Chapter Twenty-Eight- Maria
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT- MARIA
W ow.
Luc flips a large metal handle and then he slides what I soon realize is a refurbished barn door.
It’s stained black. True black. But done expertly so you can see the wood grain beneath it.
It’s fucking superb, and it matches the hall and other doors on this level. Again, I am awestruck by how huge this place is.
“Baby Girl?” he says, and I turn my head away from the door.
And I am floored.
“Are these all yours?” I ask stupidly, because it is his house, so obviously the answer is yes.
“Uh huh,” he replies, a sexy as hell grin spreading wide as he watches me take it all in.
The room is big. Huge. Bigger than my whole apartment.
There is an enormous replica of Luc’s waterfall desk, but this is more like a table. The design is the same though. And it is beautiful.
A couple of deep-seated leather chairs surround the table. All of it sits on an elegant rug that covers the center of the hardwood floor.
Near a large window, there is a comfortable-looking chaise loveseat, and I can just imagine lying there with a soft throw blanket.
Maybe I can get Anna to quilt one for me.
Recessed lights are scattered across the ceiling in various sizes, and I wonder if the color is voice controlled.
There are also half a dozen floor lamps and a fireplace near the chaise lounge.
I notice a small rolling door that is sitting open, revealing a sort of hidden pantry with a sink, a coffee machine, a few bottles of wine and top shelf whiskey, and a mini fridge on the bottom.
I grin at that.
But all these are not the showstoppers.
Oh no .
That prize belongs to the hundreds, if not thousands, of books filling the floor to ceiling, wall to wall wooden bookshelves that are all finished with that same black stain.
“Do you like it?”
“Like it? I feel like Belle,” I whisper, twirling around to try to take them all in.
“You calling me the Beast?” Luc asks from right behind me.
I feel his hands on my hips, and I moan and lean back.
“This is all yours now, Baby Girl.”
“Luc,” I snort. “You can’t mean that.”
“Of course, I do. Everything I have is yours now,” he tells me.
“Why? Why would you do that?” I ask, and I turn slowly.
True, I’ve told Luc that I love him. But he’s never said it back.
I know it shouldn’t matter. That the truest love is unconditional. And I love him. Honestly and truly with every bit of my heart.
But he’s moved me into his home without saying those three little words. With no real explanation at all. And now he’s telling me this is all mine, too.
So, I need to know.
Does he love me?
“Why Luc?” I repeat, and his steel-eyed stare pins me in place.
“Because you belong to me, Mia Alejandra Maria Lopez . Daughter of Emiliano and Celia Lopez.”
I gasp.
He knows my real name.
The one I tried so desperately to hide for six long years. And it is mine, but then again, it’s not. I’m not Mia anymore. I’m not sure who I am, really. But I know one thing.
I am his.
I swallow back a sob before I can speak.
“You ran a background check on me?” I ask, and my eyes fill with tears.
He nods.
His silver piercings sparkle in the light streaming in from the huge window. His steel eyes are glittering too, matching the color, and I swear he looks just like Lucifer then.
The Vipers aren’t ugly. I mean, Nico and Angel are good looking men. But they don’t hold a candle to my man. No one does.
Is he my man? Can this be real?
I sniff. My tears start to flow.
And I’m not sure if they are happy or sad tears as they spill over.
I’m aware I’ve told lies. I had to, but that doesn’t make it right.
Luc is a powerful man, and he can’t afford to make mistakes. He has to be sure of me, and I understand how it looks to anyone on the outside.
Me with my connection to the Sanchez brothers and him with his ties to the Vipers.
So yeah, I understand his need to run a background check. He has a lot of people to protect.
I want to be one of them. And more, I want to protect him, too.
Some women give their men safe harbor, but I don’t know if I am the type to sit home and wait.
Sure, I want to mean something to him. I love him.
But I can give him more than a soft place to land. I can give him support. I can help him with the burdens he bears.
I can and I will.
If he lets me.
“I had to run it, you understand?” he asks, and I nod, incapable of speech.
“But I ran one on me too. For you. And you can have it, Maria. I will willingly give it to you. But if you want to know anything, Maria. Just ask me. Ask me and I’ll tell you.”
I bite my lip and warmth fills me. Those jet fighter pilots in my stomach are revving their engines.
I know he just told me the reason he’s brought me here.
Because I am his.
And I know it should be enough. I want it to be enough.
My heart squeezes.
The truth is, I want more from Luc than to share his bed and his home.
I want more than to just belong to him. I want him to belong to me too, but I don’t know how to ask for that.
Some people don’t know how to love.
Maybe he will someday.
I can dream, can’t I?