Chapter 54
CENTRAL PARK
Luca blew into his hands to try and stave away the cold as he stood on Bow Bridge.
For some reason he didn’t have his gloves and the night was biting.
But then he saw her, coming towards him with conviction in every step.
Gabriella. When she’d called him he’d felt a sense of trepidation, yet also there was an undercurrent of hope.
Contact was always better than no contact, right?
She marched closer and there was that emotion in the depths of his gut telling him that the way he felt about her was unrivalled.
‘Hey, I—’
His words died in the freezing air because her mouth found his and there was that electricity fizzing between them as the kiss heated up the New York night.
Gathering her up in his arms, mouths still joined, he held on tight, not caring about anything else but this moment.
Then, finally, she ended the kiss and took a breath, eyes fixed on his as he cupped her jaw, thumb resting on her cheekbone.
‘What happened?’ he whispered.
‘I should have said more last night,’ Gabriella began. ‘I should have said everything.’
He shook his head. ‘It’s OK.’
‘No,’ Gabriella said. ‘It wasn’t OK. It isn’t OK.
I didn’t say enough and internally I reacted from a place that doesn’t belong to me.
A part of me momentarily turned into my mother.
Judgemental. Critical. Stupid.’ She took a breath.
‘And then I thought about Phoebe and how what you told me about your father might impact her.’
‘Which is only right,’ Luca said.
‘But it’s not. Not entirely. Because sometimes what people need protecting from the most are the things we think we need to hide.
’ He felt her take a breath that filled her up and she held it for a second before she let it go again.
‘Hiding truths doesn’t make them disappear or make them less true.
And that whole pretence just makes things worse.
For the person trying to keep the secret.
For the person you think doesn’t know the truth.
’ She shook her head, like this realisation was physically hurting her.
‘What happened, Gabriella?’ he asked.
‘So much,’ she replied. ‘But… Phoebe was in hospital earlier.’
‘What? Is she OK? What happened?’ His brain was already creating scenarios he didn’t want to think about. Was this down to his father? After everything…
‘She’s OK,’ Gabriella said. ‘There was an incident at the department store signing. My stupid fault.’
‘Tell me,’ Luca said. ‘Because if this is something connected to me then—’
She put her hands on the arms of his coat. ‘It was nothing to do with you. It was another case of me protecting Phoebe when she didn’t need to be protected and I just made things worse.’
‘But she’s definitely OK? You’re sure? The hospital is sure?’
Gabriella nodded. ‘She’s at the hotel. Mr Darcy is in her bed.’
He felt the relief wash over him. ‘OK, good.’
‘And before she went to bed, after Cheyenne had tried to bawl me out for leaving the department store signing, Phoebe and I, we talked, really talked, about all the things I’ve been keeping to myself and keeping from the world and I think I know where I want to go now and what I want to do.
Or, at least, I know what I don’t want to do. ’
‘That’s great,’ he replied.
‘And some of how I feel about that is down to you, Luca.’
‘I don’t know about that,’ he answered, dropping eye contact. ‘I’m starting to think that your life would be easier without anything I’ve done.’
‘Hey,’ Gabriella said. ‘Since we met, you’ve been helping me remember that I’m Gabriella Felix. Just that. Not the writer. Not the guardian. Me. As unpolished as that looks.’
‘Please,’ Luca said. ‘Don’t criticise my styling, it’s all I have.’
She smiled. ‘You know what I mean.’
‘More of the person who threw a bottle at Benoit Torres’s head?’
‘And less of the person who has been hiding the truth about what happened to her sister.’
He nodded but said nothing more. He wasn’t going to push her. He wasn’t going to ask. She had to be ready on her own terms.
‘I want to tell you it all,’ she said softly. ‘But I need to have a conversation with someone else first.’ She put a hand to his cheek, her fingers cold against his skin. ‘Is that OK?’
‘Of course it’s OK, Gabriella.’ He took a breath, placed his hand over hers and interlocked their fingers. ‘There are things I want to tell you too but the same applies right now.’
‘Is everything OK?’ she asked.
He thought about that question. Perhaps nothing would ever be any kind of normal for the Marcello family but it was possible there could be something near to ‘OK’. Maybe.
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘Everything is OK.’
‘Good,’ she answered.
And then she gave a shiver that had him instinctively putting his arms around her and drawing her tight to his body. ‘God, Gabriella, what are we doing standing out here in this weather?’
She held him tight. ‘Enjoying the moment. Not worrying about the moments to come, whatever they might bring.’
‘A great answer,’ he said, kissing the top of her head.