Luca’s shoulders finally dropped. Tears slid down his face slow and heavy, but he remained quiet. His tears trickled down his high cheekbones as his chest shook once, then again. Lucille let out a soft sob, watching Luca press his fingers to his eyes trying to physically hold himself together.
“You were the first,” he uttered lowly. “And you’ll be the last.” His voice came out fractured, unfamiliar even to him. His words fought scar tissue, pain, and memory.
“The first person I ever trusted,” he continued. “The first person to ever make me feel safe…”
His throat worked. Swallowing hurt. Every part of his body hurt.
“And the last person,” he whispered. “To ever touch me with the intent to harm… I made sure of it.”
Lucille’s knees buckled. It felt like the room tilted. Luca closed the space between them. He stretched his arms, holding on to her arms firmly. Another tear fell as he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead.
“Luca bear?—”
“A part of me feels like you did it. I don’t want to believe that you would kill the only person that loved me unconditionally.” Luca inhaled sharply.
“I feel like my answers are getting close… the more I observe the more I notice.” His grip tightened on the sides of her arms.
“If you killed Pops, I’m going to make your entire universe crumble…” Luca moved his head to the side of Lucille’s face.
“It’s going to kill me, to kill you when the time comes if what I think is true.” He released her.
“I didn’t kill him, Luca, I swear. For whatever it’s worth, I couldn’t do that.” She shook her head in disbelief that he would even think that.
“I know I’ve done a lot of fucked up shit that weren’t mistakes… they were all choices made out of selfishness and my willpower to keep surviving something I overcame. I’m sorry…” She murmured the last part lowly.
Apologizing was something she hadn’t uttered since her youth years.
“I failed you, and it eats me alive every day. I thought drugging you would make you forget… there’s so much to that day whenyou walked in on me and Lennox, that I’ll take to my grave. I never forgiven myself for that…I hate that you and Kentrell hate each other. I’ve already accepted the fact that one day… one of you will kill each other. Something tells me that you will be the last man standing, although it will crush me to lose either of you.” Lucille shook her head, desperation clawed at her features. She wanted to make things right.
Lucille thought she’d never see the day her Luca Bear would call her out. Luca pulled all of the skeletons that she kept buried deep in the dark pits of her soul, right out to the light of day.
“Go,” he whispered.
That one word shattered her into piece.
“Go,” he repeated, firmer now. “If you love me at all… go.” Luca nodded his head toward the cracked door.
She stood in front of him trembling, her fingers twitched. Lucille wanted to reach for Luca, fall into his arms and cry her heart out. Instead, she let her pride and the power that she reserved for times like this overshadow the uneasiness in her body. Lucille slowly turned toward the door. Each step toward the exit felt like it cost her something priceless. Her heels clicked softer now. Her shoulders hunched inward. Her status as the Bonetti queen felt stripped away down to a woman drowning in consequence.
When she got to the cracked door, she pulled it open all the way. Lucille stopped at La’Nova’s presence. She stood outside the threshold, frozen with tear-stained cheeks. La’Nova’s hands were clasped tightly together like she had been praying silently for Luca. She could feel his pain radiating from where he stood and wanted nothing more in the moment but to reach out andtouch him. Lucille stared at La’Nova for a couple of seconds before speaking her final peace.
“Take care of him, please.” Lucille uttered sorrowfully.
Lucille dropped her gaze first. She walked past La’Nova without another word.
Luca exhaled like he’d been holding his breath the entire time. He looked up and saw La’Nova standing at the door. His heart stuttered as he quickly turned his back to her. It was a weak attempt to recover in front of her.
“I need a moment, Nova baby,” he said, walking toward his floor to ceiling window.
“Okay, I’m here if you need me,” she uttered softly, feeling his pain in more ways than one.
La’Nova shut the door which prompted Luca to think she left out to leave him in his misery. He didn’t want her to see him broken, and in the state of mind that he was in. His broad back bowed as he leaned one arm against the glass. His shoulders were tight as his eyes scanned the outside of his estate. A small part of him yearned for Lucille to come back in the room and make what couldn’t be fixed right.
Luca’s chest seized, as he watched Lucille drop her head into the palms of her hands. Her shoulders shook violently for a couple of seconds as she repeatedly wiped away her tears roughly. Seconds later, she righted her shoulders and walked toward her sleek, all black, big body Benz. Her driver opened the back door as she calmly slid into the back seat.
Soon as his gates closed, something inside of Luca collapsed. His knees gave out without warning. One moment he was standing.The next he was on his floor, palms pressed flat, head bowed, a sound tearing out of him that didn’t sound human ripped from his chest as his stomach tanked.
La’Nova froze for half a heartbeat, then she ran toward him. She dropped to her knees beside him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Without hesitation she pulled Luca to her bosom, his body shook violently against hers. His tears soaked into her chest as his breathing shuttered.
