He came to a stop at a light and gave me a long, hard lookthat sent a shiver down my spine. “After my mother died, I was adopted into a new family. They instilled a work ethic and taught me how to survive.”
Caving to the pressure of his piercing gaze, I dropped my eyes to where his hand rested on the gearshift. His knuckles bore the telltale remnants of scars.How had I not noticed before?My chest ached as I wondered what Luca had gone through during those years on the streets. My hand reached of its own accord to ghost my fingertips along the mutilated remnants of his past. The car lurched forward when the light turned green, snapping me out of the morose spell I’d fallen under. I quickly pulled my hand back into my lap and turned my gaze out the window.
“You know,” I said thoughtfully. “I realized this morning that I don’t even know your last name.”
The lines of his jaw softened with the change in subject. “Romano.”
Luca Romano.
It suited him. The name commanded respect without being flashy or overbearing.
“Aren’t you going to ask mine?” I prodded.
“Alessia Genovese—I came to your office, remember?”
“You’re always one step ahead, aren’t you?” I sighed, dropping my head back on the headrest. “I feel like you know everything about me already, and I hardly know you at all.”
“I like to be on my game, yes, but there’s still plenty I don’t know about you.”
“Like what?”
“Like whether you scream when you come,” Luca offered in a lust-filled rumble.
That was unexpected. His comment had rendered mespeechless, but my body had reacted instantly—nipples pebbling, my heart thrumming in my chest.
“And if I don’t?” I asked softly.
“Honey, what I’ve got planned for you, you won’t have a choice.” His eyes cut to mine, his lips pulling back in a wicked grin.
Turns out, he did make me scream … by forcing me on the Cyclone rollercoaster.
Once we got to the boardwalk, we rode a dozen different rides, which all looked far more dangerous than I remembered. The Ferris wheel was the only one he didn’t have to drag me onto. It probably wasn’t any safer since it looked far older than the others, but the slow rotation gave the illusion of safety, and I’d really wanted to see the area from up above.
The sun had begun to close in on the horizon, not quite setting but low enough to cast long shadows across the landscape. “The city is beautiful from up here,” I absently noted as we took our turn paused at the top of the wheel.
Luca draped his arm behind me and pulled me in close against his hard body. “I love this city—can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
“I think when you’re from New York, it becomes a part of you. The diversity and opportunities, anything you could ever want is right here—why would anyone want to leave?” When I stopped speaking, I realized I could feel the weight of his stare.
Luca’s fathomless gaze searched my face, for what, I was unsure. He brought his hand from my shoulder up to the back of my head, weaving his fingers into my hair, and pulled me in for a tender, sensual kiss. As the car slowly rocked, we tasted each other in an achingly sweet kiss. Lustbegan to stir deep in my belly but was doused when the ride jerked back into motion, startling us away from one another and sending me into a fit of giggles.
Luca shook his head playfully. “Reminds me of getting caught making out in my bedroom as a kid.”
“You fooled around in your house when your mom was home?” I couldn’t even comprehend doing that.
“I did a lot more than that,” he said with a fiendish grin. “I was hell on wheels. My poor ma never had a chance.”
“What did she do when she caught you?” I was pretty sure my dad would have locked me in a basement until I was fifty.
“She’d chase off the girl, then slap me upside the head while she cursed me out in Italian. She would spit fire once she got going; it was impressive, really.”
“Do you know Italian?” I asked in surprise.
“Nah. My dad didn’t speak it, so ma didn’t use it much—she was more Italian than him. Your family speak it?”
“No, my mom’s mom did; she lived with us for a while when I was young. I wish I could—it’s a beautiful language. I’ve thought about buying software or taking a class but haven’t ever taken the time.”
“Think I’d rather just go spend a month or so in Italy,” he mused, gazing off toward the beach.
