Page 97 of Trouble in Love
“She told you about me … didn’t she? About the babies.”
“She did.”
“That must have been quite a shock. What was your response?”
“I told her I was in love with the most incredible woman alive, and nothing or no one could change that. Then I told her to fuck off.”
Pride swelled my heart. “You did?”
“I did. Felt good, too. Should have done it a long time ago.”
“What else did Ms. Nightwing have to say for herself?”
“Not a lot. I got rid of her before she could say much more. But what she did say mostly centered around her being the only one who could give me what I wanted.”
“Did she mention her brother?”
“Christian?” Luca looked up, seeming surprised to hear that name. “Nope. She rarely did, though. Her family was a real sore point. I never met any of them until the wedding and even then, Christian wasn’t there.”
“Oh, but he was. Your boy ChrisisChristian. As in your girl Clara’s brother, Christian.”
Luca’s blue eyes, glowing in light of the moon, widened. “Not my girl, and … he’s her what now … also, what?”
“Yourmanager …” I repeated.
“Yep.
“Is the brother …”
“Right.”
“Of the girl he arranged for you to marry.” Luca nodded, then blinked the slowest blink I’d ever seen. “He’s also the reason you had to marry her and gives off some majorFlowers in the Attic ‘sister-loving’ vibes.”
The blank stare returned but for a much shorter period. “I genuinely have no response to that. I mean … what … Maybe you should just tell me what to think ‘cause I am blank.”
Sand squeaked between my toes as I twisted on my bum, then climbed into Luca’s lap. His hands automatically locked over the small of my back and slid down to cup my ass. “Chris or Christian or dickface, whatever you want to call him, is the one who leaked the photos … both times. Everything, the whole lot, was to get his sister married off to a rich hockey star.”
“No,” I dropped as Luca released my cheeks, his hands instantly flying to his mouth as he gasped. Had his eyes not been misting over with tears, his reaction would have been comical.
“But what about Clara and Dallas … the baby? How did leaving me at the church …” His voice trailed off before he grabbed me at the waist, shifted me from his lap, and jumped to his feet. “Chris was trying to make me look bad … to protect his sister.”
“At first yeah, but the baby changed everything. You were supposed to go to rehab, come out a new man ready to win back Clara’s heart, and live happily ever after.”
“That’s so …”
“Fucked up?”
“Yep. Really, really fucked up.” Luca kicked at the sand before dropping his face into his hands. “Oh my god. It’s so freaking obvious. Nightwing-Night! How did I not see it? God, I’m such a fucking idiot–”
“Stop!” I yelled, gripping his chin and squishing his perfect lips between my fingers. “If you expect me to let go of my shit, you need to let go of yours. Nothing in your history points to you being an idiot. You wanted to finish college before nominating for the draft, and you did, and guess what, Cowboy? Idiots don’t get straight A’s. Even Chris admitted how well you did without a manager before he came along. You are not stupid or dumb. You are kind and generous with the biggest heart of anyone I have known, and sometimes the wrong kind of people see that and take advantage of it.”
Luca pulled his head free, picked up a shell, and dusted the sand from its crinkled edges. After rolling it between his fingers a few times, he tossed it into the water, watching it disappear into the darkness before landing with a plop.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Princess, but if you truly think that, why would you leave and tell me to go back to Clara,knowing the kind of woman she was? How could you think I would be better off with someone who could do that?”
Bile rose in my throat as I remembered Chris’s arrogant contempt. “He called me Jasmine, Luca. God knows what dirt they have on me. You’ve worked so hard to come back from your injury and all the scandals. I didn’t want to be the one to ruin it.”
Part of me expected anger. Part of me wanted it. The familiar sting would almost have been soothing. But what I got was so much better and again proved what an extraordinary man Luca D’Cruz was.
