“Giovanni.”
A ripple of fear rushed over his features. “Did Luc go after him? I saw him tear out of here like—”
“No. He doesn’t know. He...didn’t even notice.”
“He didn’t notice?” Marco tipped my chin up again so he could see it better in the low light. “One whole side of your face is bright red.”
“Ariana helped me put make up on it. I-I just washed it off.” I stepped away from him, hating being a spectacle. “He wasn’t there when Gio cornered me, and you’re not going to tell him what happened.” I moved to the couch and dropped to the cushions with a miserable sigh. “Oh, Marco. It was awful.”
I knew he wanted nothing more than to go after Luc, but he moved to the side chair and quietly sat. “Tell me.”
I did. I told him everything that happened at dinner. I even told him about Gio and Bonello cornering me in Edinburgh. Since Marco and I hadn’t had a chance to speak alone yet, it was the first time he’d heard what had really happened.
“Mio Dio.” He raked a hand through his thick hair, then rested his forearms on his knees. “I’m so sorry, Natalie. I had no idea.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine,” I said more strongly so he’d believe it. So I’d believe it too. “I can deal with it. I just… I’m worried about Luc. Tonight was...rough.”
“I know. But you did the right thing.”
I huffed and pressed my hand over my still-burning cheek. “I don’t feel like I did the right thing. I feel like everything I’m doing is making things worse. Luc—”
“Luc’s a stronzo.”
“What’s that?”
“Asshole.”
I smirked. “Ariana said the same thing.”
“She’s a smart girl.”
She was. Way smarter than Luc gave her credit for.
“I’m worried about him.” I met Marco’s gaze. “I don’t know where he went. He’s not thinking clearly after tonight, and I... I wasn’t particularly nice to him in the car when he got mad at me.”
“Let him have it, huh?”
“Yes.” I closed my eyes, fighting back another wave of useless tears. “I should have held my tongue.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.” When I looked at him, he said, “Luc’s never responded well to coddling, as I’m sure you know. He needs tough love.”
I knew that well. But tonight, I was afraid my tough love might have pushed him too far.
Marco rose. “I’ve a feeling I know where he went. I’ll make sure he gets home in one piece.”
“Thank you.” I pushed off the couch and followed him to the door. “I don’t know what I’d do without you and Felicity. You’ve both been so good to us, and I—”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
“Yes, I do. You’re the only person who really believes in Luc.”
“That’s not true. You do. Felicity does as well. So do hundreds of others, only Luc hasn’t wanted to see that. The two of you aren’t alone. I know it’s felt that way up until now, but you’re not. And this isn’t the way it’s going to be forever. We won’t let it be.”
I couldn’t answer. The best I could do was nod.
He moved out onto the porch and down the front steps. When he disappeared into the darkness, heading back up the paved drive toward the main house, I closed the door and moved back to the couch.
My body was exhausted, but my brain was a whir of thoughts and memories I couldn’t ignore. Grabbing the throw from the back of the couch, I pulled it over me and curled onto my side, remembering the night Luc had been lying right here on this couch in the dark, and I’d climbed over him, pinned his arms above his head, and kissed him.
He’d been mad at me that night too. But the moment our lips had touched, everything else had faded away and he’d zeroed in on me as if I was the only thing in the world that mattered to him.
“This isn’t the way it’s going to be forever.”
I closed my eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Marco was right. We loved each other too much to let it all fall apart now. If I believed that, if I held on to that, it had to be true.
Chapter Fifteen
Luc
I should have known Marco would find me. The son of a bitch had a nose like a radar detector.
I scowled as he slid into the booth across from me at the back of the old pub in Florence where we used to toss back drinks as teens. He eyed the whisky in my hand with raised brows. “Drunk yet?”
“On my way.”
“How many of those have you had?”
“This is my third.”
He lifted a finger for the server. When the middle-aged redhead stalked over, he said, “Gimme what he’s having. Unless it’s cheap shit, then I’ll take Macallan.”
The waitress jotted a note on a pad of paper and slipped away without a word.
“Natalie filled me in on dinner.”
Of course she had. My mood sank darker as I sipped my whisky.
“You’re a minchione, you know that?”
I frowned. “Did you teach my wife how to call me a dickhead in Italian?”
“No, but I should.” He flashed a smile at the server as she set his drink in front of him. “If she had any smarts, she’d kick your ass for the way you treated her.”
“For the way I treated her?” I leaned forward in my seat. “You didn’t see what she was doing tonight.”
“And you didn’t see what she did when we dragged your ass onto that plane. Do you even have a fucking clue what she went through? What they did to her?”
The blood drained from my face, and I sat up straighter, a new sense of fear coursing through me. “You said they didn’t touch her.”
“I downplayed it for you so you wouldn’t lose your fucking shit. They kidnapped her, they drugged her, they threw her in the back of a van, then locked her in a cell at that mansion. Then your mother went in, was all buddy-buddy with her and made Natalie follow her to that balcony, the whole time telling her you were waiting for her. And when she got there, when she saw what they were doing to you and tried to look away, they wouldn’t let her. They made her watch the whole damn thing, and then they had to restrain her while they strung you up and flogged you right in front of her because she was so hysterical. She couldn’t do a single thing to help you, and when it was over, they threw her in another pitch-black cell and made her relive the nightmare in her head without telling her what they’d done with you.”
