Page 341 of Reign

“I love you too.”

Something shifts in his expression. His thumbs still against my cheeks, and for the first time since he walked into the room, Luciano looks shaken.

“I think I have for longer than I knew what to call it,” I admit. “You’ve been taking up too much space in my head for it to be anything else.”

His forehead lowers to mine.

“Say it again.”

“I love you, Luciano.”

His eyes close for a moment.

When they open, the rawness in them nearly ruins me.

“Finally.”

I blink. “Finally?”

“Yes, finally admitting something without attitude.”

A laugh breaks through the pressure in my chest.

“I’m still angry about my pool.”

“You can love me and be angry.”

“I plan to.”

Chapter 49

Elena

Luciano has been staring at me all night.

Staring.

Every time I glance toward him, his eyes are already on me, moving slowly over my face as though something about it changed between this morning and now.

It hasn’t.

I’m still the same woman whose pool he drained without permission.

I’m still angry about that.

Mostly.

“You’re doing it again,” I say.

Luciano keeps my hand securely inside his as he leads me through Elite. Low purple light moves over his face, catching the sharp line of his jaw and the open collar of his black shirt.

“Doing what?”

“Staring at me.”

“I am.”

I wait for the rest. It doesn’t come.