“So, why the hell did you do that, Ruby? Pretend to be a nobody? Spend a year working for Bax? What was the point of that?”
Ruby smirked and tapped her perfectly-manicured nails on the edge of the chair. Luca noticed that her fingers were covered in expensive jewels, rings that likely cost more than some of his cars.
“I wanted to get close to you. To make you see I was your destiny. I never imagined you would throw me aside the way you did. But now, you have a chance to correct your mistake.”
“Correct my… You’re delusional, Ruby. You and your father. In what world could you possibly imagine this little scheme of yours would work?”
“It would have worked if Louie hadn’t…” For the first time since Ruby revealed herself, he saw a flash of panic in her eyes. And it was appropriate, because the rage that was coursing through him could have burnt down the whole of Manhattan.
“What? If Louie hadn’t what?”
Ruby cleared her throat and tried to feign confidence, though it was clear she knew she had backed herself into a corner. “Does it matter?”
Everything started to come together in one flash of blinding white anger. It was all Ruby. The accident. Louie’s death. The shooting. She had been behind all of it. They were still waiting for the results of Louie’s toxicology report at the time of his death, but Luca was willing to bet he had been poisoned, and if Ruby’s hand hadn’t been on the syringe, she had paid for someone else to do it.
“You… almost killed me, Ruby. You killed one of my oldest friends. You had Bax beaten. What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you psychotic?”
“I’m just a woman in love, Luca. And if you would take a minute to see that…”
Luca didn’t allow her to finish her sentence. He slammed his fist into the door so hard it left cracks in the wood, startling Ruby so badly, that she let out a scream.
“I was only doing what was best for you, Luca. If you give it time, you will see.”
With a sad, bitter laugh, Luca took his cell phone out of his pocket. “You’re nothing to me. You never were,” he said, his voice trembling. “And now, you’re going to jail. You and your father.” Then, Luca retrieved the INTERPOL detective’s card and dialed.
“Hello?”
“This is Luca Tanner. I’ve found out who is behind the assassination attempt on Aurora Brewster. Her address is 96 West Red Oak Lane, Westchester.”
“You have? Her? Your majesty…”
“Just get here. I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Thirty-One
The news had stopped reporting on Luca’s whereabouts a few days ago, so Aurora suspected he had left for Moreno. Elle had filled her on everything that had happened with that Ruby woman, the one who was responsible for all of their troubles, and she couldn’t exactly blame him for skipping town. At first, the media was plenty interested in the fact that some blue-blood daughter of an oil titan had tried to kill a king, but once she was safely in the custody of INTERPOL, interest waned, leaving Aurora alone in her concern for Luca’s well-being.
Deep down, she knew that the chances of being reunited with him were very slim. Their parting saddened her but, in a way, was kind of a relief. Torn between her duty to her sister, her job, and her feelings for Luca, she was struggling to cope with the pressure. She did have Beth’s help, though. Her dear friend was doing everything in her power to assist her. Beth spent most of her time in Aurora’s apartment, trying to put the place back together while she was at work, and she stayed there long after her friend got returned home.
Aurora might have been exhausted, but her fatigue was overshadowed by her emotional state. With her sister still in a coma, and the man of her dreams thousands of miles away from her, she was exhausted. She stayed up late, thinking about Luca and their impossible future, and then went to the bakery, where she worked herself ragged. By the time she left the hospital in the late evening, she could barely keep her eyes open. It was rapidly wearing her down.
Frustrated and lost in fear of losing her only family, Aurora decided to do something desperate. Late one night, when she couldn’t sleep, she took the train over to the hospital and walked like a zombie to her sister’s room. From the time they were little, whenever something was wrong, they would always turn to each other. Aurora had always relied on Grace when she had a problem and, with no other options, she decided to turn to her sister once more.