My heart raced so fast I was afraid it might fly right out of my chest.
Marco sipped his whisky and glared at me from across the table. “She thought you were dead. They fucked with her head way more than they ever fucked with your body. And then do you know what she did?”
I swallowed hard, almost afraid to hear the rest. “No. What?”
“She got on that plane and was a solid rock while Felicity stitched up your back. She held your hand and whispered reassuring words in your ear to keep you calm when you were fighting the drugs and us. And she didn’t break. Not once. She could have. Any normal woman would have completely fucking lost it after the hell they put her through, but not her. She nursed you back to health, and she took care of you, even when you were all twisted up in your head over what happened and pushed her away. She never wavered in her loyalty to you. She never gave up on you. She supported you every step along the way, just as she did tonight. And do you know why she did that tonight? Why she was nice to your family?”
When I didn’t answer, he leaned forward and pinned me with hard eyes. “Because you couldn’t fucking do it. Do you think she wanted to be there? Do you think she enjoyed that for one single second? She hates them more than you do, Luc. She despises them not just because of what they did to you, but because they’re your family and families are supposed to love each other, and yours clearly doesn’t. She would have gladly traded places with you in that ritual to save you that pain and humiliation, but she couldn’t. And she played nice with your family tonight to keep the peace so t
hey wouldn’t have any reason to do it again.”
He leaned back against the booth. “So, yeah. You’re a dickhead. You’re a giant minchione because you’re sitting here like a pussy, feeling sorry for yourself, when she’s back at the villa suffering. You have no idea what she’s been through, what she’s still going through, all because she loves you, you dumbass. And if I didn’t love you like a brother, I’d beat that into your head with my fist.”
My heart slammed against my ribs as I stared at him. Everything he’d said was true, but all I could think about was Natalie alone in that dark cell, going out of her mind because she didn’t know where I was or what was happening to me.
If it had been me... If our situations had been reversed, I would have lost it. I never would have had the strength to hold it together and take care of her the way she’d taken care of me.
“Cazzo.” I grasped my wallet from my back pocket and dropped money on the table as I pushed out of the booth.
“Where are you going?” Marco asked casually as he sipped his drink.
“To talk to her.”
“You sure talking’s a good idea? She was pretty steamed when I left her.”
I faltered because he was right. She’d been livid when she’d climbed out of the car and slammed the door. And now that she’d had time to think about what a dick I was, she was probably ready to tear my head off.
My mind spun. “I need to borrow the golf cart at the estate.”
He frowned up at me. “We took down that tent you set up in the woods.”
“I know. I have something else in mind.”
“She’s not going to want to go anywhere with you after the last few hours.”
I knew she wouldn’t. But I also knew that regardless of what an ass I’d been, she still loved me. I was determined to prove to her that I’d never forget that.
She was sound asleep on the couch when I quietly entered the cottage. My heart stuttered as I closed the door softly and dropped the keys on the entry table.
I didn’t move right to her as I wanted to do. I left her sleeping and stepped into the bedroom to grab the gift I’d gotten for her before our wedding and left in the bottom drawer of my dresser.
Her steady breaths echoed in the room as I crossed back to her and knelt on the floor in front of the couch. She looked like an angel curled up under the throw blanket. And although I knew she was tired, I didn’t want to let this ugliness I’d caused fester between us.
She was right. The only way we were going to make it was to be honest with each other. I didn’t want a marriage like my parents’. I wanted her—the way she’d been in Rome, fiery and challenging; the way she’d been in Venice, trusting and passionate; the way she’d been in Scotland, my strength and my salvation, every single day, even when I didn’t deserve her.
I brushed the hair back from her temple and whispered her name, even though I really wanted to wake her with my lips. “Angioletto?” I said, doing it again. “Wake up.”
She sucked in a breath, and her eyes shot open. The second she focused on me, she sat straight up. “Luc. Are you...? How did you...? Where—”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry I was such a jerk. Forgive me, please.”
She stared down at me in the dark, and for a heartbeat, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Then tears filled her eyes, and she said, “I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean what I said. I just—”
I wrapped my hand around her nape and pulled her mouth toward mine. And when our lips met, she opened and let me in. Let me kiss her and taste her and savor her sweetness. Then she slid off the couch and crawled onto my lap, holding me close while I drank her in.
I drew back and rested my forehead against hers, breathless and aching for more. “I should have realized what you were doing tonight instead of letting my emotions get away from me. I’m sorry, angioletto. I know you were just trying to make things easier. I just… They make me insane. When I’m near them, I—”
“I hate them.” She pressed a hand against my chest. “I wanted to tear their tongues out at dinner and stab my fork through their eyes. But I was afraid if we confronted them—”
“It’s okay.” I brushed the hair back from her eyes, more touched by her words than I knew I should be.
