“Then, that is why.”
My heart ached with that knowledge. Luca had been looking after what was dear to me long before I had even met him. In that one moment, I felt something pull at me from the inside. It wasn’t just longing or desire. It was a combination of tenderness, warmth, and intimacy. Things I had never had with anyone.
Placing my hand on his, I pulled it to my heart. “Thank you.”
Grabbing my hand, Luca sighed and nodded his head. “Come on. It’s bath time.”
We walked into the bathroom, and I noticed the water was filling up quickly. “Here, let me take this from you.” Luca moved to take my gown off but I flinched. I didn’t want him seeing my back.
“It’s okay. I got it.” I quickly pulled it down and manoeuvred myself towards the bath. Luca was frowning at me, but didn’t question my strange behaviour. Thank God.
Sinking myself into the bath, I moaned in pleasure. “Do you know how sexy you look in that bath?” I opened my eyes and found Luca drooling. With him, I was constantly drooling, and it was nice to see I wasn’t the only one thus afflicted
“Hop in, baby. The water’s nice and warm.” I winked at him, and without hesitation, he was in the bath.
Entwining our legs around one another, I felt content and relaxed. Extremely relaxed. I was having every part of me taken care of today. Luca was making sure of that.
Stroking my leg, I could see Luca wanted to ask me something. “We need to talk about last night.” I sighed. I knew this was coming. I had to apologise, and I hated saying sorry. “I’m sorry I didn’t make sure you were protected from that asshole.”
I was shocked. “You’re apologising to me?”
“I let him get to you. I let him hurt you.”
“You didn’t let him do anything. It is I who should be apologising. I ran off instead of listening to what you had to say. I didn’t let you explain. A total stranger told me something bad about you, and instead of confronting you with it, I just hit the roof.”
Luca clenched his teeth together in anger. I could tell he was still sore about the whole thing. “Who is he, Luca? Why would he do that? Why did he lie?”
Luca swore underneath his breath. “He hates me. He’s a jealous, pathetic rival who would do anything to see me fail.” Luca sighed and stroked my arm. “He saw me with you last night. He’s not stupid. My reaction to everything you did saw to it that he knew how I felt about you. He knew I wasn’t going to let you go in a hurry, and now I’ve just created the most fun game for the fucker. He wants to hurt me, so, in turn, he wants to hurt anyone close to me. He’s a vile, malicious, son-of-a-bitch.”
“Well, it hasn’t worked, has it?” I smiled and stroked his face. “You’re here with me now after having just made love to me … twice. Instead of it working against you, it actually brought us closer together.”
“But he did get between us. He took one night away from us. One night I could have been buried inside you. If it not for last night, we could have made love four or even five times by now.”
I chuckled. “It was only one night.”
Luca grabbed my hand. “Amore mio, you don’t get it do you? Every night is precious. Every day is precious. It only takes one minute or one second for all your days and nights to be ripped away from you. He begrudged me one night I could have spent holding you in my arms as we slept. One night I could have made love to you over and over and heard those sweet noises in my ear as I made you whimper in ecstasy.” Luca wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me on top of his lap. I gasped at the hardness I felt digging into me.
“My goodness, do all you Italian Stallions talk like that?”
He smiled and bit my chin. “You think I’m an Italian Stallion?”
“I’ve never had anyone so big.”
Luca growled. “Don’t talk about the others. I don’t want to know. You were mine before I even met you.”
“I’m so sorry I slept with others before you. I should have known.” My sarcasm didn’t go over very well with Luca.
“You are mine in every way—permanently. Do you need me to help you remember that?”
I nodded. “Yes, I think so. I don’t think the other four times took very well.”
Luca’s back arched. “Oh, you don’t, do you?”
“Nah, not really.” I playfully hitched my eyebrow at him with a smile.
“If I wasn’t so keen to know what caused your sudden change of heart from last night, I would spend all day refreshing your memory—again and again until you couldn’t think straight.”
