Elena #2
Luca rises too, his jaw tight with frustration. "And you think hiding is keeping them safe? Whoever orchestrated your father's downfall is still out there, Elena. They still have power."
"Which is exactly why stirring up the past is dangerous!" My voice rises despite my effort to stay calm. "You're about to become Don Monti. You'll have legitimate power, respect. Why risk that?"
"Because until I clear my name, there will always be whispers." Luca steps closer, his intensity radiating like heat. "You think I don't see how Aldo's old soldiers look at me? You think I don't know how fast they’d take me out if given the opportunity?"
“And yet you want to give them the opportunity.” I shake my head and step away from him. "I can't be around you if you're going to pursue this. Not with my children in the middle."
Luca's eyes darken, hurt flashing across his features before hardening into something colder. "After everything, you're still pushing me away? Seven years, Elena. Seven years I've waited, thinking maybe when I came back…"
"I have responsibilities now. Things have changed."
"Right." He laughs, the sound sharp and humorless. "The children. Maybe that's what this is really about. Maybe you're waiting for him to come back. After all, he has more claim to you than I do, right? The father of your children."
The irony is almost unbearable. Luca’s standing before me, claiming another man has more right to me, to our children. The truth burns in my gut, demanding release.
Tell him. Tell him now.
But I picture Rocco, Elio, and Adalina sleeping peacefully down the hall. I think of what it would mean if they were suddenly known as Monti children, targets for anyone with a grudge against Luca, pawns in games they're too young to understand.
"Their father isn't coming back," I say instead. "He doesn't even know about them."
Luca's expression shifts, confusion replacing anger. "What? Why wouldn't you tell him?"
"Because sometimes, secrets keep people safe." My eyes lock with his, willing him to understand what I can't say. "Just like sometimes, investigations get people killed."
"Elena—"
"Please, Luca. I've spent years building a life that protects my children. Don't ask me to risk that now."
He steps closer, close enough that I can feel the warmth of him, smell the familiar scent that still haunts my dreams. "I would never let anything happen to you or your kids. You know that, right?"
The sincerity in his voice nearly breaks me.
He has no idea he's promising to protect his own children from a threat he's creating by digging into the past.
"I believe you mean that," I admit. "But intentions don't always matter in our world. Results do. Besides, all that has to happen is for Dom to support your Donship and seat at La Corona, which he's already done. You aren't being held back by the past except by your own pride."
Luca's eyes flash dangerously. "Pride?" His voice drops to that quiet intensity that always sends shivers down my spine. "Someone took my pride, took my honor and my life from me, and someone needs to pay for that."
The deadly conviction in his words makes me step back.
This isn't just about clearing his name.
It's about retribution.
This man before me carries seven years of festering injustice.
"And what about what was taken from me? You’re not the only one affected here. My father is dead. Nothing will bring him back."
"But you could have justice," Luca insists, moving closer again. "For him. For yourself."
"Justice? What does that even mean in our world? More violence? More deaths? More children growing up without parents?"
I think of the kids and how they already adore Luca after just two meetings.
How they light up around him as if some part of them recognizes him on a level beyond conscious understanding.
"I've learned to live with the past," I say, softening my tone. "I've had to, for them."
Luca's gaze drifts toward the hallway where the children's rooms are. "They're good kids. You've done well with them."
"Thank you."
"I just want…" He trails off. "I want things to be right. I want to be able to walk into a room and not wonder who still thinks I betrayed your father."
I understand his need for vindication. If our positions were reversed, would I let it go so easily? But the stakes are too high now.
"What if finding the truth costs more than living with the lie?" I ask.
His dark eyes search mine, and for a moment, I think he might understand what I'm really asking. Then he reaches out, his fingers gently brushing my cheek.
"Some prices are worth paying," he says softly. "Some things are worth fighting for."
And in that moment, I don't know if he's talking about justice or about us.
Luca's face softens, his anger melting into something more vulnerable. "Do you ever think about what might have been? If things had been different?"
My heart squeezes painfully in my chest. "Yes.”
He steps closer, his hands taking my arms. "I never stopped loving you, Elena. Not in Italy, not when I came back, not even when I thought you'd moved on with someone else."
