My father turns and faces Harper.“If you give me any more problems, don’t think I won’t have my men torture and kill you.You are never to step foot in this room again.Is that understood?”
Harper glances at me before nodding.“Yes, sir.”
“Good, she’s learning,” Dante says with a smirk.“You both can return upstairs to bed, but do not disappoint me.”
I grab Harper’s hand and lead her up the basement stairs and around the house, back upstairs.“I don’t want to be alone,” she whispers, and I nod and put a finger over my lips, warning her to be quiet.
I grab both of our bags and bring them to the guest quarters bathroom, flip on the light and fan, and gesture for her to join me inside.I close the door behind us.
She opens her mouth to speak, and I hold up a finger and start the shower, making sure any sound is entirely drowned out by all the noise around us.
Only now do I feel it’s safe to talk.
Twelve
Harper
“What are we going to do about the little boy in the basement?”I ask, staring at Luca.
I shiver, the steam from the shower warming up the bathroom, but I’m still freezing from running around outside in the middle of the night.
Or maybe it’s the adrenaline that’s still firing through me.
Luca removes his shirt and then strips out of his pants, kicking them out of the way.He pulls back the shower curtain.“Join me.”
He’s not answering my question.
He hurries into the shower and steps under the hot spray.
Sighing, I strip out of his clothes that I’m wearing and join him.“Happy?”I ask, perturbed that he can’t just talk to me like a normal person.
Luca’s arms are instantly around my waist, tugging me against him under the hot water.
I exhale a breath, but I’m still shivering and on the verge of crying.None of this is fair.
“Talk to me,” he whispers, his fingers moving over my back, touching and grazing every inch of my skin.His hands never cease to slow, and he keeps me close against him, which also allows us to share the water.
“Your father is the mafia?”I can’t keep my voice down, and his answer is a silent nod.
“You should have fucking told me, Luca.Before I showed up here.”I attempt to shove him off of me, but his hold on me only grows stronger.
“I know.I couldn’t,” he says, his breath tickling my neck as he rests his lips against my bare skin.
My body curls into his, seeking comfort, warmth, affection, while my heart is being tormented.I’m breaking inside.
“What are we going to do?”My voice catches in my throat, and I feel the first tears begin to surface.
Luca brings me in farther under the spray, letting the water wash away the first signs of moisture.
“We’re going to plan a wedding.”
I laugh darkly.“You can’t be serious.”He’s out of his mind if he thinks we’re actually going through with a wedding.“We don’t even love each other.”He can’t tell me that he loves me, I’d never believe him.We’ve had sex once, last night, and yes, it was fucking amazing, but he doesn’t know everything about me.
And clearly, I don’t know everything about him either.
“There’s time for that,” he whispers, his thumb grazing my cheek before caressing my jaw.He tilts my chin up to meet his stare.“We’re at least heading in the right direction.”
“Are we?”I ask.“Because you’ve been lying to me.”