“What was that again? I can’t remember.” I chuckled and Luca growled, pulling my neck towards his lips. The feel of him biting me seductively had my senses going into overdrive.
“Stop teasing and tell me.”
“Okay, sourpuss, I will. I saw the newspaper this morning.”
He stared at me blankly, so I carried on. “Those two from the club have been arrested. The police found drugs and photographs of all their victims.”
Luca stiffened and gritted his teeth. “I should have killed them when I had the chance.”
“Now where would that have led you? At least this way justice can be done. Especially if all these women come forward now and give evidence.”
Luca still didn’t look happy. “I don’t like that he touched you. He had his filthy hands all over you. He wasn’t worthy of your touch. He wasn’t worthy of being in the same fucking room as you.”
I cupped Luca’s face in my hands and bent down to gently nip his bottom lip. “I’m here with you. I’m safe and in your arms. Isn’t that what you wanted all along?”
Luca smiled and gently kissed me back. “Of course, but promise me something.”
“What?”
“If you ever see Antonio Cavelli again, run the other way. Come find me, but don’t let him near you again.”
I sighed in exasperation. “Luca, I—”
“Promise me!” The worry and sincerity in his eyes made me falter. If I had seen Mr. Cavelli again, he would have gotten a piece of my mind.
“Okay, I promise.”
Luca kissed my nose. “Good. As I told you, I only want what’s best for you. I can make you happy. If you’ll let me.”
I couldn’t help the almighty ruckus of laughter that escaped me. “I thought I didn’t have a choice in the matter?”
Luca’s frown turned into a smile when he realised why I was laughing. “Well, no, but I thought I would try to be a gentleman.”
Wondering if he was still in his gentlemanly mood, I decided to take action and rub myself up against his hard cock. “Will you be the gentleman now and let me take care of you?” Pulling his mouth to mine, I went in search of his wonderful tongue. I let my hand wander down to his heaving erection. It was practically pulsating in my hands.
Rubbing my hand up and down his shaft, I manoeuvred myself up a little so I could straddle him. Before I could sit on him properly, Luca grabbed my hips.
“Luca, come on. You take care of me; let me take care of you.”
I was wrong if I thought Luca was going to let that happen. Instead, he pulled the plug in the bath, helped me out, and grabbed a towel to dry me off. He started at my chest, which rewarded him with some very hard nipples. Just that alone was turning me on. What was even worse was when he bent down to suckle each one. I was on fire again.
What doused me completely was when he asked me to turn around. I stood there rigid, unable to do a thing.
“What’s the matter? Turn around.”
“No, Luca. I can’t.” I shook my head and backed away from him.
“Clara, what’s going on?” I could see the anxiety pouring out of him, and I knew he wasn’t going to let this go. He would have to see all of me at some point. We were intimate now; refusing him would be of no use I knew. I just didn’t want to spoil our moment together.
I sighed in defeat when I saw his determined face grind to a halt in front of me. All I could do was stand there and let hi
m spin me around.
Luca touched them, and I flinched. “Who did this to you?” Luca’s voice was harsh and murderous.
Turning back round to face him, I knew I had to try and say something to calm him down. “It was a long time ago. I’m fine. They’re very old wounds.”
“Who did this to you?”
Tears sprung to my eyes. “Please, Luca.”
“Who?”
I knew he was beyond reasoning now. He was going to get the answer one way or another.
“My father.”
His eyes widened into a murderous glare. He looked about ready to kill someone. Storming out of the bathroom, he shouted, “I’m going to kill him!”
My mind and body were in a sudden panic. I went running after him before he did something stupid. He was already putting on a pair of trousers by the time I reached him.
“Luca, no. You can’t do this.”
He stopped momentarily. “But, he did that to you.”
“Yes, he did.”
“Why? Why would he do that to his own daughter?”
Getting angry I shouted, “Because I was bad!” I tried to calm my breathing, but it was no use. “Because I was naughty. Because I never did as I was told. Because I never wanted to go to church and conform to everything they wanted me to be. I was a sinner, and when I die, I’m going to hell!”