I should step back. I should remind him of all the reasons this can't work. Instead, I find myself swaying toward him. "Luca, we can't just…"
His fingers trace my jawline, feather-light. "Tell me you don't feel this too."
The last of my resistance crumbles. "I never stopped either."
His lips find mine with desperate hunger, and I respond with equal fervor.
My fingers tangle in his hair as his hands slide down my back, pulling me flush against him.
We stumble backward until my spine meets the wall, his body pressing into mine.
Warning bells clang in my head, but I ignore them. At least for now. He trails kisses down to my collarbone. “I want you.”
Heaven help me, I want him too.
I can’t seem to stop wanting him.
I take his hand and lead him to my room.
Once the door shuts and locks, our clothes are hastily discarded.
Once in bed, I push him back, straddling him.
My hands roam over his body, noting where he’s the same as the man I knew before and where he’s different.
Broader in the chest and shoulders. Extra sets of packs in his abs.
“Elena.” The way he says my name makes my heart blissfully happy and sad at the same time.
I trail my hands down his abs, followed by my lips, lower and lower until I reach his dick, thick and long, standing up like an offering.
I swirl my tongue around the tip.
“Ah, fuck…” He groans, his hips lifting in response. I take it as a good sign. I wrap my lips around the velvety soft rim and swirl my tongue again.
“Yes… More… Fuck, more…”
Slowly, I slide my lips down his length. His fingers weave through my hair, gripping my head.
His hips rock and I move with him, using his dirty words and desperate sounds as my guide. Long, slow slides. Strong sucking at the tip.
“Fuck, I’m gonna come… Elena… Oh, fuck.”
Warmth fills my mouth and I do my best to swallow as his orgasm consumes him.
When his body stills, I release him. He grips my arms and pulls me over him, then in a flash rolls me under him.
“You undo me.” His kiss is firm and thorough, but it’s his words that make my heart swell with love mixed with regret.
I have no way out of this situation that doesn’t hurt him.
But I don’t have time to think about that as his kisses trail down my body.
He pushes my thighs apart, settling his shoulders between them.
He kisses and then lightly sucks the soft flesh of my inner thigh. My pussy throbs, needing attention.
“Luca.” It’s my turn to grip his head and guide him to what I need.
“I’m ravenous. Hold on, baby.” The minute his mouth is on me, my hands slam on the bed and grip the sheets to keep from flying off into oblivion.
Good God, the man knows how to give pleasure with his tongue.
“Luca… Oh, yes…” My hips rock as need coils tighter and tighter.
He makes an “mmm” sound and it reverberates through my body, pushing me to the edge and over. Pleasure rocks through me, courses through my body.
He continues to lick and suck and lap, and soon, I’m coming again. Or maybe it’s just one long orgasm.
Soon, I’m a boneless heap, only vaguely aware of him finding his pants and pulling out a condom.
He covers my body with his. “I need to be inside you, Elena.”
I grip his shoulders, and he drives in. Electricity spikes again, lighting me up from the inside out.
“So fucking good…” he murmurs as he moves. I move with him, like I’m a part of him and he’s a part of me.
At this moment, there’s nothing between us.
No lies. No secrets. No danger.
Just me and him. Like it should have always been.
Soon, I’m teetering on the edge again.
“Now, baby… Come now,” he says through gritted teeth.
I let go, and when he thrusts again, he sends me soaring.
“Yes!” he cries out, and he too lets go, lets pleasure overtake him. Together, we ride out the sweet storm.
Afterward, I rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat gradually slow as reality slowly seeps back in.
I close my eyes, savoring his warmth while battling the guilt rising within me.
Every time I let him back into my heart without telling him the truth, I'm deepening the betrayal.
But telling him now, after making love, would seem calculated, as if I'd used my body to soften the blow.
And what if his reaction is anger?
What if he decides to fight for custody?
What if the revelation puts the triplets in the crosshairs of whoever orchestrated my father's downfall?
"What are you thinking about?" Luca asks, his fingers gently caressing my back.
“How can I think after all that?”
He laughs, and it only serves to deepen my guilt. “I rocked your world, didn’t I?”
“You sure did.” He’s rocked it off the foundation, and I’m not talking about sex.
My world is teetering on the edge of oblivion and I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to stop it from falling.