“Dante went nuts when he realized what had happened. That’s why he went after our father.”
Sickness rolled in my stomach. “I understand.”
“No. You don’t.” Pain swirled in Luc’s eyes as they held mine. Pain and so much regret, it nearly stole my breath. “Dante didn’t just go after our father because his men took Maricella. He went after him because he ordered Maricella’s abduction knowing full well that Dante had already married her. In secret. Legally and officially. Their marriage documents were even signed by the bishop. Natalie, he was in love with her, and he married her exactly the same way I married you.”
The ramifications of what he was saying pierced my consciousness and shot my heart rate into the stratosphere. Slowly, my hand slid from Luc’s legs and drifted to my lap as I stared at him.
“B-but a minute ago, you said she died in some kind of car accident. How can you be sur—”
“They set it up. I don’t know how. I’m guessing either they drugged her after they released her or cut her brake lines or something. Whatever they did, it’ll be covered up by the local police because they’re all under House Salvatici control. But I know they murdered her. I know because I saw the death rune on her arm.”
He was talking quickly about things I didn’t understand. “What is a death rune?”
“It’s a marking. Symbols are big to the Entente. A death rune is an upside down Y with an extra leg in the middle. Basically, it’s the peace sign without the circle. Only, in this case, they added the circle so the local police would assume she’d just gotten a new tattoo. But I know what it was. And I know I was meant to see it.”
“Why?” I whispered, my gaze searching his face. “Why you?”
“Because they want me to know they’re pissed I married you without their consent.” His eyes slid closed, and he leaned back against the couch. “I blew off a meeting with my father last night. He wanted to discuss you and our marriage with the Grande Cavaliere. I told him I was busy. I didn’t want to leave you on our wedding night. I thought I could do it today. I thought—”
“Look at me.” Pushing up, I knelt between his legs and slid my fingers across his jaw. “Just because you didn’t meet with them doesn’t mean what happened to Maricella is your fault.”
Agony swirled in his eyes when they met mine. “But—”
“But nothing. You’re not responsible for their actions.”
His eyes filled with tears, and he blinked quickly as he stared at me, fighting not to let them fall. “You shouldn’t have come back,” he whispered. “You should have left me and gotten as far from this nightmare as you could.”
My heart contracted hard, and I climbed up onto the couch, sank onto his lap and closed my arms around him, pulling him against me. His hands wound around my waist, and he buried his head against my chest.
“I’m so sorry, angioletto. I’m so sorry I got you into all this.” He sniffled against me, then drew back and looked up at me, tear tracks streaking down his cheeks, his eyes wide and pleading. “Please leave today. Tonight. Felicity can set it all in motion again. There’s still time. She can get you out of here before they eve—”
“No.” I brushed the damp hair back from his temples, for the first time in hours, a sense of calm washing over me in a way that gave me strength. So much made sense to me now. Including why they’d let Dante go and dumped him outside Marco’s gate. Where we were safe.
“You don’t have a choice. You have to go. If you don’t they’ll tr—”
“No.” I skimmed my fingertips down his cheeks, then leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to his. “I’m not leaving you. I tried that once, remember? It didn’t work.”
“Natalie, please.” His eyes slid closed, but he didn’t tip his face away from mine. And he tightened his arms around me instead of pushing me away. “I would rather lose you by my side than lose you the way Dante just lost Maricella.” He swallowed hard. “I can’t let that happen. I won’t.”
I pressed my forehead to his and stroked the sexy stubble on his jaw. “You won’t.”
“But—”
“I don’t know a lot about your House, Luc. I don’t know what they think they can get from you that they can’t get from anyone else. I only know from talking to you and Felicity and Marco that they need you. They can’t risk destroying you. You’re too important to them. And that means killing me, doing to me what they did to Maricella, what they did to Vittoria... They won’t risk it. They won’t risk it because they won’t risk losing you.” I drew back so he could see the truth and logic in my eyes. “And they know they would lose you forever if they hurt me.”
“I’d tear every single one of them to pieces with my bare hands if they touched you.”
I knew he would. I knew he’d do anything to protect me and keep me safe. Just as I’d do anything to keep him safe.
“If they really did kill Maricella to send you a message, they did it to scare you. To get me to run. To make you push me away. You told me yourself they don’t want us together. They think if we’re apart they can lure you to their ways, but you know what? Even if I wasn’t here, you wouldn’t join them like that. You haven’t all these years. And do you know why? Because you’re not like them. You’re a good man, Luciano Salvatici.”
He swallowed hard. “No, I’m not. I’ve never done anything good in my life.”
“Oh yes, you have. I’ve watched you change lives for the better. That young model in Rome, her family, Sela—”
“Those are isolated cases.”
“No, they’re not. Look at me.” I smiled down at him. “You changed my life too. Before you even knew me, you were trying to save me.”
He frowned. “And look how well that turned out.”
I pressed my lips against his again. “You did save me. You made me believe in love, and no matter what happens, that love is more precious to me than anything else in the entire world, even my life. I’d rather know your love for just a single day than spend all of eternity without you.”
