The ice in my voice leaves her end silent. I’d almost forgotten about Shelby. Not completely—she’s been there in the back of my mind—but hearing her makes me feel just how ugly our vow was. She’s an opportunist, who took advantage of my kindness and made a mockery of an idea I had begun to think was possible.
My hate for her comes from the destruction she wielded on my hope. I’d let the idea go, let it die along with my youth, and then she gave me Ella, asking me for promises and love. I couldn’t give her love, but I gave her loyalty, and all the while she was counting her gold.
“Luca, come home and I’ll let you punish me any way you’d like.”
The desire in her voice makes me sick. She makes me sick.
“It’s pathetic that you would use your body as a bargaining tool, especially with me. You don’t have any value.”
I stop at a red light, willing it to turn green.
“I could make you feel good again. Trust me.” Jesus, this is the mother of my child.
“Sweetheart, you couldn’t pay me enough to let you suck my dick, let alone put it inside of you,” I bite out viciously.
“Fuck you, Luca,” she bites back.
“No means no, Shelby. Stop begging. That’s not a turn-on for me. But I’ll tell you what you can do. You can go and pack a suitcase and get the fuck out of my house. And I hope you were smart enough to stow away some cash because your access to the bank has been rescinded.”
The light turns green, and I’m a block from the house. I wanted to be sure I was close before I told her to leave.
Shelby’s voice is laced with threat.
“Don’t do this; you may not like what I do. I know what you love, and I’ll take it from you.” There she is, the snake I know.
“You would use Ella? You barely know your daughter, Shelby.” I’m amused that she thinks I would ever feel threatened by her. “But you would try and take her? That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. I have options, men who would be happy to house me and my poor abandoned daughter.”
I would bury her if she ever tried to take my child. I would put her six deep-ass feet under, and it looks as if Shelby’s forgotten who she’s married to.
“Be careful who you go to war with, Shelby. I never make empty promises,” I warn.
“Neither does he, so I guess you’ll know how to play his game. Bye, Luca. You pushed me to do this.”
So, she has a powerful friend. Shelby’s got a plan B.
She hangs up and I pull around the corner, tires screeching. I jerk the car into park in front of the house and barrel out through the doors, calling her name.
“Shelby!”
Rose comes from around the corner with Ella on her hip, looking at me in surprise.
“Where’s Shelby?” I ask, trying to keep my voice calm, not wanting to scare Ella.
Rose points upstairs, and I take two steps at a time until I reach the top and walk down the hall only to stop in the doorway of my bedroom.
Shelby is speaking on her cell phone in hushed tones. Her eyes widen the moment she sees me.
“I have to go. I know. I know,” she says before hanging up the call. That must be her savior. I hope he’s ready for what will happen to them.
She swallows, nervous that we’re face-to-face now.
“Not happy to see me, wife?”
She starts to back away, as if she is afraid I’ll hurt her, but I walk past and into the closet, grabbing the nearest bag, unzipping it, and pulling it wide open. I go to her side of my closet and begin to rip her clothes off the hangers, throwing them and stuffing them inside.
I walk back out and toss her the bag, watching her stumble back a few steps as she catches it. I didn’t get everything, but a girl like Shelby spends most of her time on her back, so she won’t need much.
“Get the fuck out of my house.”
My jaw tenses from the need for my restraint.
“Luca! How can you throw me out onto the streets—I’m your wife!”
She sounds sincere, as if she didn’t think I would do this. I want her to cry. I want to hear her beg just so I can say no. Say that I hate her again and again.
“Scared your fuck toy won’t have a spare room?”
“Please, Luca. I’m sorry.” Her voice is a measured lie. She knows it and I know it.
“You aren’t anything, Shelby.” I walk toward her slowly. “You aren’t mine, you aren’t his…” I reach a finger under her chin and tilt it up to my face. “You’re just an empty fucking space that men fill when they have nothing better to do.”
Her expression changes from contrite to contempt, and I smile.
Shelby spits in my face.
