Chapter Eleven-Maria
CHAPTER ELEVEN-MARIA
M y eyes widen as Luc pulls inside an underground garage.
I expected him to live in the same condominium complex where I visited Anna with Giselle earlier this week.
But he doesn’t.
“Wait there.”
I don’t understand until I see him striding around the front of the car, holding his hand up to stop a man in black, a parking attendant perhaps , from touching the passenger door.
“I got it,” he murmurs and pulls open my door.
Luc offers his hand and I pause just staring at his long fingers.
Holy. Shit.
Who knew a man’s hands could be so erotic?
“You coming, Baby Girl?”
My gaze flicks up to his, and I know the second he sees the double entendre click inside my brain.
Luc smirks and licks his lips before it turns into a heated smile.
No, Luc, I’m not coming. Not yet. But with any luck I will be.
I nod and clear my throat, taking his hand as he helps me out of the car.
Those fighter jets are back, and I’m so busy concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other, I’m quiet the whole way across the garage, which I realize houses two more cars and that’s it, to what looks like an elevator door.
“I never saw a building with a locked elevator,” I remark as he uses his handprint to open the thing.
The doors open silently, and I step inside.
“There’s another one that opens to the security room. But they can’t access my main floor without my approval.”
“Wait, this building is yours?” I ask, stunned.
He nods.
“How did you manage that?” I wonder.
“I own the building, Baby Girl. Bought it when it was an abandoned warehouse. Worked with an architect to redesign it. Then, I moved in.”
He shrugs like it is no big deal. But it is.
This place is huge.
An entire warehouse.
It strikes me then just how much money Luc has.
I stumble over my feet as we exit, but he saves me with a firm grip on my elbow.
“Easy,” he whispers, and he’s so close I shiver.
“Come on.”
He uses the same biometric security system, scanning his hand before another door unlocks.
The world he reveals behind it is masculine and rich.
Minimalist.
“How big is this place?”
“Pretty fucking big, Maria. You really want to talk about it?” he asks.
I nod, because yes, I do.
I want to know everything about him. I look around, my hungry eyes eating up every bit of information I can gather.
“Okay. Well, I bought this old warehouse. I renovated it. It's my sort of loft meets mini mansion, and it is right in the heart of Jersey City. An ideal place to live, truly.”
“Ideal? How so?”
“It’s close to work. Close to Nico and Angel. But nobody around here knows me, and I like the privacy,” he continues.
“I never thought privacy was possible to find in the city,” I say, trying for a joke, but it’s lame.
“Anything is possible when you have money and power. I've got both,” he says.
“I also have state-of-the-art security. Oh, and I’m kind of proud of the fact this whole building operates on the greenest electrical and plumbing systems available. I have solar panels on the roof, even a small wind turbine. I've also got a rooftop garden with a swimming pool and one-sided see-through glass covering it. My garden is hydroponic. I grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs. I have a guy come in once a month to make sure the system is running efficiently. I've got a courtyard out back and there are plants there, too. Come look,” he says, and pulls me with him to the big window facing the back.
I love it. There is a huge wrought iron fence covered in ivy on both sides, blocking street level viewers from seeing in.
It’s on the Hudson River, so I know this must cost a fortune. But for a moment, I allow myself to feel like I belong there. With him.
And it is wonderful.
“See that? It’s a stone path cutting through the rose bushes and hydrangeas. It leads to the water. The gate has a biometric lock too, and I employ around the clock security. Nobody can get around this building from the back.”
“Well, no, not with those twenty foot high fences,” I murmur.
“They’re fourteen feet high,” he corrects me, but he’s smiling.
“Do you like it?” he asks, and I sense he is feeling vulnerable.
I’m shocked, but also grateful for that glimpse of humanity.
I’m starting to think he’s superhuman.
But I know he is every bit as real as me. We might be different, but Luc is still a man. Just like I am a woman.
“Like it?” I repeat, turning to him. “Luc, it is incredible. Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“Good, I want you to like it. I want you to feel safe here.”
“I do.”
“and I want you to feel safe with me.”
“I feel that, too,” I whisper. And it is the truth.
Yes, I’ve gotten used to shitty apartments, but before that, when I lived at home, my childhood home was small, messy, and loud.
But it was full of love.
My heart contracts inside my chest, and a pain of longing hits me hard. I miss Papi. It’s been six years since we lost him.
But it’s worse than that.
Matteo Sanchez robbed me of my entire family, of my friends, my whole damn life on the day of my father’s funeral.
I’ve been carrying the guilt of my decision to leave home for so long. Especially with my mother’s cancer.
Coming back might be dangerous, but I have no choice. Matteo stole enough from me.
Someday soon, I will have to face my fears.
I will visit my mother in the open. Stealing glimpses of her at church isn’t enough.
Someday, but not now.
Now, there is only one thing I want, and it’s this man.
This quiet, mysterious, ridiculously gorgeous man.
“Want something to drink?” Luc asks.
I shake my head.
I don’t want anything to drink. I want to be in control of something in my life.
And tonight, I think I can be.