“Mannaggia,” he muttered, holding me closer against him. “You’re not going to listen to reason, even now, are you?”
“No. Because you know I’m right. And I’m never leaving you again.” I brushed the hair away from his eyes once more. “You’re mine, and I’m yours, and we’re unbreakable, remember? They can’t hurt us. As long as we hold true to that, they can’t even touch us.”
He pressed his face against my neck and held me. And long minutes later, I heard him whisper, “I hope you’re right. Dio, please be right.”
Luc didn’t sleep. He was too worried about his brother to relax. The best I could get him to do was shower, put on fresh jeans and a light sweater, then doze for a few hours with his head on my lap as he lay on the couch in Dante’s room.
Dante woke only once—when Luc had been in the shower—and he’d been so agitated and hysterical about Maricella that Marco had given him another injection. The sedative had knocked Dante out, and though I knew all Luc wanted to do was stay with his brother and make sure Dante was going to be okay, by eleven a.m., he told me he couldn’t wait any longer. He needed to go talk to his father.
I wasn’t thrilled with that news, but I knew this meeting was inevitable. And I believed in my heart what both Marco and Felicity had told me—Luc was too valuable to the Salvatici House to harm. He’d be okay. And I trusted him when he said he’d work everything out about our marriage with his father and the Grande Cavaliere.
I had to because I wouldn’t accept any other decision.
He kissed me tenderly as we stood beside his car, held me close, and asked me to stay behind the estate’s walls until everything was settled. I breathed him in and assured him I wasn’t going anywhere without him. Then I stepped back and watched him drive off the property, hoping and praying the whole time that this feeling of lingering doom was just stress and nothing more.
Nothing that would shatter my world when it was just—finally—nearly perfect.
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I went back into the house and spent the day with Dante—trying to soothe him when he flailed in his sleep, fixing his blankets when they tangled around his legs, laying a cool cloth over his forehead that helped him relax. Basically anything I could to keep from worrying about Luc, what was happening with his father, and why he had yet to call with an update. Around three o’clock, unable to sit still any longer, I went down to the kitchen to get Dante some crackers and juice. When I returned, I was surprised to see he was already out of bed and sitting in a chair facing the window, staring out at the view in silence.
“Hey,” I said softly, crossing and setting the tray on the coffee table behind him. “You’re awake. I brought you a snack.”
He didn’t answer. Didn’t turn to look at me. Didn’t even acknowledge that he’d heard me.
Unsure if I should stay or leave, I twisted my hands in front of me. I didn’t really know Dante. I’d barely known Maricella. But I knew what it was like to love someone and ache from the loss of them, even if I could never completely understand the kind of pain Dante was feeling.
Carefully, because I wasn’t sure how he’d react, I moved to the end of the bed where I could see Dante’s profile and sat down, just letting him know he wasn’t alone.
His hair stuck out at odd angles. His clothes were loose and filthy. There was a stench around him I knew came from not showering in over a week, and a hollowness to his cheeks I was sure was from starvation. But the physical changes weren’t what stuck with me. Yes, he looked haggard, beaten down...broken. But not just in body. Something dark surrounded him. Something I feared had sucked the light right out of his soul and left him defenseless with no strength to fight back.
Icy fingers of fear trickled down my spine. Was this what waited for Luc if his House went after me? He’d said he wouldn’t survive losing me the way Dante had lost Maricella. I knew he meant it. I knew losing me would break him in a way nothing else could.
I swallowed hard, not wanting to think about that. Telling myself it wouldn’t happen, that Luc would fix everything and set it right, I cleared my throat. “Dante, we’re here for you. Me and Luc, Marco and Felicity. Whatever you need.”
“I don’t want anything but to be alone,” he said in a low voice, one that sounded nothing like him, his eyes never straying from the window.
“I know you’re grieving. We all are. It takes time. But Maricella wouldn’t want—”
“Leave. Take the food with you. And don’t come back unless you’re bringing me more drugs that will make me sleep forever.”
My skin chilled. There was no emotion in his voice. Nothing but stone cold truth.
I left the room quietly—thankful there was no balcony he could jump from—and hustled for the stairs.
Marco and Fee were at the table in the kitchen when I found them, quietly talking over two cups of tea. They both looked up with worried expressions when I rushed into the room.
“What?” Marco asked, pushing to his feet. “Is he awake?”
I nodded. “It’s not good.”
“Merda.” Marco reached for the tray of medication on the edge of the table as Felicity stood, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm. “Not that. It’s what he wants. He told me not to come back unless I had drugs that would make him sleep forever.”
“Merda,” Marco said again, looking at Fee. “Antidepressants?”
“We’ll need to start him on some.” She rounded the counter and headed for a small closet off the kitchen. “He shouldn’t be left alone.”
I wanted to ask how and why they had so many drugs on hand, but the phone in my pocket buzzed before I could get the words out, and I quickly fumbled for it, my heart racing. One look at the screen and relief shot through me like a bullet.
“Luc?” I pressed the phone to my ear, my heart in my throat.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said in a tired voice.
