Page 5 of Saint Of Envy
“From what I know of your father, he loves you. You’re the jewel of his eye.”
“Perhaps,” I say forlornly. “It’s complicated.”
My father is a weakened man these days, and I don’t want to think about it now, especially knowing that he will have to deal with Leonardo directly now, and that Leonardo will see my escape from him as the ultimate betrayal.
“What is Vincent going to think of you taking his plane?” I say as we pull up outside a private airport.
“Eh,” Luc shrugs. “He already thinks he’s the most powerful man in the universe. I’m sure having his consigliere borrow his jet won’t do anything to humble him. Besides, by the time he catches up with me, we’ll have already landed in Vegas.”
Luc’s phone lights up on the console between us, and I can see from the caller ID that it’s Vincent.
“Speak of the Devil,” he says as he silences it. “I’ll deal with him later. The important thing right now is to get you out of Italy and somewhere safe.”
“And where will that be, exactly?”
“With me.”
When we board the plane, I stand in the aircraft's belly, barefoot and still in my wedding dress, while Luc talks to the pilot. I can hear him giving the man some story about how Vincent approved the flight and there’s “no need to call and check since Vincent and Isla are enjoying an event reception and don’t wish to be bothered right now”. The pilot glances over at me several times with a raised brow, but in the end, he does as Luc directs. Luc has an air of confidence about him, along with the sort of honorable reputation that no one questions his loyaltyto his Don—perhaps they should. I bet Vincent might after this incident.
Once the plane is in the air, Luc pours us both a drink from the extensive minibar on board.
“Scotch?” He asks as he hands me a glass.
At this moment, I would drink anything to dull my nerves a bit but think better of it at the last second.
“Thank you,” I say, shifting uncomfortably in my seat because the gown I’m wearing is so obnoxiously bulky.
“Here, let’s take care of that too,” he says with a small chuckle as he walks to the back of the plane and returns a moment later with a bathrobe folded over his arm. “Sorry, but there’s not really a change of clothes on here. The only thing I could find is this robe.”
“That will work,” I smile as I take it from him. It looks delightfully more comfortable than this god-awful dress. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Now, before I forget, let’s go over a few things that will be important to establish as boundaries before we land in Vegas.”
“Boundaries?”
“Yeah. I’m going to bring you to Vincent’s Casino,” he says, knocking back his glass of scotch in one gulp. “It’s the safest place that I can think of to keep you protected for now. Leonardo is going to be beyond furious, and he’s going to do everything in his power to get you back. And since you and I both know that we shouldn’t be together, we’re going to need to keep things at arm’s length.”
“I understand,” I say, already feeling the rising chemistry between us, even on this plane. “There’s a lot at stake.”
“Which is why you’re going to have to follow every safety rule that I lay out once we get there. Otherwise, I won’t be able to keep you safe.” His voice is strained, and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because of the constant threat that we’ll be under or the emotional danger of our forbidden relationship. “If Leonardo finds out that I care about you, Valentina, he will use it as a weakness to exploit.”
I think that’s the first time Luc has said aloud that he cares for me, even though I already knew it by his actions and the fact that he’s risked so much just to help me escape from that hell.
“I promise I won’t reveal anything to anyone,” I swear. “Not even Isla.”
Luc nods and then turns to close the door at the front of the plane that separates the cockpit from the rest of the aircraft. Despite the cockpit door already being shut, he also secured the secondary door before getting another drink.
“You can get changed here if you want,” he says over his shoulder. “The bathroom is a rather tight space for that absurdly enormous dress.”
He turns around, highlighting the fact that he really is a gentleman. But I can’t get undressed because I can’t unbutton the bodice of my dress.
“Can you help me, please?” I ask hesitantly.
When Luc turns back around to look at me, there’s a darkened desire in his eyes, as if he’s trying to silence his sinful thoughts before they get the better of him.
Our adrenaline is still running high as he walks to stand behind me and unbuttons my dress. There are so many lace-covered buttons. It’s a painstakingly slow process, one that becomes more insatiably charged with each button that he loosens. I can feel his hands lingering along my backbone. He traces gently down the sides of my spine as he goes. I can hear his breath become labored as he reaches the last button. He sucks in a sharp inhale as my dress hits the floor.
I turn to face him before reaching for the robe, wearing nothing but the delicate white lace bra and panties that I had on beneath my gown, and the charm bracelet that he gave me with the tiny gold camera dangling from it.
