94

In the afternoon I will have to be at one of the Familia clubs .
I smiled slightly. I couldn’t help it. I was happy not to have to be alone all day again. I snuggled against Luca’s side and he hugged me.
“I didn’t expect you to be so happy,” he said quietly.
“I’m alone.” I hated how weak this made me look, but it was the truth. Luca’s fingers on my arm tightened.
“I have some cousins you could hang out with. I’m sure they would love to go shopping with you.”
“Why does everyone think I want to go shopping?”
“Then do something else. Have a coffee, or go to a spa, or I don’t know.”
“I still have a spa certificate I got at my bachelorette party.”
“See? If you want, I can ask some of my cousins.
I shake my head. “I don’t really want to meet another one of your cousins after what Cosima did.”
“What did she do?” She stiffened beneath me.
I drew back, looking at Luca. Then I realized that I had never told him how I had found him in bed with Grace, and after all the confusion of the last few days he had never asked. He had probably had more than enough to do with the Bratva.
“She gave me the letter that brought me to you and Grace.” Saying her name made my stomach turn again and unwanted memories resurfaced. I sat down, away from Luca’s warmth. I drew my legs closer to my chest, overwhelmed by all that had happened.
Luca sat up and kissed my shoulder. “Did Cosima give you a letter telling you to go to the apartment?” His voice was strained and showed barely controlled anger.
I nodded, then swallowed before daring to speak. “And a key. It’s still in my purse.”
“That fucking bitch,” he growled.
“Who?”
“Both of them. Grace and Cosima. They’re friends. Grace must have pushed Cosima to do something like that. That bitch.”
I shrank from the fury in her voice. He let out a harsh sigh and passed an arm around my waist, drawing me against his chest and burying his face in my hair.
“Grace wanted to humiliate me. She seemed really happy when I found you.”
“I bet,” she said. “She’s a fucking pussy trying to humiliate a queen. She’s nothing.” Wow, he was furious. And I couldn’t help but feel schadenfreude toward Grace.
“How did she react when you told her you couldn’t see her anymore?”
He remained silent. I stiffened. “You promised you would not see her or any other women again.” My voice trembled and I tried to pull away from him but he held me tight. Had he lied to me? I couldn’t believe I had believed him, couldn’t believe I had allowed him to touch me there, and touched him back.
“I did and I won’t. But I didn’t talk to Grace. Why should I? I don’t owe her an explanation, just like I don’t owe the other sluts I’ve fucked a fucking explanation. Her body could have been made of stone so tense. I wanted to believe him. He grabbed my chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned my face until I looked at him. “You are the only person I want. I will keep my promise, Aria.”
“So you won’t see her again.” “Oh, I’ll see her again to tell her what I think of her little stunt.”
“Don’t.”
He frowned.
“I don’t want you to talk to her again. Let’s just forget about her. I could see she didn’t want to forget. “Please.”
He exhaled, then nodded. “I don’t like it, but if that’s what you want…”
“It is,” I said firmly. “Let’s not even talk about her anymore. Pretend she doesn’t exist.”
Luca raised his hand and ran his thumb over my lower lip. “Your lips are too fucking kissable.” I lowered my head to hide my smirk.
“There’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” I said.
“More bad news?”
“Well, I guess it depends on your point of view. I want Gianna to come and see me. School doesn’t start for two weeks and I miss her.”
“It’s only been a few days since you’ve seen her.”
“I know.”
“Where would she stay?”
“I don’t know. Maybe in our guest room?” We had three downstairs in the penthouse .
“Your sister is a pain in the ass.”
I gave him a pleading look.
“How about a deal?” he said in a rough voice.
My nerves trembled in my stomach. “A deal?”
“Don’t look so nervous.” Luca smiled sardonically. “I won’t ask you to sleep with me so you can see your sister. I’m not such a jerk.”
“NO?” I teased him, and he smacked his lips against me in a kiss that sent lightning sensations down to my toes.
“No,” he said against my lips. “But I’d like to explore your body.”
I raised my eyebrows. “How?”
“Tonight, I’m going to try to get home early from the meeting at the club and I want us to soak in the Jacuzzi for a while and then I want you to lie down and let me touch and kiss you wherever I want.”
He licked my ear. “You’ll like that.”
I opened my lips in surprise. He was moving much faster than I thought he would, than I thought he should.
Luca must have seen the uncertainty in my expression because he slid his hand between my legs and pressed his palm against my clit above the fabric of my panties. I recoiled and let out a moan before I could restrain myself. God, that was ridiculous. This is what happened when you were forced to live in abstinence for so long.
“You like it, Aria. I do. Admit it.”
He pressed harder and I tugged against him. “Yes,” I gasped. He slowly moved his palm over me, sending spikes of pleasure through my body. “Don’t stop.”
“I won’t,” he said, nibbling my throat. “So you’re letting me have my way tonight? I won’t do anything you don’t want.”
I wasn’t even sure what I wanted at that moment. Unless Luca interrupted what he was doing with his hand. I would have promised him anything at that moment. “YES.”
He increased the pressure on my clit and sucked my throat, then ran his tongue over my collarbone and I exploded.
Luca kissed me under my chin before pulling back with a smirk. Once I got off my high, I needed to find a way to balance the power between us. He wanted me more than I wanted him. I was sure of that. I needed to take advantage of that.
I leaned my forehead against his shoulder. “Then can I call Gianna and tell her to buy the plane tickets?”
Luca chuckled. “Sure, but remember our agreement.” His phone vibrated on the bedside table. He picked it up . “For heaven’s sake, Matteo, what now?”
I pulled back. Luca got up and began to walk around the bedroom, completely naked. “We have his back. I’m not letting another fucking restaurant go to the Russians. Yes. Yes. I’ll be ready in 30 minutes.” He threw the phone on the bedside table.
“I’ll have to talk to the owner of a restaurant chain.”
“All right,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment.
“Call your sister and tell her she can come. And I’ll be back in time for dinner, okay? I have some take-out menus in the kitchen. Order whatever you want.” He leaned over and kissed me. “Let Romero take you to a museum or something.”
Fifteen minutes later he was gone and I was left with my doubts. How could I have accepted his agreement? Because I loved the pleasure he was giving me. Why not enjoy it? Maybe I should have lived without love, but that did not mean I should have been miserable.
Gianna was ecstatic when I called her to say she could come see me. I did not tell her about the arrangement.
I couldn’t talk about such a thing on the phone, or ever. I knew she would not approve of my surrendering to Luca so quickly.