“Oh, thank God.” I pressed a hand to my forehead and sagged back against the table. “I’ve been going out of my mind worrying. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, angioletto. Perfectly fine. Just tired from not sleeping last night. How’s Dante?”
He didn’t sound fine. He sounded stressed, and I didn’t want to add more stress on him when I didn’t even know what was going on there. “He’s fine. Awake. He was sitting up, looking out the window, when I left him.”
“Not agitated or acting paranoid?”
“No.” It wasn’t a lie. I just didn’t think Luc could handle hearing that Marco and Fee thought Dante was borderline suicidal at the moment. Tugging a chair out from the table, I sank into the seat.
He exhaled a long breath. “Good. I was worried. He didn’t look... Well, never mind what he looked like. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Luc, what happened? Did you have your meeting? What did they say?”
“Yes, we had the meeting. It just ended. This is the first chance I had to call you. It took a while, but I got them to agree to sanction our marriage. They still have to sign off on the paperwork, but they will by the morning.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled, a little of the weight on my shoulders easing. “So that’s it?” Tears filled my eyes—tears of relief. “We’re safe?”
“Yes, angioletto. You’re safe. I told you I’d never let them touch you, and I won’t. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure they never will.”
For some reason, his last statement sent unease threading through me all over again, and I stared at the table because I realized why. He’d said you’re safe, not we’re safe.
“Luc…” I shifted in my seat, anxious to see for myself that he really was okay and uninjured. “Please tell me you’re coming home right now.”
He didn’t answer, and as the silence stretched over the line, that unease turned to full-on fear.
“Not yet,” he finally said in a low voice. One I picked up on loud and clear. “The Knights are meeting in the morning to vote on Dante’s insubordination. They... I’ve been asked to stay tonight to meet with the advisory committee to discuss tomorrow’s vote and what they’re going to recommend.”
His words made sense, but something in the way he said them put me on instant alert and made me think he was holding back.
“You’re not alone, are you?” I asked.
“No. I’m not.”
Which meant they were watching him, and he couldn’t tell me exactly what was going on.
I swallowed hard. “Just tell me this. Please. Are you in danger there? Because if you are, I want you to leave and come back here to me right now. Don’t stay and—”
“I’m fine, angioletto,” he said softly. “I will be fine. As long as I know you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
Tears burned my eyes because that definitely made me think something was happening that he didn’t—or couldn’t—let me know.
“When are you coming back?” I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady so he wouldn’t know I was on the verge of crying.
“Hopefully tonight. If so, it’ll be late.”
Oh please... “I’ll wait up for you.”
“No, don’t. You need sleep. And I’ll do better here knowing you’re dreaming about me.”
“I always dream about you.”
“Ah, angioletto. You know how to melt me with only a few simple words. You’ve always been able to do that, right from the start. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve you, but I am so very thankful you found me. I was nothing before you. A shell of the man I am now and only a glimmer of the one I want to be for you. Believe in us no matter what happens. I love you. I will always love only you. Promise me you won’t forget that.”
Those tears I’d been fighting spilled over my lashes, and I blinked rapidly, trying to clear my vision, trying not to give in to the urge and sob. His words sounded like goodbye, not like I’ll see you in a few hours, and that impending feeling of doom came rushing back, stealing my breath, making me frantic to see him and hold him and reassure myself
he was okay.
“Luc, I...” I swiped at the stupid tears and swallowed hard. “I love you too. Nothing and no one can change that.” My voice hitched when I whispered, “Please come home to me.”
He drew in a shaky breath. “I will, vita mia. As soon as I can. I promise.”
A muffled voice sounded in the background, then steadier, Luc said, “I have to go.”
The line clicked off before I could respond, and dazed, I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it, fear and worry and all kinds of trepidation spinning in my belly.
Footsteps sounded in the kitchen, then from the end of the table, Marco said, “Was that Luc? What did he say?”
I swallowed hard and slowly looked up at Marco’s tanned face through damp eyes. “I-I don’t know. Something’s happening, but I don’t know what. He said he got them to agree to sanction our marriage, but he didn’t say how.”
Marco stared at me with narrowed eyes, and in the silence, I knew he was thinking something—that he had some idea just what Luc might or might not have agreed to—but he didn’t share those thoughts with me. And part of me was almost too afraid to ask what he knew.
“Is he on his way back?”
I shook my head. “He said they asked him to stay. That they’re having some kind of meeting to discuss what to recommend at tomorrow’s vote about Dante.”
“Merda. They’re still voting on Dante? He said that specifically?”
Felicity moved up at Marco’s side and looked from me to him. “They let him go. If they’re still voting on what to do with him, though—”
Marco’s jaw clenched down hard. “Then it means they really did let him loose here as a warning. They have no intention of freeing him now that they got what they wanted from Luc. They’ll come back for him in the morning.”
Felicity’s face paled. “Shit.”
Marco stared down at her, and some kind of silent communication passed between the two. Seconds later, Felicity bolted for the kitchen. “I’ll make the calls.”
I wasn’t sure what was happening. As Marco turned out of the kitchen with a variety of pill bottles in his hands, I trailed after him. “What’s going on? What did Felicity mean?”