Chapter Ten
ThreeMonths Later
Luca stood in his brand-new office and looked over the city. Even though he was over twenty floors high, he could still see the hustle and bustle on the ground below. He’d never been afraid of heights, in fact, being high off the ground had actually been more of a thrill to him than fear.
What amazed him most was the fact his new office was inside the Goodwin company. He’d not changed the name, but he had relocated to this very building. Why? He couldn’t fucking believe it, but in the last three months, it was like his whole life had changed.
First, his marriage to Tillie was fucking incredible. He couldn’t have imagined a better marriage. Waking up was like stepping into a dream. When it cametime to leave for work, he felt a mixture of emotions as he hated leaving Tillie, but what he loved was seeing David and Andrew, his father and brother-in laws, which totally blew his mind.
Yes, he liked his father-in-law, and had taken the time to get to know Andrew. At first, it hadn’t been easy. He’d come to learn that Andrew was a very proud man, and when he inherited the company from his father, he’d done so with the responsibility of taking care of it, and the promise of making it thrive. Uncle Ed, Andrew’s brother, had nearly destroyed everything their father and grandfather had worked toward. Andrew had felt personally responsible because he’d been the one to hire his brother in the first place, even though David had warned him not to. Their own father hadn’t fired Ed, and even though there had been multiple warnings going off inside Andrew’s head, he’d listened to his heart and trusted him.
Luca hadn’t believed it at first, but then he didn’t know what true family meant, not until he opened his life toward Tillie and her family.
Bella, Tillie’s mother, was wonderful. Ever since Tillie had gone to dinner with her mother, the two had gotten closer, andhad certainly been making up for lost time.
He’d lost count of the number of dinners, barbeques, or family get-togethers he’d been part of in the last three months.
All his life, he’d been an outcast. Growing up, he’d been the kid without parents, so the only people he had anything in common withwere his fellow foster kids. At the same time, he didn’t have anything in common with them for long, because while they still had hope of their own parents coming to adopt them, as well as the prospect of being adopted, he’d long lost any of it. He’d simply accepted his fate and decided not to hold out for anyone. The only person he could rely on was himself.
There was a sudden knock at the door, and he didn’t even have tocall out before David stepped into his office. This had been a regular occurrence as well. He and David had become friends.
“Hey, man, just wanted to stop by and make sure everything was okay,” David said, coming to stand close to him.
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t know. I called Tillie to check on her, like I do every Friday, and she seemed a little strange.”
He frowned and then moved toward his desk. “Strange how?”
“You know, just distracted.”
“She was fine when I left her this morning,” Luca said, concern rising inside him for his wife.
He’d woken up like he had every morning this past three months, taking a few moments to watch her sleep. Tillie would always wake up, and then turn toward him with this soft, sweet, but knowing smile that never failed to arouse him.
Luca had never seen her look at anyone elsethe way she looked at him, and it turned him on to know he was the only man she did it for.
“Shit, man, I didn’t mean to make you worry. It’s probably nothing, and a bad connection or something. I was worried the two of you might have gotten into a fight or something.”
He looked at David and saw how nervous the other man seemed, and he didn’t like it.
“Tillie and I don’t fight.”
“All married couples fight. My parents did all the time.”
“What about your grandparents?” Luca asked. They were a couple he wished he’d gotten to know. He’d seen pictures of them and listened to stories from Tillie’s family. No one had anything bad to say about them.
“Of course they fought. Not big massive fights or anything, but they did have disagreements.” David held his hands up in the air. “You know, I’m an asshole, and when it comes to my sister, I probably just misread everything, you know, and with that note and feeling like a complete and total butt, I’m going to leave.”
It didn’t matter if David left, thinking everything was all right. Luca was concerned. Tillie had seemed fine this morning. A little pale, which he didn’t like. She had been suffering from a small stomach bug the past couple of weeks, but every time he suggested going to a doctor, she always refused, which frustrated him.
Picking upthe phone on his desk, he dialed home and waited. Tillie normally answered within a couple of rings. The phone kept ringing, and his nerves were getting the better of him.
He slammed the phone back into the cradle, grabbed his jacket, headed toward the door, and flung it open, in the process nearly crashing into Tillie as he did so.
“Tillie,” he said.
Seeing her smiling face, after just being concerned for her, was a huge relief. Without even thinking, he pulled her into his arms and held her close.