“I hate you.”
I step back and wipe away her hatred, laughing.
“Not more than I hate you, baby.”
“I want a fucking divorce,” she screams at me as she turns to leave.
I grab the bag she’s holding and pull her close to me again, whispering my promise into her ear.
“Never. I’m going to ruin you. I hope he loves you, and I hope you love him because you’ll never get to be together. That’s my wedding gift to you, bride.”
“You’re the cruelest person I’ve ever known.”
She rips her bag from my hands and runs to the door.
“This is what happens when you play games with dangerous men, Shelby. You invite monsters into your life.”
“I BARELY MADE IT HERE—sorry, traffic was a nightmare,” I breathe out, coming to a stop on the top step of the entrance to Drew’s home. “Hi,” I say in an exhale.
She smiles at my flustered demeanor from the doorway.
“What can I do?” Drew asks, so I hand her a bag from my hand and follow her lead into her kitchen.
Setting the bag on the island, she turns and looks at me for direction.
“Get me a glass of wine and keep me company?” I say with a smile.
“On it!” Drew walks to their oversize refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of wine, then grabs a glass from the cabinet and pours.
I put the rest of the bags down and start unpacking everything.
“What are we having, Chef?” she jokes, handing me a glass of chilled white wine.
I take a sip, letting my nerves settle. They kicked in halfway to Drew’s. This feels like a date even though other people are around. The reality of what was really happening in my own head rattles me. I’m here for him. To be around him. He’s not mine, but I’ve claimed him, and I’m not so sure I’m giving him back.
“I’m making chicken parm, a little pasta, a little salad… A little this, a little that.” I do a tiny dance as I speak, and she laughs at me.
“Perfect, everyone should be here soon,” she remarks, pulling some gorgeously plated hors d’oeuvres from the refrigerator.
“Restaurant?” I grin to her.
“Duh.”
It’s so nice to be back here in this place with Drew. I feel as if I’ve been on autopilot, but now this feels like I’m present. I’m lucky to have her, even though I’ve been warring with myself all day about what I’m going to say to her about Luca. I’ve never kept anything from Drew, and if I start now, that just means that what he and I are doing is wrong.
“You seem happy. Like actually happy today.” Drew smiles, taking a sip of her wine.
“I am. It’s nice to not cringe at every happy moment. This feels oddly cathartic.” I grin.
“What’s changed? Just in the last few weeks because you’re brighter.” She leans onto the island and stares at me. I hate it when she does this. She wants to pry, question, and irritate the living shit out of me until she gets answers. I don’t want to give her answers. “Is there a guy!”
Oh shit.
Her words are like fireworks—she literally explodes with excitement, rounding the island to get closer to my face. A face that I can feel heat starting to spread across.
“Will you stop.
Go away. Leave me alone to cook.” I try to shoo her.
“There is!” she practically screams. I lift my spatula at her and pretend to swat her face. “Spill it, G,” she begs.
“There isn’t any guy. I just had a conversation with a friend, and it made me look at stuff from a new perspective. That’s all.” I can’t even look at her while I tell my little white lie.
I hear the front door open and then commotion. “Nuh-uh,” she says, pointing a finger at me. “You’re lying.”
“She never lies.”
Luca’s voice comes from behind Drew, and I smile at the pan in front of me, waiting for a moment before I look at him.
Drew spins around, clapping her hands together and reaching for the small bundle Luca is holding, asleep on his shoulder.
“Give me that baby. I’ll keep her sleeping,” Drew promises.
He nods, handing her over and giving a peck to Drew’s temple to say hello as he walks past her to me. He stands almost too close, making my breathing accelerate.
“Hi, gorgeous.” His voice is too low to be heard over the commotion. He leans in over the sauce I’m cooking and smiles. “Smells almost as good as you.”
I hold up my spatula as a warning and narrow my eyes.
“Get out of here. You’re flirting.”
