19. Luna
NINETEEN
LUNA
“It’s surprisingly warm,” Luna said as they walked to the car after they had finished their meal. Her skin had felt feverish ever since Valerio had gotten on his knees. It got worse with every lemon drop martini she consumed. The drink didn’t taste like alcohol, so she assumed there was barely any in it. She was wrong. “I wish I could go swimming right now. Being in the water sounds so nice. Don’t you have a pool at your house?”
“Is that your way of asking to come over?” Valerio asked with a smirk. He opened the car door for her, letting her get in and making sure her seatbelt was secured before going over to the driver’s side. He started the car once he was situated.
“Is that a no?” she asked.
“We can swim, but I know a nicer place that’s more private than the house I share with the three most annoying people in the world,” Valerio said. He entered the street, steering carefully between the slight traffic that had built up.
“You know you love them,” Luna muttered, leaning her head back on the seat. For leather seats, they were surprisingly comfortable. She could also feel the heat under her butt from the seat warmers.
“Unfortunately.”
“So, where are you taking me?”
“We’re going to one of the hotels my family owns,” he said. “There’s a penthouse reserved for us that has an indoor pool.”
She snorted. “I didn’t know I signed up for the Vitali business tour.”
He shrugged. “Not my fault my family owns a big portion of the city.”
“How much money do you have?” she asked. “That has to be illegal.”
“Who are you? The Feds?” he asked.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for that type of job,” she told him, looking out the window. “I’m built for something less stressful.”
“Like what?”
She was silent for a moment. “I’ve never actually thought about it. Once I was told I would be getting a husband, I just kind of assumed I wouldn’t get to do anything with my life just like my mom. She just kind of exists, it seems. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad or anything,” she added. “I just want to be honest and I’m sick of hiding how I feel. And maybe that’s more of a hit on my father than on you. Truth is, I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him for what he did to my life. If given the choice, I think I would prefer to put a bullet into his head.” She gasped, opening her eyes that she hadn’t even realized she’d closed. She turned to Valerio. “Please don’t tell anyone I said that. I didn’t mean it.”
“I would never tell a soul, even if you decided to do it,” he told her.
“Have you ever thought about it?” she asked.
“Killing your father?”
“No, killing yours.”
“One time, but even that was too dark for me,” he told her. This time he focused his gaze on the road, speeding up.
“When?” she asked. She was always too curious for her own good.
“When my mother killed herself because she couldn’t handle being married to him any longer,” Valerio admitted. The words felt like venom leaving his lips, but the truth was out in the open for the both of them to deal with.
“Were they arranged?” Luna asked, but her voice was more of a whisper.
“She was pregnant with me,” he told her. “My father couldn’t have his heir out in the world unprotected. He couldn’t have the mother of his child open to the same dangers either. AKA your family if they found out. The story sounds too familiar, huh?”
She shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking that.”
“It’s hard not to compare you to her, and me to my father,” Valerio said. There was a bite to his voice, but she knew it wasn’t intended for her.
“I’m not pregnant,” she said. “There’s one difference.”
“One day you will be.”
“If you’re so scared of that happening, why did you decide to marry me?” she asked in genuine curiosity.
“Maybe it’s the hope that we’ll be different,” he said.
Luna was silent for a second. “My mother and father were arranged too. I wonder what she would have been like if her life had been different.”
“I guess we’ll never know,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” she said. She stared out the window, her brows furrowed in thought. “You should know I would never leave you like that.” She would never let him find her body one day, completely void of life. It would be too cruel, especially for him.
“I would never stop you from doing what you want in life,” he told her. “Whatever career, however much schooling you want to do, if you want children or not, I’ll never force you.”
She turned toward him with a small smile. Maybe they would defeat the odds after all.
Valerio pulled into the valet of the hotel, put the car in park, and turned it off. He turned to face Luna. “Are you still up for that swim?”
“You promised me a pool,” she said, unbuckling the seatbelt. “I want my pool.”
He let out a small laugh and got out of the car. He made his way to the other side, opening the door for her. “Then let’s go for a swim, baby.”
He took her to the elevator, pulling out his wallet to retrieve the key from it. Luna didn’t pay any mind to the grandiose hotel, too busy ripping off her heels once they entered the elevator. Her feet were stinging and she was sure there was a blister already forming.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “You can’t be barefoot.”
“Is that a rule?” She raised her brows in defiance. “Am I going to get kicked out?”
“Let me carry you. I don’t want you accidentally stepping on something dangerous,” he said, moving toward her.
“I’m fine,” she said, pushing him away. She wasn’t the smallest girl ever, and she didn’t feel like dying of embarrassment if Valerio couldn’t carry her. He was incredibly built, sure, but still.
“Don’t think so deeply about it. Let me carry you,” he said. His voice held no options, and besides, her feet were killing her.
She swallowed harshly under his intense gaze. “Fine, I’ll accept a piggyback ride but only because I don’t want to bring dirty feet into the penthouse.”
He accepted his win, kneeling down so she could hop on. She lifted her dress, allowing her legs to stretch apart farther, but it didn’t work unless she lifted her dress all the way up her waist, which wouldn’t have been an issue if Valerio hadn’t stolen her underwear.
“Get on, Luna.”
“I can’t without exposing everything,” she said, pushing the dress down. “You never gave back my underwear from earlier or from the other night, by the way.”
“And I’m not going to,” he said, standing. He turned toward her, putting one arm around her lower back and the other under her knees, lifting her into his arms bridal style. She yelped, wrapping her arms around his neck to balance herself.
“What are you doing with all my underwear you’ve been taking?” she asked.
“Are you sure you want to know?” He looked down at her with a smirk that promised it was something naughty. The elevator finally opened on the right floor. Valerio got out, still carrying Luna.
