16. Luca
16
LUCA
L ying close to Dominic’s side, I look deeply into his eyes and can see the true care and concern he has for us in every detail of his pupils. His soft touch around my bare waist is completely different than how he held me just moments before this.
There’s something so enticing in how he can switch between his gentle affection and raw lust in seconds. In one man, I feel like I can find everything I need.
“There’s nothing that we can do for now,” I tell him. “We need to just lay low, stay out of trouble, and wait until I find out more about what’s happening. ”
“You don’t have to say we. I know you’re just talking to me.” Dominic chuckles softly.
“Fine,” I relent. “You need to lay low and stay out of trouble, no matter who invites you.”
Giving me a playful shove, Dominic laughs as he begins to shift around the bed to get up. “I should probably get going.”
“Wait,” I interrupt him and grab hold of his arm, stopping him from moving away. “It’s late. and you look exhausted.”
“Oh, wow. Thanks,” he says sarcastically.
“You know what I mean. Maybe you should just stay here for tonight. We can both leave early so no one sees us.”
Dominic takes a moment to think. “Are you sure?”
“Why not?” I wrap my arms around him and pull his naked body against mine, feeling every inch of him press against every inch of me. “I want you to stay.”
Dominic’s muscles relax under my touch as a smile grows on his face. “I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
I push him away from me, almost knocking him off of the bed. “You know what? Maybe you should go,” I joke .
“Too late.” He grabs hold of my waist and pulls me on top of him, clutching me close in a tight hug.
Rolling my eyes at him, I find myself able to relax quickly in his arms, settling down as the soft purrs of his breathing lull me to sleep.
My eyes blink awake as the morning glow slowly creeps through the window and shines directly on my face. I turn and watch over Dominic as he lies peacefully in my bed, completely oblivious it’s morning.
While I can, I just watch him sleep and amuse myself with how calm he looks. I study every minor detail of his face that I would usually be too caught up in his intensity to notice: the slight gap in his left eyebrow, the small scar along his cheek bone from what I can only assume was some bloody brawl, and the gentle twitch of his nose while he stirs in his slumber.
There’s something so cute about him when he sleeps, and I feel this strange deepened connection with him. Maybe it’s just because I actually have a moment to think instead of being constantly bombarded by his endless barrage of quips and comments.
It’s nice, but I don’t think I’ll be brave enough to tell him about his odd quirks or ask him about his battle scars any time soon.
A short burst of air escapes my nose. After one full night together, I’m already thinking about our future. I’m definitely glad he’s not conscious for this.
The twitch of his nose grows until his entire face begins to scrunch as his eyelids pry apart.“Enjoying the view?” he asks with a tired smile.
I let out a dry laugh. His attempts at being a stone-cold flirt fall short when accompanied by his first yawn of the morning. “Most people say good morning,” I joke.
“Ugh,” he groans. “Is it morning already?” Twisting around in the sheets, he faces toward the uncovered window.
“Unfortunately,” I say, sitting up. “And you know what that means…”
“Yep, I get it.” Dominic drags himself out of the bed and trudges around trying to pick through the messy pile of our mixed clothes. “Time for the walk of shame. ”
I exaggerate a gasp. “I hope you’re not too ashamed.” I flip the covers off of myself, letting them bunch together on the floor beside the bed, and leave my entire naked body on full display for him. “You’d have to miss out on all of this otherwise,” I tease.
Clutching his shirt and jeans in either hand, he playfully collapses to his knees and kneels beside me. “Please tell me we have some extra time before you kick me out.”
“Not for now, but I do like it when you beg like that.”
He stands, props my chin up on one of his fingers, and raises my lips toward his own. Speaking incredibly close to my face, he says, “That’s your thing, and we both know it.”
I lean in to kiss him, but he pulls back slightly, keeping his lips just out of my reach. His eyes glide down the length of my form, stopping in line with my hips before returning to meet my eyes.
“And you seem to like it too.”
He’s such a tease. Still, he’s not wrong; I do love it.
He finally kisses me, then starts putting his clothes back on, taking my morning entertainment away from me as he does.
“Same time tonight?” I ask him as he gathers the rest of his things.