Luca laughs and walks over to the couch where Drew has made herself comfortable holding Ella. I hate that my eyes follow him. Dominic walks into the room, and my gaze jumps to him, and he raises his eyebrows. I look away quickly and stir the sauce, embarrassed at being caught.
“Looks amazing, G.”
Dante’s voice surprises me. I didn’t even see him come in. For such a huge guy, he’s like a ninja.
“Thank you. It should be ready in about an hour,” I say over my shoulder, putting everything to a simmer.
I turn around to meet Dante’s face, only he wasn’t looking at my face—he was looking at my ass. “Seriously?” I’m not offended, just shocked that I caught him.
“Sorry?” he asks grinning, his words a question not an apology.
He tilts his head and scrunches his nose. He’s fucking adorable when he’s embarrassed.
I toss my dish towel at him. “Why are you asking it… Yes, you should say sorry.”
I start to laugh, and he just shrugs, completely unapologetic.
“You’re such a pig, Dante. The woman is making us dinner; the least you can do is apologize for harassing her.”
Luca winks at me behind Dante as he joins us, making me smile. I look down and fidget with the plates on the counter to avoid my bashfulness.
“She knows it was a slip—I would never mess with this girl. I’ve seen her in action. She’s a badass,” Dante offers, and it brings back the memory of when I met him in the hospital waiting room, the night Luca was attacked.
My eyes grow wide, hoping Luca doesn’t catch on to what’s been said.
Luca looks between us, intrigued.
“I assumed you two met at Dom and Drew’s wedding party. I hadn’t realized Gretchen was at the hospital… Do tell, brother.” My cheeks burn with embarrassment, deepened by Luca’s pointed interest. He’s staring at me, grinning like the devil, and I’m going to die.
I start to nervously laugh, shaking my head at Dante’s amusement.
“Don’t you dare tell the story. I will kill you. Dead. Done. Gone.” Luca lights up. That’s all he needed to know that this is something he wants to hear. I panic and yell over Dante’s laughter. “Oh my god, with the fishes…sleeping with them. Jesus, whatever that saying is…noooo!”
Dante’s laugh fills the room at my threat, and Luca smacks the counter repeatedly.
“Oh no, don’t clam up now, princess. You better spill, Dante.”
I giggle when Luca calls Dante princess because he’s such a massive, tatted monster.
Reaching across the counter, I pat it, calling for Dante’s attention.
“Listen to me! Listen, listen. I’m your friend, not him.” Dante looks at Luca, who is like a dog with a bone, and at this point I can barely get my words out through my laughing. “Dante. I swear to God, I will have baked goods delivered to you every day for the rest of your life if you don’t tell this story.”
Luca waves his hand in front of my face to block out my pleading.
“I’m your blood, Dante. You would let a woman come between us?” Luca manipulates. Oh, he’s so sneaky, and it makes me laugh harder. I hate him.
Dante looks back at me and shrugs.
“Sorry, beautiful, but he’s my brother. A man has to have principles.”
I’m pretty sure my cheeks couldn’t get any redder. I start to walk away, hoping to avoid the embarrassment, but Luca reaches over the counter and grabs my hand, forcing me in place. I laugh harder, trying to tug away.
He wags his eyebrows. “No way, Angel. You stay.”
I groan as Drew and Dom walk over to join in my humiliation, and I give in, sighing. “I’d really thought I would keep this one all the way to my grave.”
The last thing I want to do is listen to Luca hearing all about my stupid crush on him.
Drew bounces Ella on her hip.
“What’s happening over here? You woke up the baby and got her all revved up.” She smiles, handing Ella to Luca.
He lets my hand go and pulls the baby onto his lap.
“Welcome to my worst night ever,” I explain. “Dante is about to tell the story of how we met.”
Drew snorts a laugh, and I giggle at her. “Gross.”
“Stop trying to stall. Let the man tell the story.” Luca points Ella’s finger at me as if she’s the one saying it.