“Well, now I’m curious,” she said.
He leaned in until his lips were grazing her ear. “I wrapped it around my cock and jerked off imagining it was you instead.”
“Oh,” she squeaked. She cleared her throat. Immediately, the thought of him laying back on his bed, muscles out and flexing as he worked his hand up and down his cock, entered her mind. She assumed he was probably big, veiny.
“It’s okay if you’re picturing it in your head right now,” he told her, knocking her out of the daze. They had arrived at the door, but it didn’t stop Valerio’s dirty mouth. “I imagine you touching yourself to the thought of me. Now reach into my pocket and grab the key from my wallet.”
Luna reached down to try to find his front pocket. She realized her mistake when she brushed against his zipper instead. “Oops,” she said, quickly, navigating her hand to the right. She reached in, grabbed the wallet and pulled her hand out. She didn’t bother looking at his face as she took out the key and unlocked the door for them.
“What? You’re not gonna return it back to my pocket?” he asked.
Valerio set Luna down, letting her feet touch the cool wood floors. “I wanted to snap a few pictures of your credit cards first,” she said, taking the wallet with her as she walked through the penthouse.
The floors were a dark mahogany, spanning the length of the room. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered two full walls, with thick black velvet curtains drawn halfway over them. A brown leather L-shaped sectional sat in the center of the room. There was a set of stairs by the piano on the right side, leading to an additional floor upstairs. On the left side was what Luna assumed to be the kitchen hidden behind a small wall and then another dark hallway.
“Where’s the pool?” she asked.
He grabbed her hand. “Down the hall.” He led her down the hallway, letting her eyes graze the abstract art that lined the walls.
“What’s upstairs?”
“A bedroom if you’re interested,” he said.
She rolled her eyes. The entire space felt romantic and very unlike a space for someone like Valerio. He opened a glass door that entered into the pool room. The room was surrounded by glass, giving a clear view of the rest of the city. Now in the darkness, the lights twinkled like stars.
“This is incredible,” she said in awe. “Are you proud of yourself for having things like this?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’ve worked my ass off for so long. It’s nice to have someone to enjoy it with now.”
She remembered the wallet that was still in her hands. “I should probably give this back.” She tossed it, and he caught it effortlessly.
“Hold onto it if you want,” he said, throwing it on the pool lounger. “Everything mine is yours.”
“Not until we’re married.”
“I don’t need a paper to tell me you’re mine.”
He undid the buttons of his shirt, pulling it off. Luna’s mouth went dry. She knew he was built and had gotten a glimpse of it at the fight, but back then she had been more freaked out about him fighting her brother and had too much at stake with their bet. Now, she was able to stare, and she did, suddenly completely sober as if she hadn’t had a sip of alcohol.
His abs were chiseled and defined as if he had been carved by Michelangelo himself. With every movement he made, his muscles pulled and strained, locking Luna into a daze that she couldn’t get out of. Her gazing only felt sinful when she caught the small trail of hair that disappeared under his slacks that he was already removing.
“Why are you getting undressed?”
“To swim,” he said, confused. “Remember, the thing you insisted on doing.”
“That was before I realized I don’t have a swimsuit,” she said. And before she realized what a distraction his body was proving to be.
He slipped out of his shoes, letting the pants fall to the floor. He picked them up, setting them on the pool chair. He threw off each sock, letting them fall as well. “Suit yourself. I’m swimming,” he said, smirking as he pulled down his underwear.
Luna’s eyes widened, eyeing the dick that stood rigid in front of her. She shifted her eyes quickly, waiting until he was in the water.
“The water is perfect,” he said.
She stared at him for a long moment before she approached the pool chair herself. “Turn around,” she told him.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” he said.
She knew that, but this felt oddly intimate. She hadn’t ever shown anyone her naked body in this type of environment, let alone someone she had been sexual with or who she found dangerously attractive.
Still, he turned around. She pulled the dress up and over her head, feeling the cool air of the room hit her. She dropped it on the pool chair, removing her bra after. With quick steps she entered the pool, submerging herself into the warm water.
He turned back around, his eyes immediately falling to her body under the water.
“My eyes are up here,” she said.
“I know. I’m trying to engrave your body into my memory.”
She swam past him, making her way to the edge of the pool to stare out at the city. It was oddly freeing swimming naked, not caring who saw her. She relaxed for the first time in so long.
That was why when he moved beside her, she didn’t fight it.
“The moon is so bright tonight,” she said. It was a full silver moon and from where they were, she swore she could see the little dark spots and crevices on it.
“Is that where your name comes from?” he asked.
“According to my mom, I was always the most active at night while she was pregnant with me. She didn’t get any sleep at night for the entire nine months,” she said. “She was the one that decided Luna would be the perfect name.”
“It is the perfect name,” he said.
“What were you named after?”
“My grandfather on my mother’s side. I heard he was a wonderful man, but I never got to meet him. He passed while my mother was pregnant,” he said. “So now I’m stuck with an old name.”
“I like it,” she said. “It fits you.”
She turned toward him, studying his face while he stared ahead. He had a little mole beside his right ear and long black eyelashes she was jealous of. She saw the faintest hint of a scar on his chin, but it wasn’t bigger than an inch. There was a story there and she realized that one day she would probably end up hearing it because he was the man she was set to spend the rest of her life with.
Her breathing increased as she realized that for the first time, dread didn’t fill her at that thought. Instead, something akin with familiarity and serendipity filled her.
Maybe that was why she found herself leaning into him, setting her head against his shoulder. And maybe that was why when he wrapped his arm around her, she accepted it. The same butterflies returned and so did his warmth.
And she didn’t fight it.