Aurora walked into the hospital and saw her sister, pale and lovely, just as she had always been. The doctors were planning on inducing her any day, and Aurora couldn’t help but notice how even after so long in a coma, Grace looked like any other pregnant woman: beautiful, glowing, and motherly.
Aurora sat down next to Grace’s bed and took her sister’s small hand in her own. She could already feel the tears starting to build, but she wiped them away with her free hand and took a deep breath.
“Hey, pretty girl. I know I haven’t talked to you in a while. I usually just sit here and watch you sleep or watch TV. Lately, I’ve been sleeping a lot myself. But I thought maybe we could have a chat. The doctors say you can hear me when I talk to you, so hopefully you can hear me now.”
She figured she would look crazy to anyone walking by, but she didn’t care as she continued. “Grace, that perfect little baby of yours is going to be here soon and I don’t know if I can take care of her alone. I never imagined doing something like this alone. The truth is, I don’t think I can do this without you. She is going to need her mother. And you never even told me what you wanted to name her. So… I’m going to need you to wake up, Grace. I’m going to need you to wake up and tell me what to name her. You have to be here for her. She deserves to know what an amazing mother she has. And she shouldn’t just hear it through stories. Besides, telling stories is what you’re good at, you know?”
Aurora sighed, the tears flowing freely now. She didn’t know what she had hoped to get out of this. But all she knew was that she needed her sister to hear her. She needed her to know how much she was loved. Aurora set her head down on the bed next to Grace and closed her eyes, praying for some sort of miracle. Anything that would bring her back.
She didn’t know how long she had been laying there when she felt a hand rest down gently on her head. Aurora figured it was a nurse who had come into the room to wake her up, but when she opened her eyes, there was no one there. Instead, she looked up, and saw her sister’s huge blue eyes looking down at her, wide and concerned.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the tubes in her throat prevented her from saying anything. Aurora jumped up and started furiously pressing the call button for the nurse.
“Don’t say anything, Grace! I’ll get you a nurse!” She started to run out of the room, but Grace grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. Aurora stopped in her tracks, sobbing and smiling at the same time.
“Oh, Grace. There is so much to tell you. So, so much to tell you.”
As nurses and doctors began to swarm around Grace, Aurora offered up thanks to whoever was listening. She had her sister back and for the first time in days…
There was a reason to be hopeful.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Once the doctors were sure Grace was stable enough for surgery, they opted to perform a C-section to deliver her little girl. A week after she woke up, Grace gave birth to a 5-pound, 4-ounce baby girl, named after their mother: Charlotte Aurora Brewster. When Grace met Charli for the first time, Aurora, Beth, and Elle, who had flown back from Moreno as soon as Grace had woken up, were all there to meet her too. Grace had to spend a few more days in the hospital after the surgery, especially because her broken bones had not yet healed, and she had to be taught how to navigate the world while in a back brace and casts. But she made it clear as soon as she had Charli that she wanted to go home as soon possible.
So, another week after Charli’s birth, Aurora was gleefully wheeling her sister and niece into her apartment, with Beth not far behind.
“Are you sure about this?” G
race asked with Charli cooing in her arms. “I don’t want to be any trouble.”
Aurora and Beth both laughed. “What are we going to do? Send you home to take care of yourself and a baby in your third-floor walkup? I don’t think so,” Aurora said, as she bent down and gave her niece a kiss on the forehead.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Rory. For being there for me. For standing by me all this time. For protecting my job.”
Beth winced as she took a few steps back toward Aurora’s bedroom. “On that note, I think you two have a few things to talk about. How about I take Charli and give her a bottle?” Grace handed over the baby with a confused look in her eyes.
“What is she talking about? What happened? Oh, god. Did I get fired? If that bastard fired me, I swear to god…”
“No,” Aurora held up her hands quickly. “Nothing like that. The article was actually really well-received. This is about… something else that happened while I was in Moreno.”