Spinning on the spot, Dominic looks at me and tries to tell whether I was joking or not. “Are you sure?”
“Why not? I have nothing or no one else better to do,” I joke.
“Alright then, how about you come to mine tonight instead?” he offers. “Block D, room 207.”
“Sounds like a date.” I smirk.
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. I don’t plan on getting you flowers,” he responds.
“Fine, then neither will I.” I grab a clean pair of underwear from my bedside drawer and pull them over myself. “But I’ll see you there.”
“Can’t wait,” he says with a smile I don’t think he knows is there.
Before I know it, Dominic creeps back out the door and closes it gently behind himself, leaving me alone in my bed again like I was just hours ago. However, this time when I throw myself back down onto the mattress, I feel far more content than I was before .
Looking out the window, I take a guess at the time from the sun’s position in the sky and settle back down to reality as I remember I have class soon with the very same professor who watched me walk out mid-lecture only yesterday.
Mid-stride, I feel the confidence in my step start to come back to me. Before any of this happened, before the Rossis became a part of my life, back when the Grecos were just some petty family of criminals and I had barely heard of Dominic, I would walk across the campus like I owned it without a single care or concern for who or what came in my way and feeling like my aura alone would deter even the most assertive of students. However, once everything started unraveling, I felt as if I had lost that sense of pride in myself, as if I had allowed myself to act like everyone else here. I have become a nobody and not a proud Valenti.
Now, though, after my long night with Dominic, I have somehow managed to rediscover that feeling again, that self-assuredness that has sent me back to the top, higher than ever. Having shared my problems with someone who actually listens to me and offers their help in any way they can, I feel like with him, we can take on anything.
This is no longer just a waiting game. I don’t just have to sit back and wait for a solution to show itself all on its own. I have someone in my corner to help me push back the Grecos, and when the moment comes for us to strike, I have twice the power to knock them down with.
My confidence is clearly showing because the typical crowd that crams their way into the lecture hall as soon as the doors open has split down the middle around me, creating a clear path forward for me to march down with not a single person daring to get in my way.
Except for him.
The man whose identity has eluded me for the past two nights stands as a roadblock between me and my path forward. He’s getting cocky. Why is he getting cocky?
“Have a good night?” he asks me, something hiding on his tongue.
“What do you want?” I scowl back at him .
“Can’t I just pay a visit to a friend?” he taunts. “Hell, we’ll even be family soon.”
I wish Dominic were here; he would crack this guy across the jaw without hesitation. “Cut the act.”
“Fine, fine. I just wanted to talk,” he relents. “I feel like we only ever talk at night.. Why not change up the routine?”
He’s got some hidden trick up his sleeve; I can sense it. That’s the only way he would be brave enough to pull something like this. “Just get on with it.”
“Someone’s in a mood. Didn’t sleep much last night?” he mocks. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we’re expecting you to go see your father so you can give your full support to our deal.”
“Why the hell would I do that?” The audacity he has to come here and say that to me makes me sick.
“I just thought it’d be a better alternative.”
“Is that the Greco motto or something?”
“Good one,” he responds dryly. “I’m just saying that not only can my family give you a better option than the Rossis, but also that you telling your dad that you support us is better than me telling him that you’re getting very close with Dominic Rossi.”
My heart sinks into the pit of my stomach. The wave of students crashing around us seems to stop in place and the air vanishes from my lungs all in the same instant. There’s no way that he knows. How could he possibly know?
Dominic likes to talk, but even he knows better than to spread this around.
Did this guy know what we were doing in the locker room? Was his conversation with Antonio afterward just an extra evil edge to his plan?
Or did he find out after Dominic’s race when our hookups began? It’s clear that the Grecos have been pulling some strings to get him involved in these activities, so it’s not too far-fetched to think they have some way to keep such close tabs on him.
That doesn’t matter for now; if he knows, then he knows. All I can do is hope that he doesn’t know as much as he’s letting on or that I can find some other way out of this.
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” I say, trying my best to bluff.
“Oh, but that answer tells me otherwise.” He grins. He’s got me beat, and he knows it. “Just think about my offer, but don’t take too long. I get impatient.”
My teeth grit behind my dry lips, and I’m unable to move my feet as they anchor themselves in place. I can do nothing but watch him disappear back into the crowd.
