Chapter 6 #2
"I wouldn't leave my son behind," I say indignantly.
Luca smirks coldly. "I know. But you'd still try to see how far you can get. You underestimate my ability to read you, Valentina. Let this be the last time." He pauses to look at Eddie. "How are they?"
"They'll live," Eddie replies, checking his colleagues. "But I need to get them to our doctor."
"Call Victor. He's just down the road. He'll handle the cleanup. You take the boys. I'll stay with her," Luca replies.
Next thing I know, he grasps my upper arm firmly and almost drags me back through the corridor. I stumble into the fitting room where a pale-faced Evie awaits with a glass of water and a bag of gummy bears.
"Mr. Petrucci," Evie gasps. "I'm so sorry…"
"It's not your fault, trust me," he replies. "Can you give us the room, please?"
"Yes, of course."
"And tell your staff to keep away from the back alley until it's cleared."
She nods once with a worried look and leaves me alone with Luca in the pink fitting room. The color is oddly soothing for my eyes after what I just witnessed, but it does nothing to comfort the growing agitation in the pit of my stomach—especially since Luca refuses to let me go.
His fingers dig into my skin. And he looks at me in a rather confusing way. I'm not sure if he wants to kill me or fuck me.
"We need to talk, you and I," Luca says.
The calmness of his voice scares me the most.
He does, however, give me a few minutes to recover. My breath, my heart rate, they all return to normal as I sit down. Luca paces the room quietly, occasionally stealing glances at me. He's angry, and I don't blame him.
"It was worth a shot," I say after an excruciatingly long and uncomfortable silence.
"I couldn't give a fuck what shot this was worth," Luca replies. "You almost got two of my men killed, Valentina, and yourself kidnapped."
"How was I supposed to know those guys would be waiting for me out there?"
Luca stops pacing, then slowly turns around to face me.
The air seems to ripple all around his powerful frame.
That's the energy of a man who will stop at nothing to keep me by his side, whether I like it or not.
I've seen how deadly he can be now. I understand what he is capable of, even though I'm pretty sure what just happened in that alley merely scratched the surface.
My pulse quickens as he comes closer.
"Valentina, Mancuso will do everything in his power to get his hands on you," Luca says.
"Legally, he is helpless. He'll be even more helpless from Sunday onward, once we're married.
Which leaves him with a few bloody options.
He's been following us from the moment he learned of your return. Me, Victor, my men."
"I gather that now," I mumble. "And I don't think this will ever be over, which is why you really would be better off if you'd just let me and Michael go. We can disappear. For real, this time. I can move out of Chicago, I can move out of state; it's not a problem."
"You still don't get it," he scoffs.
Before I can answer, Luca grabs me by the back of the neck, his fingers firm in their grip. His touch sends shivers trickling down my spine, and I feel my nipples hardening, struggling against my cotton bralette.
His smoldering gaze has me locked in. Paralyzed with fear and desire.
"I won't let you go, Valentina—ever."
He seals that statement with a furious kiss. His lips apply pressure, his tongue says everything his words cannot convey. It's possession in its most brutal form. Hungry, devious, determined. I fail to resist, my body already simmering, my resolve falling apart, bit by bit.
I moan softly against his lips, letting him in.
Luca runs his fingers through my hair with his other hand, then grabs and yanks my head back. I hiss, the subtle sting spreading through my scalp. It turns me all the way on, and maybe I should feel some shame about it, but I don't. I'm aroused beyond any sense of control.
"Admit it," he whispers. "You don't want to get away from me either."
"I want nothing to do with the Camorra," I manage.
It's all I'm able to say as he kisses me again.
Harder. Hungrier. It shatters the last of my defenses as he closes in and forces me to lean back against the sofa's backrest. His hand moves downward and grabs my breast through the sweatshirt.
I tremble in his hold, liquid heat pooling between my legs.
"I'll consider that an admission," Luca replies and pulls away.
He leaves me wanting more. That's his modus operandi. I see it clearly now. He teases and sets me on fire, then leaves me hanging, yearning, burning up, until I beg for release. Of all the monsters I've met, he is the most appealing and the most dangerous, it seems.
Because I am willing to forsake myself until he claims me.
"Don't do that again," Luca warns me. "Eddie knows what's at stake. He won't hesitate to resort to harsher measures in order to keep you safe."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask, still reeling from his devastating kisses, as I cross my arms and legs in a desperate effort to regain my composure.
"I will keep you and Michael locked in the mansion if I have to. Don't make me, Valentina. It's not the life I want for you and my nephew."
I realize, now, that Luca actually envisions a future for us. With us. We're a part of his family, whether I like it or not. And it's the Petrucci blood bond he treasures the most. It's not me or who I am, it's the boy I gave birth to. I lower my gaze slowly, trying not to seem too disappointed.
The last thing I want is to give Luca any kind of satisfaction.
Victor Ellison comes in through the STAFF ONLY door with a stern look on his face.
He takes a moment to analyze the general picture—me, awkwardly seated on the sofa, flushed and slightly disheveled by Luca's handling; Luca, standing and breathing heavily, traces of our kiss still lingering on his lips; my wedding dress, left on a rack, close to the mirrors; and the thick tension filling the fitting room, the unspeakable damage and the hint of horror at what could've happened.
"The alley is cleared," Victor announces. "Cops came in, but by the time they got there, everything was gone, bullet casings included."
"Any CCTV?" Luca asks.
"Nothing. They had no choice but to keep moving. There were no witnesses either," Victor replies, then glances at me. "We got lucky this time."
"And the dead men?"
"Not directly affiliated with the Mancuso syndicate, but we're running their IDs through our system. We'll tie them back to Mauro's crew, I'm sure of it. No one else has a good enough reason to go after Luca Petrucci's fiancée."
The words hang heavily between us.
Though not as heavy as the reminder of what life in the Camorra is and always will be. Nice and luxurious on the surface, but dark and bloody just beneath.
Deadly, if I'm not careful.