Luca started doing up his trousers. “That’s the one place your father should be. He’s a dead man.”
I reached out to touch his arm. “He already is to me. I left that life a long time ago, and when I did, their only daughter was gone forever. I may as well be dead to them.” Sensing him calm a little, I took the opportunity to get closer to him. I snuggled into his arms, and at first he was rigid, but he soon relaxed and held me too. “That life is far behind me now. I don’t ever want to go back there again. Please don’t do this. Please, for once, let me make that decision. For once, will you do this one thing I ask of you?”
Luca’s heavy sigh told me that he had been defeated. I knew it took a lot for him to release control for a change. “Okay. I won’t kill him. I can’t say I will be that generous if I ever come across the fucker, though.”
I giggled and snuggled my head into his chest. “Thank you.”
I felt Luca sigh. “Now, it all makes sense… That explains why you are the way you are.”
Frowning, I pulled away from Luca and stared at him. “Why? What do you mean?”
“You’re stubborn as a mule. You don’t take any shit from anybody.”
I smiled and flicked his nose. “And don’t you forget it.”
Luca tenderly stroked my cheek. “Was it always like that? With you father?”
Sighing and placing myself on the bed, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted old memories being brought to the forefront. It made me mad, and I always felt my control waver.
“I never did as I was told. Pure and simple. I think they hated me. Being told from the age of five that you had the devil inside you and that it needed to be beaten out stuck with me for a long time. I believed I had the devil in me. I believed I was wicked and evil. I was cocooned in my parent’s world, and I didn’t realise what else lay out there for me. I thought I was doomed to fail—doomed to live that life of pain and suffering. I even thought it was what I deserved at one point. I was being brainwashed, but a big part of me wanted control. When my father beat me—” I saw Luca clench his teeth together, so I placed my hands on his to bring him back to me.
Realising it had worked, I carried on. “When he beat me, I felt powerless to do anything. It was like he was stripping away my independence bit by bit until I thought there would be nothing of me left. See, that’s why I’m so independent now. That’s why I choose to run the business my way and only my way. That’s why I’ve never asked for anyone’s help. To ask would make me seem weak, and I’m tired of being weak. I’m tired of letting people think they can get away with whatever they can. I won’t let them. I refuse to let them.”
Cupping my face in his hands, Luca leant in for a kiss. He pulled away and lingered for a moment, just savouring our stares.
“I’m not going to take away your business from you. The only reason I went into this was because I wanted you—and only you. That is one thing I refuse to have stripped away from me. I want to help you with the business as you can’t run it by yourself, but I won’t interfere. Can I ask that of you?”
Taking a deep breath, I realised then and there that I really did need the help. Asking for it was not a sign of weakness. I knew that finally. I had just been in control this entire time, and that had made me feel whole. I really hadn’t been whole at all, though; I had just been kidding myself.
“Okay. I would like that.”
Smiling, he took me in for another kiss. “Good. This means I can have you all to myself more often. That is one thing I will never lose control over.” I saw the stern look in his eyes, and it made me chuckle. “Finding something funny, amore mio?” I closed my eyes, letting the burn take me over.
As if sensing the reason for my sudden change in mood, Luca surprised me. “Era il giorno ch'al sol si scoloraro per la pietà del suo factore i rai, quando ì fui preso, et non me ne guardai, chè i bè vostr'occhi, donna, mi legaro.”
I moaned. I actually moaned. My God, what was he saying? It had me breathless and wanton. He could have been reciting a shopping list, but it would still have turned my legs to jelly.
Sensing the lust coursing through me, he asked, “Did you like that, amore mio?”
“What did you say? It sounded beautiful.”
Luca smiled. “It was a love sonnet by Petrarca. He fell in love at first sight with a beautiful woman named Laura. He wrote sonnets for her.”
“That’s beautiful. What does it mean?”