Grace raised an eyebrow. “Okay…”
Aurora spilled the whole story of her affair with King Luca Tanner of Moreno, from beginning to end. The whirlwind vacations. The amazing sex. And the repeated attempts on her life as a result of their romance. With every detail, Grace’s jaw dropped lower and lower, until she had to physically push her mouth shut.
“Holy shit, Aurora. Holy shit,” she kept repeating over and over.
“Yup. That about sums it up.”
“Well, what the hell are you still doing here?”
Aurora shook her head, perplexed. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m awake. The baby is here. The bakery is fully staffed, and doesn’t Beth need a job? She’s practically grown up there, too. Let her take the manager position, get your ass on a plane, and go get your king.”
“I can’t leave you, Grace,” Aurora said, almost panicked.
“Bullshit. I am going to heal, whether my body likes it or not. I will not let you use Charli and me as an excuse not to follow your destiny. And you have a king who is in love with you. That is your destiny. So, get out here. You can send a private plane for us to visit when you are queen,” Grace said with a wink.
Aurora gently threw her arms around her sister and whispered, “I love you so much, Grace.”
“And don’t you ever forget it,” she answered with a laugh.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Locked in his castle, Luca was still trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered romance, but his efforts were fruitless. He still bore the mental scars of his ordeal and the loss of the only woman he had ever loved. Luca spent hours on end working on his paintings, but not even that was able to take his mind off Aurora. Most of the time, he flipped his canvases over and threw his brushes up against the wall, frustrated and angry in a way he didn’t understand. Nothing made him feel better, not even the frequent visits from his best friends, who were trying everything to lift him out of his self-imposed misery.
One rainy afternoon, Bax knocked on the doorframe of the attic. He was still bruised from his attack, and had a tendency to flinch at loud noises, but he seemed to be doing better every day. It was one of the few things that brought Luca any kind of pleasure.
“How are things going today, man?” Bax asked, as he hesitantly walked inside.
Luca shrugged. “Same as usual. Can I help you with something, or is this your daily attempt to drag me out of the castle?”
“Both, actually. Elle has planned a charity event at Le Bon Temps in Venicia tomorrow and she would be grateful if you could come. It’s a benefit for the conservation group in Ohana.”
“Bax,” Luca said with a groan. “I really don’t feel like getting dressed up and being around people.”
“Luca, if you keep this up, people are going to assume you’ve turned into one of those mad kings who just locks himself away and draws on the walls all day. The one thing we have going in Moreno is that people seem to like you. Don’t ruin that.”
Luca grumbled and set down the brush in his hand. “You’re telling me this is Elle’s thing?” Elle was usually more of the type to show up at charity events; not throw them. It seemed like a set-up to get Luca out of the house.
“Cross my heart. Please, do this for Ellie. We’ll owe you,” Bax said with a huge smile.
“Fine. But your tab is getting pretty long, old friend.”
Bax gave Luca a giant, mildly unwelcome hug and patted him excitedly on the back. “It will be worth it! You’ll see! I promise, you’ll see.”
The glasses sparkled under the ample chandelier lights in Le Bon Temps, one of the most beautiful restaurants in Venicia, as dozens of Elle’s guests chattered with one another. For Luca, however, this night was nothing more than pure torture. It was his first public appearance in a while and within minutes, most of the people were gathered around him, asking him questions about that day in Westchester or expressing their sympathies. He had to relive those few, painful moments and, worse than that, answer questions about Ruby Collins-Brown. He had little interest in every thinking about her again, yet it seemed to be all anyone wanted to talk about.
After an hour of being beset by strangers, Elle and Bax finally walked over and rescued him. “Were you giving a speech back there?” Elle asked. “Or was it a meeting of your fan club?”
“Sort of,” Luca gave a snort of amusement. “They wanted to know more about New York.”
“It must have been very hard for you,” Elle whispered, handing him a glass of champagne.
“It took every ounce of restraint not to burn the place down,” Luca said emphatically. “But let’s not talk about that.”
