Page 97 of The Hidden Heir

Pulsating. Shooting a stream of his life essence all the way into my core. My body dissolves into a sheer puddle of joy. My heart thuds furiously as I squeeze every drop of this magnificent man, as I savor his orgasm and mine at the same time.

What a fool I was to think that I could ever bear to truly leave him. What a fool I was to talk to myself into believing I might be able to live without this man. As Luca bends down and drops a flurry of delicate kisses down my spine, I push against him for that final thrust. He gives it to me with a heavy growl, then slowly pulls out and spins me around.

The world shifts, and we end up on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms.

“No matter what comes next, Valentina, I made you a promise.”

“I was scared and confused.”

“I know,” he replies and kisses my forehead, prompting me to close my eyes and soften against him. “But at least you were remarkably smart about it. You almost got away from me, my love.”

I should be mad at Caroline for telling Luca where to find me. But I can’t be mad. Not when I have this man so desperately in love with me, so hopelessly devoted that he would destroy everything in his path to keep us safe and happy.

It took me a while to realize it.

To accept the cold, hard truth.

I will never have the normal, white-picket-fence kind of life. I won’t be a suburban housewife who bakes cinnamon cookies at Christmas and is the president of the PTA at Michael’s school. But I will have a good life, one way or another. I only need to trust Luca and his ability to come through for us.

He’s gotten us this far, after all.

29

VALENTINA

For a while, we say nothing.

We merely linger in the darkness, naked and exhausted, glued to one another and splayed across the bed. I rest my head on his chest, the sound of his heart building a rhythm in my head. A soothing rhythm that ultimately echoes my own heartbeat. I feel calm. Relaxed. Despite everything, Luca has become my peace, my haven.

“I do understand why you felt the need to run,” he says.

I raise my eyes to find him staring at the ceiling. “You do?”

“You were scared. You wanted to get Michael out of the crosshairs. Our unborn child, too,” Luca sighs deeply. “I was born and raised into this. It comes naturally. It’s all I’ve ever known, and I embraced it a very long time ago. But you never wanted to be a part of it, not under the terms and conditions Mancuso or my brother tried to force on you. You also got a taste of a normal life, or as much of it as you could, down in Calumet City.”

I nod slowly, setting my ear against his heart again. I love the sound of him reverberating through me. It’s a healing frequency for my soul.

“It was nice when it was just Michael and me,” I admit, “when I knew they couldn’t find us. Then you came barging into my life and⁠—”

“Ruined it.”

“No, you changed it,” I reply, meeting his gaze once more. “Luca, you changed everything. But good and bad aren’t measures for a life like ours. We’ll drive ourselves nuts trying to balance it all. It doesn’t work like that. I should know, I’ve been struggling with this for a long time.”

Luca’s eyes soften. “What are you trying to tell me?”

“Despite how everything started between us, I feel like I can’t live without you,” I say. “Luca, the hardest thing I ever did was leave you earlier tonight. I doubt I would’ve made it far tomorrow. My intentions were good, I guess, but right here with you, wherever here is, it’s where I belong.”

He runs his fingers through my hair, then turns us over so we lay on our sides, facing each other. In the darkness, I can still make out the elegant sharpness of his cheekbone and temple. The twinkle in his hazel eyes.

“I was desperate to lock you in,” he says. “I just didn’t realize what it was doing to me. Something like this wasn’t supposed to be in the books for me.”

“But look at us now. Making it work because we turned out to work pretty well together, didn’t we?”

“Say it,” Luca replies.

“I’m in love with you,” I say. “I don’t know how or when it happened, when it really hit me, but I can’t imagine my life without you anymore, Luca. With all its troubles, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Earlier tonight, I was terrified, heartbroken. So many things at once.”

Luca pulls me into his arms, and I breathe him in. “You’re the first and last woman I will ever love, Valentina, which means I will go scorched-earth on anyone who tries to take you away from me. I will take every fucking bullet in every fucking ballroom if it keeps you and our children safe.”