“Okay, wow, remind me to stop by completely unannounced before lunch moreoften.”
He didn’t care, he pressed his lips against her, breathing her in.
“You’re fine?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Why?”
“Your brother was here and he was worried.” He stopped when he saw her roll her eyes.
“Trust me, don’t listen to David, okay? He’s not the greatest reader of people, or of anyone. In business, he’s great, but in normal everyday life, he sucks.”
“I will take that under advisement.”
Luca didn’t care, he took a moment to look at his wife and bask in seeing her. This is what he always felt when he saw her, and for a few minutes, he just wanted to enjoyit.
****
Stupid David.
Tillie loved her brother and she did so with her whole heart, but sometimes he meddled a little too much, and if he’d spoiled the surprise she’d been working on, she was going to kill him.
Well, she had two surprises for Luca. One, she wasn’t sure if he was going to like, nor thinking about it, the second, but she was hopeful. Now that she stood in his arms, breathing him in, she couldn’t help but feelher nerves building at the prospect of being totally wrong.
“It’s not lunchtime yet,” Luca said, kissing her neck. “Not that I have a problem with you being here.”
Tillie chuckled, and it even sounded nervous toher, which wasn’t good. “I know, I just wanted to see you, and of course I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Luca pulled away from her and she saw the frown on his brow as he looked at her.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes, everything is fine.” At least, after she showed him the two surprises, she hoped everythingwould be fine.
Luca didn’t like to talk about his past. When she asked him questions, he alwaystold her the truth, but she knew it made him uncomfortable, and she did in fact do everything she could to make him as relaxed as possible.
“Do you want to go back into your office?” Tillie asked, hoping for privacy in case he wasn’t happy with what she was about to tell him.
He frowned, looking past her shoulder. “Yes, of course.”
Tillie didn’t take a chance to look behind her at Luca’s new male PA. His name was Ryan, and according to Luca,he was a damn good PA. He’d gone through four other personal assistants, and she knew it had been annoying to him trying to find someone who fit the mold of what he wanted.
Two of the women he hired had been more interested in flirting with him than actually doing any work. It had gotten so bad that they had even tried to lie to her, to stop her from seeing her own husband. One of the women had nearly succeeded, as Tillie had been on the way to the elevator when Luca came out of his office after finishing a call.He’d seen the time and was waiting for her. That PA had been fired immediately. Tillie had fallen in love with him a little more that day, because he told her that anyone who kept his wife from him didn’t deserve to work for him.
It was his little comments over the past three months that had started her falling in love with him, and she couldn’t help it.
Stepping into his office, Luca shut the door. Even though she brought him a homemade lunch nearly every day, there were somedays they didn’t get to eat together.
Tillie had lost count of the number of times they had made love on the desk, or the floor, or his sofa. There were days they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, and in truth, that was all the time, but today she had something she wanted to tell him.
Luca pulled her into his arms, and when his lips touched hers, she felt like she was melting for all the right reasons, and she didn’t want him to stop.
Tell him.
It would be so easy for her to chicken out, but she refused to do that.
“There is something I’ve got to tell you,” she said.
“Tillie, is everything okay?” he asked.
“Yes, yes, everything is fine, and hopefully after whatI tell you, you won’t hate me.” She held onto his hand and walked toward his desk, letting go, and missing his touch the moment she did so.
She waited until he wassitting down, and then she reached into her bag. Gripping the folder, tightly, she couldn’t help but feel a little sick. She took a deep breath and smiled at him.
“I want you to know that … I have fallen in love with you.” This hadn’t been part of her plan. Tillie hadn’t told Luca how she felt, and it hadn’t exactly been on her mind to do so,but now that she had started, she really couldn’t bring herself to stop. “I know we didn’t have a conventional relationship, and we’re kind of just making the most of everything, and I accept that. I don’t mind at all. I think our marriage is good, but I just wanted you to know that I did this from a place of love, and I also felt you needed to, well, you know, get some closure, or at least know the truth.”
His frown was deepening. “What’s going on?”
“I did some digging, and I know that even though you didn’t need to know any answers, I did.” She licked her lips and tried not to panic, even though she could feel it rising inside her. She refused to give in to it. Instead, she kept a smile on her face, and then placed the file she’d accumulated over the past few months on the desk. She couldn’t help but wonder if her smile looked a little demonic.
