They moved into the small office behind the café, and Luca stood just inside the doorway, arms crossed over his chest as he felt completely out of place. He wasn’t sure that he should be in the room with Sophia and her boss, but he wasn’t letting her out of his sight—not here, not now.
Marlene didn’t waste time. “He came by again this morning.”
Sophia stiffened. “Peter was here?”
“Yes,” Marlene said. “Twice yesterday, once right before closing. He has the same routine every day. He asks me if you are working or if you’ll be in today. I told him you were unavailable, as I usually do, and that he needed to stop coming here.”
“And?” Luca asked.
“He smiled,” she said grimly. “Said he missed her and wanted to see her and left.” Sophia looked scared out of her mind, and Luca felt like someone had punched him in the gut.
“I told him if he came back again, I’d call the police,” Marlene continued. “But I don’t want you here until this is handled. That’s not a suggestion—it’s me protecting myself and my business.”
Sophia nodded quickly. “I already planned to ask for time off. As much as you’ll give me.”
“You take all the time you need,” Marlene said without hesitation. “Your job will be here when you’re ready. And if he shows up again, I’ll document everything.”
“Thank you,” Sophia said, her voice thick with emotion.
Luca held out his hand to Marlene, and she took it. “Thank you for having her back,” he said.
Marlene stared him down. “Just make sure you watch Sophia’s back now,” she ordered.
“I will,” he said with no hesitation or doubt. He always had her back, no questions asked. Marlene had them leave through the back door to avoid the main street. Luca scanned the alley before letting Sophia step out, then walked her to the truck like theworld might try something stupid. He wanted to be between her and whatever the universe wanted to throw at her.
Once they were inside the truck and moving, Sophia let out a long breath. “That went better than I expected.”
“Good,” Luca said. “Because now I’m done playing nice.”
She glanced at him, and Luca knew that she was going to give him a fight. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said, pulling out his phone at a red light, “I’m meeting Rocco and Tony tonight, and you’re going with me. And then, I’m making sure Peter understands that you are not alone.”
Sophia hesitated. “Luca, please don’t do anything illegal.”
He looked at her then, really looked. “I won’t. But I will do everything necessary to make sure that he understands that he’ll have to deal with me if he comes after you again.” She nodded slowly, seeming to trust him in a way that tightened something deep in his chest.
As he drove them back to his place, Luca knew one thing for sure—this wasn’t just about helping an old friend anymore. This was personal, and Peter had made a very big mistake coming after the woman that he cared about.
SOPHIA
Sophia was nervous about meeting Luca’s best friends. He told her all about them both over lunch at his house, and by the time that they left to meet Rocco and Tony, she felt as though she already knew them. The question was, would they want to know her?
Luca took her hand into his own, and damn if that little gesture didn’t help to calm her racing heart. “You seem nervous,” he assessed.
“That’s because I am nervous,” she admitted.
“Well, you don’t need to be, the guys are going to love you,” Luca soothed.
“You don’t know that,” she insisted. “What if they see me as a needy leech from your past who is just using you to help me out?”
“Is that what’s going on here?” he drawled. “Because that’s not how I see things. You’re not a needy leech, and you might needhelp, but I’m not giving you anything that I don’t want to give, Sophia,” he said.
He stopped outside the bar and turned to face her. Sophia practically ran into him, her hands landing on his chest to brace herself from falling into his arms. Luca pulled her against his body and looked down at her, as though daring her to tell him to stop what he was about to do. But if she was right, and he was about to kiss her, there was no way that she’d stop him. He dipped his head and sealed his lips over hers, and damn it, she wanted to swoon. But she had never swooned over any man, and she wasn’t about to start for Luca.
“You should have told me to stop,” he said, breaking their kiss. She hated the indecision she saw in his eyes.
“And why would I want to do that?” she asked.
