“What is that for?”
“For Jude, for me, for everything.”
“You deserve everything and then more, tesora.”
“So what about the curse of my last name?” I asked teasingly as he was looking at me with an amused smile. “Are you going to adopt me too?”
He snorted, tightening his hold around my waist. “No, you, I’ll marry, of course.”
I was stunned. He’d just said that like it was the most natural thing to say, like it was evident and not the bomb it was.
I followed him numbly inside the car.
“Are you in shock?”
I turned toward him in the seat. “I just, you just said that.”
He nodded. “I did. I said you were mine, Cassie. I thought you knew what it meant.”
“Yes, no, I mean— Was that a proposal?”
“Absolutely not! Give me more credit, tesora. When I propose, you’ll know.”
I shook my head with a small smile. “What are we doing now?”
He sighed, looking at his watch. “I’ve got to go see Matteo with Dom about…”
“Okay. You’ll be fine though, right?”
“Of course I will. I won’t leave you for long. Maybe book a massage.”
“Good idea.” I didn’t really feel like getting a massage, but I didn’t want him to worry about me.
“It’s all good, tesora. I promise.” He grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. “Let’s enjoy it, things are going well. Tonight I’m taking you for dinner atVignaiolo. What do you say?”
“Isn’t it that super famous restaurant with a few months’ long waiting list?”
“It is.”
“How can you get a table?”
He shrugged. “The perk of being the owner I suppose.”
“Oh…” I knew that Luca was powerful, rich, and scary, but I had not yet really dealt with this side of him. I was sure it would all take a little getting used to but I loved him enough to deal with everything to come.
When we made it back to the hotel, we went to Dom’s room instead of ours, and Dom was talking with a guard I’d seen around the property a few times before.
Dom turned to me and winked. “How are things, princess?”
I shook my head with a small smile. “Things are good.”
He nodded before looking at Luca. “Sergio will look after Cassie while we do our stuff; he’s been briefed. He’s good.”
“Sergio,” Luca called him with his commanding boss voice.
The burly young man turned toward him. “Boss.”
“You’re going to guard her as if she were your life, do you understand?” His voice was calm but the coldness behind it was terrifying.