“Please don’t commit arson, Luca. I’m having enough trouble maintaining your image while you’re in hermit mode.”
“I’m quite sure he will behave at my event,” Elle commented. At that moment, her cell phone rang. “I need to take this,” she said, smiling. Bax tried to make conversation with Luca about things unrelated to New York, but a moment later, he saw Elle just outside the door, gesturing for him to join her.
“What is it?” he inquired he asked as he pushed the door open and walked outside.
“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” she said with a smile, looking up into the sky. “Don’t you just love springtime in Moreno?”
“Springtime?” Luca asked with a laugh. “Is that why you asked me to come outside? To talk about the weather?”
“Actually, I invited you out here to guess who was on the phone.”
“What? How would I know that?” Luca asked with a raised eyebrow. Elle’s eyes glinted with amusement, and she gave him a sly smile.
“Say hi to her for me,” she whispered in his ear. “I need to get back inside.”
Puzzled by her words, he looked around as Elle brushed past him. Since he wasn’t particularly interested in going back inside, Luca leaned against the bannister on the stairs and looked up at the sky again, allowing himself the luxury of a quiet moment. But then, suddenly, the headlights of a car lit up the road in front of him. Soon afterwards, a taxi appeared. Preferring to stay away from any strangers, he turned around and started back for the restaurant. But a voice stopped him in his tracks.
“Luca?” The voice was clear and familiar. He slowly turned around, his pulse rising, as a cab driver eased a suitcase down to the ground.
It was Aurora.
“Aurora?” he whispered, swallowing hard. “What are you doing here?”
She did not say anything. Instead, Aurora rushed towards him, her gaze locked on his, as his heart thumped in his chest. But, as she took her last step towards him, Luca saw that her eyes were full of tears.
“What is it?” His voice was riddled tension and fear. “What’s wrong?”
“Grace…” she said happily. “She woke up.”
Her short sentence made his heart leap with joy as a blissful smile spread across his face. Luca knew very well what that meant. He was not going to ask for any details, not yet. He picked Aurora up off of the grou
nd and gathered her close, their lips joining in a long, demanding kiss, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His fingers became tangled in her silky hair, his heart beating faster and louder than ever before. Aurora tilted her head down and rested it on his shoulder, as he held her tightly in his arms.
“I love you, sunshine,” he said, his voice a soft, almost inaudible whisper. “God, I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, Luca,” she whispered, tightening her grip around him. “I missed you.”
“Tell me more about Grace,” he urged, kissing her on the forehead. “I want to know everything.”
“It was a miracle,” she said with a sigh. “But she came back to us. And she brought my niece, Charlotte, with her. Charli is healthy and beautiful, and Grace is healing at home.”
“Thank God,” he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I have so much to tell you, Luca.”
“Let’s go home,” Luca said sweetly. “You can tell me there.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Despite his desire to know everything about what had happened since she he last saw her in New York, they were both quiet on the drive back to the castle. It was as if they were overwhelmed with the magic of being together again and they were worried that speaking might ruin the beauty of the moment. When they got home, and Luca pulled into the garage, Aurora leaned over and gave Luca a slow, sensual kiss.
“I’ll be waiting for you in my room,” she whispered in his ear. Luca smiled to himself as she got out of the car. Her haste reminded him of their first night together.
I guess some things never change.
Overflowing with joy, he left his garage, wondering what she had in mind. He could suspect, but whatever it was didn’t really matter. Aurora was back in his life. Everything else felt trivial. Luca couldn’t wait to touch her, yet he lazily climbed up the stairs, his ears picking up the sound of a lighter flickering as he reached the top landing. A pale light lit up the corridor. The sight that greeted him sent his adrenaline into hyper drive. Aurora had placed four candles in each corner of the room. She was standing in front of the bed, naked, hands on her hips, with a sexy smile on her beautiful face. The candlelight reflected off her pale skin as she took two confident steps towards him.
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