Page 27 of Protecting Charity

“Give me a second, fluff ball.”

I threw away my can and saw Luca sitting with papers before him, his brows knit together with concentration, oblivious to the world around him.

“It wouldn’t be wise for you to tempt fate anymore, Charity,” he said, holding to his expression and position as if it wasn’t worth his time to look at me.

So he wasn’t oblivious as he appeared after all—note to self. “I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.” I grinned and hid behind the counter as I fed Cannoli.

“Don’t be coy,” he blurted, suddenly standing before me. “We’ve waited too long to have you, and the stunt you pulled this morning will only get you into trouble. Do you like trouble, Charity?”

What did that mean, waited for too long? How long have they waited, and why?

I stood, meeting his gaze. “It depends, Luca. What are the repercussions?” I smirked.

“Let’s just say Max’s demonstration will be the least of your worries. I don’t feel like playing nice.”

I hesitated before responding. “I think we have established, I’m crazy enough to test the limits and laugh about it in the end.”

He squeezed my throat and pushed me against the counter, effectively stopping me from moving, but sending fire down between my legs, making me want to push him further. “You sure about that?”

I chewed my bottom lip as my stomach did somersaults. “After last night and this morning, I’m more than positive.”

His head dipped down and brought his lips close to mine. “Brave words for someone who likes to maintain control.”

“I think I can make an exception.” I tilted forward to claim his lips, but he dodged me with ease.

“Not like you have much of a choice anymore.” He stepped back, never giving me what I needed.

My belly burned with hunger and a desire that I was now being denied the opportunity to slake. If this was the consequences he was going to dole out, I changed my mind. No affection was worse than anything I could have imagined he would come up with.

He packed up his papers while I stayed frozen in place, weighing the pros and cons. I still hadn’t finished my list by the time he finished packing up. “I hope you are ready. We should have left by now.”

His voice drew me from my deep thoughts, and I ran my fingers through my wavy hair. “Fine, but I get to choose the music.”

“Uh, no. My car, my rules.” He held the door open and waited for me to walk through, then shut it behind him. “We are getting keys made for this door today too.”

“You are definitely playing the part of the boss today.” I scowled.

I slid into the passenger of his Mercedes when reality struck me, causing my nerves to twist my stomach.Tap. Tap. Tap.

Whenever we were together… alone like this, things became explosive. Now we were going out in public together, then we had a very important party. I didn’t want to ruin this recent development in our relationship.

He took his seat, and the engine roared to life with a deep purr that would whet anyone’s appetite. “Why are you nervous?”

His silky voice flipped my belly in somersaults that had me taking in extra air. “I’m not nervous.” I scoffed.

“Really?” He pointed to my uncontrollable tapping, calling me out for lying.

I wrapped my arms across my chest to hide my traitorous tick. Okay, so I was nervous, so sue me. “I just don’t want to disappoint.”

Opening up to Luca was something I don’t recall ever doing in the time we have known each other. Either the opportunity never arose, or I never felt comfortable enough to do so. We didn’t have that type of relationship then. Do we have that now? He always kept me at an arm’s distance, and now he’s the one making confessions that had my head in a tailspin. How was I supposed to know which way was up or down when everything I thought I knew how they felt about me turned out to be completely false?

“You have your moments, Charity, but you’ll never be a disappointment to us.”

My breath caught in my chest, and it damn near brought a tear to my eye. His kind words were so out of character I felt like someone should hold me underwater to bring me back to reality. Did I like these heart to heart moments? It opened up deep wounds he’d sliced there with threats of death in anger. I’d be crazy to forget our encounter just yesterday. Luca was my version of crazy, and I wasn’t necessarily certain it was good for that much crazy to be in one room together, unsupervised. But he was the other part of me, the part I couldn’t possibly see my life without, just like Nico and Max.

“What about you?”

“What?” He kept one hand on the wheel and his eyes on the road.

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