There is more to their plan. I didn’t unravel the string in time, and now it’s starting to wrap around my neck.
What the hell am I supposed to do now? Just when I thought we could get on top of this mess, he goes ahead and pulls it out from under me.
I know I care about Dominic in a way that I’ve never felt about anyone else ever before. But my family is quite literally my entire life. I have always done whatever I needed to for my father and our business. I have devoted myself for years to this college purely so that I can be the best leader I can for the Valentis.
However, the respect my father has for me seems to be lessening by the day. It’s starting to feel like no matter what I do, it’ll never be enough for him. I have put everything I have into this family and spent every moment trying to live up to the Valenti name and make my father proud.
But when I’m with Dominic, it’s like I don’t even have to try at all. My true self is all he ever expects from me, and when we’re alone, I instantly feel the weight of my father’s burden lifted off of me.
Is that the most we can ever be though? Even if a miracle occurs and we somehow find a way to stop the Grecos’ plot, there’s no way in hell that our relationship would ever be accepted by either of our families. The Valentis don’t allow themselves to fall victim to their emotions, only ever letting logic do the talking, and the Rossis are known for their suspicious nature and lack of restraint when dealing with outsiders.
Is giving up my entire family worth all the lies and stolen moments we might get to have together?
There is no way that I could ever make this decision. It’s choosing between everything I am and everything I want.
No. I won’t play their game. This is exactly what they want. They want Dominic and I to turn on each other like this and make their jobs even easier, but I won’t let any of that happen.
I can’t let him get too caught up in this. The Grecos are adamant about focusing their sights on me while using Dominic as a puppet. He’s been in the middle of this for long enough, and I won’t let it go on for any longer.
I’m going to handle this and take down the Grecos myself. I will make sure that I can keep Dominic safe and have my family at my side at the same time.
I storm into my father’s study, crashing through the wall of heat emitting from the fireplace, and I stare him down as he reclines in his favorite chair. “Luca,” he says, startled by my entrance. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“I want us out of this deal,” I demand.
“Why would we do that?”
“They’re making threats.”
“What threats? And who exactly are they threatening?”
“Well—” I can’t tell him what they’ll do. Not only would that defeat the point in even coming here, but my father will disown me for what I’ve done and let the Grecos win on two fronts. “That doesn’t matter. It’s not the way you taught me to handle things.”
He scoffs. “So the Rossis handle their business with all the grace and decorum in the world?”
“What part of this don’t you understand?” I ask, the frustration and pure spite coating my tongue as I speak.
My father steps to me, trying his best to get up in my face until I step back from him. I won’t be intimidated.
“Why I should trust the Grecos any less than the Rossis?” he returns.
“They’re manipulative snakes,” I hiss. “They're rigging the game.”
“That’s how this world works. We don’t get attached,” my father scolds. “Maybe you’re just not built for it.”
His initial doubt felt like a punch to the face, but now he’s been pressing the bruise for days.
“What happened to loyalty?”
“I am loyal to this family. I act in our best interest and our best interest alone,” he says in that cold lifeless tone that makes my blood boil. “You need to learn to take care of your own first.”
“If you care about your loyalty to this family, then why do you refuse to trust me?”
“You’ll have my trust when you earn it, Luca.”
I bite my tongue, knowing the words I want to say would only make this worse. If Dominic were here right now, he would hit him across the face, which might not be the best idea, but I can’t say it wouldn’t be fun to watch.
The phone on the desk begins to chime as a call comes in, splitting our attention from our fight. He answers it and listens to whoever’s on the other line for a moment before speaking.
“Is that right?” he asks the caller with a smirk on his lips. “Thank you for letting me know.” He ends the call. “That was Antonio.”
“What does he want?” I sneer.
“He just wanted to let us know that Dominic Rossi charged down to their restaurant to start a fight.” I told him not to do anything yet .
Why would he go behind my back and do that?
“What are they going to do with him?” I ask, a slight tinge of fear in my throat.
“It’s none of my concern,” he says coldly. “I don’t think we’ll be associating with him or any other Rossis for much longer.”
“Well, I’m concerned!” I yell as I storm out of the room.