Page 44 of Luca

I just wish I had the same.

Chapter thirteen

Luca

Giada is gnawing on her bottom lip as we drive to Boston. The lip I kissed not even an hour ago. The kiss that had me questioning everything I thought I knew about myself. I was here to make sure Francesco Cataldi paid for what he did to my parents, to the Monaghans, and to the man who raised me. I wasn’t meant to come to Boston and fall for his daughter. But there is no denying the heat that raced through me when her lips met mine after we said our vows.

“Hey,” I say, taking my hand from the wheel and using my thumb to pull her abused lip from her teeth. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Finn understands there was no way I was going to allow Carlo to trade you to the Russians.”

“Carlo tried to hurt his wife. You don’t think that’s going to be playing through his mind when he looks at me?”

I let out a breath. “I think Finn is going to see a girl who needs help. My family doesn’t view women the same as yours. He doesn’t use them to make deals and gain power.”

“That’s not what I heard. He married an Amatto to do just that.”

“Fair,” I concede. “But Finn loves his wife, regardless of why they got married. He respects her and has her working in his casino. From what I hear, she runs the place and he doesn’t allow anyone to utter one cross word about her. That’s not a man who doesn’t care about his woman.”

“One woman. Fine. But me? That’s a whole other story.”

“I said I would protect you. In fact, I remember making that vow to you less than an hour ago. Do you think I’m going to go back on my word now? We haven’t even been married a full day. Give me a little credit.”

“That was so my brother couldn’t marry me off. It wasn’t real.”

“Seemed pretty real to me.” That kiss was sure as hell real.

Giada stares at her hands lying in her lap, her fingers twisting and pulling.

“What are you really worried about?” I ask. Her nerves are understandable and it’s been a hell of a morning, but there’s something else going on in her mind. I want more than anything for her to have the same courage she’s always had with me and tell me what she’s thinking.

“What if he sends me back?” she whispers, continuing to stare at her lap. “What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me because I’m a Cataldi and he wants me gone and away from his family? I’m dangerous, Luca.”

“First of all, you’re not dangerous. That’s your brother. Our marriage has all but incapacitated him as far as what moves he can make now. If you’re married to me, the Russians won’t help him. Even they don’t have the power to override the state of New Hampshire, and as of eleven thirty this morning, they attested to the fact that you are now my wife. Second, you’re no longer a Cataldi. You’re a Bennetti, and by extension, a Monaghan. Even my cousin can’t deny that. So, as far as I’m concerned, you’re family, just as much as me.”

Giada’s stare bores into me as I continue to drive down the highway to the penthouse.

“What?” I ask, glancing at her.

“I’m your wife.”

“That’s what I just said.”

A laugh bubbles from her, and I’ll admit, I’m a little scared the day has caught up to her and she’s cracking under the pressure. Not that I could blame her.

“I don’t know why I find it funny. I’m still pissed you pulled the wool over my eyes for years, but it just hit me that we’re married now.”

“Giada, you know why I couldn’t say anything. Even when you’d confided in me, I had to be careful—”

“I understand. What you did was incredibly dangerous, and I’m glad as hell you weren’t caught. Otherwise, I’d be on my way to New York right now, and you’d be…” She pauses, the weight of what she was going to say suddenly heavy in the SUV.

“I’d be dead.”

“As your wife, I think it’s well within my rights to tell you never to do something like that again.”

I smile at the no-nonsense tone in her voice. “I’ll give you that.”

The feeling in the car lightens as we make our way into the city, but as soon as we pull into the underground parking of Finn’s penthouse and Giada gets a look at the three armed guards waiting for us to park, her jaw tenses along with every muscle in her body.

“Remember what I said. You’re my wife, and that means you’re family.”

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