You did this because you loved him and you want the best for him.
“What is this?” Luca asked as she slid the file toward him.
“It’s a file about your parents,” Tillie said.
He jerked back without picking it up. “I told you, Tillie, I don’t care about them. They didn’t love me enough to keep me, and this is all nonsense.”
“I know and I understand you feel hurt, but I just… it’s not quite as simple that they put you in a home when you were a baby, Luca,” Tillie said. She couldn’t help but feel her own sadness overcome her at what she had found out. “Please, just look at the file and you don’t even have to read it. I’ll tell you what I found out.”
Seconds passed where Luca looked at her and there was a strong frown on his face. Her heart raced as she hoped he didn’t hate her.
“Olivia and Issaac Winters were married at the tender age of eighteen. Issaac didn’t have any surviving family, as he’d been moved from place to place—a foster kid, until he was about twelve years old. Then, he settled in a small town and met Olivia Bergman. They were sweethearts, never parting, and considered the strongest couple where they lived. At eighteen, it came as no surprise to anyone that the young couple were to marry. The only family Olivia had was a younger sister, who she took care of. Olivia’s family perished in a fire a few months after they married, and Mildred, the sister, was the only person to survive. She moved in with Isasac, and his adoptive parents died in a plane crash a year after they were married.”
“Holy fuck,” Luca said.
She had supplied the pictures, had even gotten DNA, and she’d put a lot of resources intolearning about Luca.
Olivia and Issac were married for five years, when they finally got pregnant with you. After losing her family, Mildred seems to have encountered a rocky past. She found drugs, and her sister and brother-in-law did everything they could for her. The pregnancy was a huge success, and they had you for a year.”
Luca looked up from the file and stared at her. “A year?”
“Yes. Mildred had gotten so bad that they had no choice but to send her to a good rehab, andaccording to the documents, Mildred had gone willingly. Her sister wanted to get clean. On the way back one night, it had snowed and the roads had gotten treacherous. The car veered off the road, colliding with a tree. Your mom and dad were killed instantly. You nearly died,” Tillie said. “It took them several hours to find you and with the cold, well, it wasn’t good. But, you survived and being the only member, you were given to Mildred, who was now an adult, and after rehab, she tried. She had you for six months, but … she ended up in the hospital. Losing her support structure of your parents and everyone else sent her over the edge. Mildred didn’t make it and there was no one else to take you. Nearly two years old, you were sent into the foster care system.”
Luca looked through the file. “I was never told any of this. I was never shown any of this.”
“Some of the documents were lost, and I had to find a private investigator to locate the other information. It’s all in there, though. You were loved and wanted by everyone.” Silence fell over the room as Luca looked at pictures and read a few documents.
“What would you have done if you didn’t find this out?” Luca asked.
“What do you mean?”
“That I had parents that didn’t love me?”
“Oh, I’d have burned it and left it all alone. I would never have hurt you with something like that.” She nibbled the bottom of her lip and waited. “Do you hate me?”
He got up from his chair, rounded the desk, and then went to his knees before her, cupping her face, and she stared down at him.
“I could never hate you, Tillie Winters. You are my wife, and I think it’s only fair that I tell you right now that I love you.”
She opened her mouth, a little taken aback by what he’d just said. “You love me?”
“Yes, I love you. I am in love with you, and that is never going to change. From the moment you walked into my office, you have been turning my world upside down, and I don’t give a fuck because I love it. Being with you is the best part of my life.”
Before she could say another word, his lips attacked hers and she melted against him, not wanting to let go.
She loved this man, and this was more than she could have ever imagined. Luca loved her and she loved Luca. It was like a dream had finally come true. She wanted to jump for joy, but instead, all she did was pull him closer to her.
There was, however, a second piece of news.
Tillie tilted her head toward his ear, and whispered it, “I’m pregnant.”
She’d been feeling rotten for a few weeks, but after a couple of hours, she always felt fine. Each time, she had put it down to something she had eaten, but then her motherhad asked if she’d taken a pregnancy test.
Tillie hadn’t even considered that she might be pregnant. She’d taken the test that morning. Not just one test, four of them, just to be sure, in case one of them was a bit dodgy, and yes, all four of the tests indicated she was very much pregnant.
She and Lucawere going to have a baby.