For the next horrible few minutes, I listen to Dante retell how I met him in the hospital lobby. How Giovanni, Luca’s uncle, tried to hit on me and I was thoroughly creeped out and how I lied and said I was Shelby to get up to the room. Luca’s eyes shine through the entire story, except at the mention of his uncle. His eyes grow darker then, even though his smile remains.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Drew chimes in and tells him how I barreled into the room, throwing my purse on poor George, Luca’s driver, and announced I was there to steal Luca from his wife.
Out of context, it seems insane, but that’s the part he seems to like the most. Locking eyes with mine, he pretends to be shocked. He’s never going to let me forget this.
I interrupt to tell my side. “It was not like that. I knew Drew was dealing with some real emotions, and I wanted to be there for my friend. First, I’m a saint. Second, I saw an opening and I took it. I knew Shelby wasn’t showing, so it seemed like the perfect cover.” It’s not until my words leave my mouth that I realize how careless they are as the room goes silent. I look directly at Luca.
“That was thoughtless. I’m sorry. It’s just I knew about her absence…”
He winks at me.
“It’s not a secret in this room who Shelby is. It’s also not a secret that I’m not a fan of wifey.” He leans closer to the counter as if he’s telling me a secret. “They aren’t either. It’s okay.”
A laugh escapes my lips, and Drew pushes his shoulder gently, rolling her eyes.
“It’s true. I wish you had stolen him.” She jokes
Luca raises his eyebrows to me. I turn around to check the food, escaping the awkward moment.
Wanting a change of subject, I call over my shoulder, “Drew, do you want to eat outside?”
“You read my mind,” she answers, and Dom comes around the counter to point me in the direction of the silverware, because I always open the wrong drawers.
There are too many drawers in this kitchen.
“I’ll help,” Dom offers, and I smile in appreciation.
He grabs most of the stuff we need, and I follow him out to the patio and begin to clear the table, accepting a towel from Drew to wipe it down when she joins me.
Dom’s voice fills the space.
“Gorgeous, would you bring me a scotch?”
“Absolutely
.”
Drew pushes to her tiptoes and kisses him. I look away, not wanting to intrude on their moment. I love how he loves my friend. You can feel it. He’s devoted to her.
“You want more wine?” she asks me, and I nod.
Drew walks inside the house, closing the door behind her, and I go back to clearing any dust off the table before we set it.
I’m lost in my thought when Dominic clears his throat. Looking up, I smile.
“You okay?” I laugh.
“Yeah, I want to say something, but I want to be sensitive. I can imagine you realize how difficult that can be for me.” His face is worried.
“Someone so direct?” I offer kindly.
He laughs and agrees.
“That’s one way to put it. Drew usually says ‘assholey.’”
I shake the rag in my hand and stop what I’m doing to give him my full attention.
“Just spit it out. I’m a big girl.”
He crosses his arms, staring down at me. “Okay.” He takes a breath and exhales heavily. “Luca doesn’t know that he’s in love with you.” My eyes grow wide with his words. “He doesn’t realize he’s fallen, but my brother looks at you like you’re the only person in the room.”
I look down at my hands because I know he’s seeing what I’m feeling. Luca makes me feel like I’m the only person in the room. “But G, his life is far more than just complicated,” Dom continues, “So, if you aren’t ready for the ride, jump off now. You wouldn’t be doing anything wrong by choosing yourself. I learned that from another equally strong woman we both know.”
I look over my shoulder at Drew, who’s laughing inside as she pours my wine. She walked away from Dom to make sure she was level-headed. And they were better for it. Maybe I should walk away before this becomes even more complicated.
“We’re just friends, Dom. He’s been there during some low points for me, and I’ve done the same for him. He doesn’t love me.”
My answer leaves a bitter taste in my mouth because I realize as I say it, I wish Luca did love me.
“I said what I needed to. And just so you know, I’m team Gretchen for life.” He grins.
I smile and look down, realizing I’m short a napkin, and then pat Dom on the shoulder. “Have you always been such a softie? I’m going to tell everyone unless you go and round up another napkin.”
Worship (Sinful Series Book 2) Page 7
