weight of her on me.
“I don’t want to waste any more time doing what we think is right by someone else’s rulebook.
I want you by my side. I want to face whatever the future holds together.
I know it sounds cheesy to say, but you complete me. ”
She searches my eyes for any sign of hesitation but finds none.
I’m all fucking in. This girl has owned me for far longer than she even realizes.
She kisses me back passionately. I let her take control, hoping she can feel all the unspoken sentiments.
I won’t let you go again. I missed you. I need you. I love you.
There’s a lot riding on my shoulders. Yet nothing feels more important than the wellbeing of the woman in my arms. My priority is to protect her at all costs, and that’s easier if she’s by my side.
I’m bone tired. But every time I close my eyes, all I see is the obstacles I’m facing flying around my mind like spinning plates.
I need to keep Arty on a short leash with no room to even try to make a move.
I especially need to keep Chiara out of trouble and make sure the purchase of La Rosa goes through so I can finally cut all financial ties with Patrick.
Speaking of the man, the first order of business is to confront him once and for all.
There’s nothing stopping me from being with Sophia now, and even if there was, I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
She finally breaks our kiss. Our hearts beat wildly but in sync. She caresses my stubbled cheek reverently with the silky pad of her thumb. “This is crazy,” she states incredulously.
“I like crazy, especially with you.”
Nothing and no one is coming between us ever again. She’s mine. Every bit of her. Forever. ’Til death do us part.
She just doesn’t know that yet. That’s how crazy I am about her.