“No, it’s not okay. What they did to you was not okay. They’re evil, and I—”
“And you are not.” I pressed my lips to the tip of her nose, swiping the tears from her cheek. “You’re my angel. My salvation. The only family that matters to me. I know that, Natalie. And I love you, so much more than you will ever know.”
She drew back a breath and met my gaze in the dark. “I-I love you too, Luc. Desperately.”
Her love wrapped around me like a blanket, and as I kissed her, I let her be that salvation, that light counteracting all the darkness I’d battled my whole life.
I brushed curls away from her eyes. “There’s something I want to show you. Will you come with me? It’s not far.”
“Now?”
I nodded and pushed to my feet, pulling her up with me. “It’s on the property. I planned to show you on our wedding night, but things kind of got away from us then.”
When her eyes darkened, I knew she was thinking about Dante and everything that had happened since. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, wanting only to banish the sadness from her mind. “Grab your shoes.”
She let go of me and moved into the bedroom. When she returned in her sneakers, I noticed she was wearing slim leggings that showed off her shapely legs and a sweatshirt that fell open over one shoulder. But I also noticed something else in the low light. A dark patch all across her left cheek.
“Okay, I’m ready.” She stopped in front of me, her brow wrinkling as I looked down at her. “What?”
I tipped her face toward the light, recognizing the start of a bruise. My heart dropped like a lead weight right into my gut. “What happened to you?”
“Oh, that.” She lifted her hand to her cheek, covering the mark. “I slipped.”
It didn’t look as if she’d slipped. It looked as if someone had hit her. I stared down at her, my heart racing.
A sheepish look crossed her face. “It’s nothing, Luc. After you left, I went into the bedroom to change my clothes, and I slipped on the rug when I was pulling this sweatshirt on. I smacked my cheek against the dresser.”
I pushed her hand aside. “You slipped on the rug?”
“Yeah. It’s embarrassing. I-I was upset. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. It’s not as bad as it looks.”
My gut told me that couldn’t be true, but my brain screamed she had no reason to lie. She needed me to trust her as I needed her to trust me. But even as I pulled her in and held her close, hating that I was the reason she’d been distracted and upset, I still wasn’t entirely convinced she was being honest.
“Did you put ice on it?” I asked, trying not to be suspicious.
“Yes, it’s fine. I promise. It barely even hurts.”
I wasn’t sure I believed that either, but more than ever, I wanted to show her just how much I loved her. I pressed a soft kiss to her injured cheek and slid my hand to hers, then pulled her toward the door. “Come on.”
I’d left the golf cart waiting out front. After helping her in, I moved around and slid behind the wheel, then turned the vehicle on.
“Just how far are you taking me?” she asked.
“Not that far, angioletto.”
She sighed and wrapped her hands around my arm closest to her, leaning her head against my shoulder in a way that warmed my heart. With a hand on her knee, I traced tiny circles over her leg as I maneuvered the cart around trees and brush, the lights illuminating the uneven ground. It took longer to find it than I’d planned—the foliage had grown quite a bit since the last time I’d been here—but once I recognized the cluster of oaks, I knew we were close.
I pulled the cart to a stop and killed the ignition. Natalie lifted her head from my sho
ulder when she heard the roar of water. “Is that—?”
“Falls. Yeah. But special falls.” I climbed out of the cart and reached for her hand, tugging her my way across the bench seat.
We headed toward the sound, and I used the light on my phone to illuminate the way so she didn’t trip. When we reached the edge of the water, though, I flipped the light off. Marco had set up solar lights around the outside of the tiered pools, and the rocks, white from the sulfur in the water, reflected the light, illuminating the entire area and the rising steam.
“What is this?” Natalie asked, wide-eyed.
“Hot springs. They’re all over this part of Tuscany.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. These are about thirty-eight to forty degrees Celsius, which I think is between a hundred to a hundred and four Fahrenheit. Just like a hot tub. Want to get in?”
“Is anyone else out here?”
“Nope. Just us.”
Her eyes glimmered, and a smile stretched across her lips as she reached for the hem of her sweatshirt. “Then heck yes.”
I chuckled because she looked so excited. And I loved seeing her smile like that. It had been weeks since I’d seen her so relaxed.
While she toed off her shoes and stripped out of her leggings, I shucked my own clothes. She was already in the water, naked and sighing and sinking back into the pool, when I grabbed the box from the pocket of my slacks and joined her.
“What’s that?” she asked as I held the small box above the water and crossed her way, letting my lower body adjust to the heat.
“Something I meant to give you before.” I handed it to her and sat beside her on the rocks that formed a natural seat on the far end of the pool. The water hit us both at the chest, and I licked my lips as it teased the tips of her nipples.
She shook the water from her fingers, tugged the top off the small, flat box, and stared down at the platinum objects inside.
“It’s a bracelet. And a necklace.”
“It’s a special bracelet.” I lifted the necklace on the long chain and held it up so she could see the small key dangling from the end. “And a special necklace. A set. This part’s for you.”
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