Luca stared at me and started playing with my hair. “It was the day the sun’s rays had turned pale with pity for the suffering of its maker. When I was caught, I put up no fight, my lady, for your lovely eyes had me bound.”
I snuggled my head into Luca’s neck and nibbled him gently. “Hmm, sounds lovely.”
With a serious expression, Luca pinned my wrists. “Now I know how Petrarca felt when he met his Laura. A picture—only a picture and I was gone. I know I came across as someone who was familiar with you when we first met, but you don’t understand. I already was. I had known about you for days. Known about your will, your power—your strength. I had that picture of you in my head every minute of every day. I knew I had to have you. I knew I had to be with you.”
My breath caught. I wanted him again. In fact, I was about to demand him again when there was a knock at the door.
Luca growled. “What?”
“Clara, are you in there?” Belinda’s timid voice was echoing through the door.
Luca grumbled and handed me my robe. “Don’t take too long. I need to have you again.”
I shook my head. “I do have a business to run, you know.”
“My cock first, your business second.” His stern look had me in a fit of giggles. “What’s so God damned funny?”
“Oh, please. Spare me. ‘My cock first, your business second.’ Jeez, put on the brakes, Casanova!”
Luca smiled and did up the rest of his buttons on his trousers. With a belter of a smack on my arse and a yelp from me, I answered the door.
“Belinda, good morning.”
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise you two were…” Belinda hitched up her eyebrow and copped a glimpse of Luca’s statuesque torso. “My God, he’s hot,” Belinda whispered.
I giggled. “I know; believe me,” I winked.
“So you two have…” she waved her hands in front of her.
“Yes. Twice already this morning. I think it was going to be a third before your knock on the door.”
“Sorry,” she whispered again.
“Don’t be. I’ve already told him how important this all is to me.”
“What are you two whispering about?” Luca shouted.
/>
Getting near to the door, Luca’s eyes looked stern. “What you looking at?” Luca shouted towards Tony. I didn’t even realise he was there staring until Luca mentioned him.
Tony dutifully turned the other way, causing an eye roll from me.
“Clara, get in here now and close the door.”
“Yes, master. Whatever you say, master.”
Belinda’s giggles set my own off. Shutting the door, I turned to Luca. “Happy now?”
“No, I think you need reminding again.”
“Reminding of what?” Belinda was rather nosey at times.
“That Clara is mine.”
“Oh, really?” Belinda’s face looked amused as hell. She knew exactly what I was like and knew this wouldn’t go down very well.
“Yes. Really.”
I sighed. “Now do you see the double standard here, Belinda? I can’t stand outside—completely covered in a silk robe—and yet he can stand here bare-chested if he wants.”
Luca huffed. “That’s different. You don’t have Belinda drooling over me like Tony was obviously drooling over you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh really?”
“Yes. Really.”
“Belinda, please repeat what it was you said to me when I opened the door?”
Smiling, I knew Belinda would go along with this. She didn’t get embarrassed easily.
“I said, ‘My God, he’s hot.’”
I waved my hands in front of me. “See, there you go.”
Looking stunned and apparently lost for words, Luca grumbled something under his breath and headed for the kitchen.
Belinda immediately bellowed out a laugh, and before long, the two of us were both clutching our sides. I think that was the first time I had ever seen Luca lost for words.
Calming down, I turned to Belinda. “What can I do for you? Is everything okay?”
Looking serious all of a sudden, she said, “Oh, yes. Two things really. One, I just wanted to know if everything was okay after last night. It was pretty stormy out there with Luca and that other guy. Who was he anyway?”
How easily and quickly I had forgotten the outside world. Luca had me wrapped in his bubble. Normally, I would have been popping away, but for some reason I wanted to cement us in it instead. “His name is Antonio Cavelli. A rival of Luca’s.” I paused for a moment, wondering what on earth happened. “What happened after I left? Did you see anything?”
LUCA (You Will Be Mine) (The Sicilian Mafia Series Book 1) Page 15
