Page 46 of Devil's Embrace
My fork clattered against my plate.Luca's hand stilled halfway to his coffee cup.Our gazes met across the table, a silent conversation passing between us in an instant.
"What bad man, sweet pea?"I asked carefully, buying time while I tried to determine how much she remembered, how much she'd understood.She hadn’t had a single nightmare, nor has she brought up the two battles before now.I’d hoped she’d miraculously forgotten about what happened, or convinced herself it wasn’t real.
"The loud one with the fancy clothes," Mina clarified, picking at a strawberry on her plate."The one who made everyone scared.Mr.Luca made him go away, right?"
My throat tightened.Of course, she remembered.She'd been there, seen everything, her small body trembling against mine as Luca and Mateo fought.Children absorbed more than adults gave them credit for.
Before I could formulate a response, Luca set down his napkin and leaned slightly toward Mina, his voice gentle but direct.
"Yes.He's gone and he won't be coming back.You don't need to worry about him anymore."
"Good.He was mean.And his clothes were too ugly."
A startled laugh escaped me before I could stop it.Leave it to my daughter to judge a man not by his murderous intentions but by his fashion choices.
"Yes, they were."Luca’s eyes crinkled slightly at the corners.Was that an actual smile?"Very ugly and not at all appropriate for breakfast."
Mina nodded sagely, returning to her pancakes as if the matter was settled.And perhaps for her, it was.The simplicity of a child's world—bad people go away, good people stay, and pancakes shaped like animals make everything better.
If only adult realities were so straightforward.I looked at Luca, finding him already watching me, his expression unreadable yet somehow intimate.He understood what I was thinking—that we'd need to be vigilant about what Mina had seen, what she might remember, what nightmares might come.Another silent communication passed between us, a shared commitment to protect her not just physically but emotionally.
We both reached for the coffee pot at the same time, our fingers brushing.A jolt of electricity shot up my arm at the contact, unexpected and unwelcome.I pulled back as if burned, but not before noticing the slight darkening of his eyes, the almost imperceptible tightening of his jaw.He felt it too, whatever this thing was between us.
"Please."He gestured for me to go first.
I poured coffee with a hand that wasn't quite steady, then passed the pot to him.Our fingers brushed again, deliberately this time.His touch lingered a moment longer than necessary, a silent acknowledgment of whatever current ran between us.
The moment shattered as the dining room door opened and a man I recognized as Luca's security chief entered.He stopped just inside the doorway, his expression apologetic but insistent.
"Sir, the Calabrese situation requires your immediate attention."His gaze flicked briefly to Mina and me before returning to Luca.
Luca's expression hardened instantly, the softness that had been present moments before vanishing behind the mask of the crime boss.The transformation was so complete it was almost like watching two different people occupy the same body.
"Of course."He rose from his chair and turned to us, his voice softening slightly."Please, finish your breakfast.Maria will see to anything you need."
Mina looked up from her pancakes, a smear of syrup on her chin."Are you leaving, Mr.Luca?"
"Just for a little while," he assured her."Business matters."
"Boring grown-up stuff?"she asked with a child's directness.
The corner of his mouth twitched."Extremely boring grown-up stuff."
This seemed to satisfy her, and she returned to the serious business of separating her berries by color.Luca moved to the door but paused as he reached me, his hand coming to rest on my shoulder.The weight of it was warm and solid, a touch that felt possessive in a way I should have resented but didn't.
"Meet me in my study tonight."His voice was low enough that only I could hear."After Mina's asleep.We need to talk about what happens next."
His fingers squeezed gently, then trailed across my shoulder as he stepped away, the contact brief but deliberate.I didn't pull away, didn't object.Instead, I found myself nodding, already anticipating the hours until evening with a mixture of dread and something far more dangerous—desire.
I watched him leave, his back straight, shoulders set with authority as he followed his security chief from the room.The domesticity of moments before seemed like a dream, replaced by the reality of who he was, what he did.The reality of the world we now inhabited.
Yet as I turned back to help Mina with her breakfast, I couldn't deny the anticipation building within me.What happens next, he'd said.As if we had a future to plan, as if there were a path forward that included all of us.And God help me, I wanted to believe there was.
I knocked softly on Luca's study door later that night, my heart hammering against my ribs like it wanted to escape.Mina had gone to sleep clutching her newest stuffed unicorn, her breathing deep and even, her world once again safe and orderly.Mine felt anything but.I smoothed my hands down the simple black dress I'd chosen, wondering why I'd bothered to change out of my jeans, to brush my hair until it shone, to dab perfume at my pulse points.This was supposed to be a conversation about our future, not...whatever my treacherous body was expecting.
"Come in."His voice carried through the heavy wood, that deep baritone that seemed to vibrate straight through to my core.
I pushed open the door, stepping into the dimly lit space.The study looked different at night, more intimate somehow.A fire crackled in the stone hearth, casting dancing shadows across leather-bound books and polished wood.Luca stood with his back to me, one shoulder leaning against the mantle, a tumbler of amber liquid in his hand.He'd removed his suit jacket, his tie hung loose around his neck, and he'd rolled his sleeves to reveal muscular forearms marked with intricate tattoos.The firelight caught on the edges of his profile, highlighting the strong jaw, the straight nose, the scar that traced his cheek like a signature.
