Page 37 of Sworn to My Heart
“So you just screamed for Abert’s help from the restroom for no reason?” he pushes, his smug smile widening. What is he planning? I can’t read him. Maybe he’s just crazy. Yes, he must be crazy. You’d have to be crazy to do what he does and still smile at the end of the day.
“I was trying to scare my mother,” I finally admit. Maybe I can be honest, at least about this.
Luca’s expression suddenly turns serious. “Alin, you’re part of the mafia and part of the family now, whether you like it or not. Any threat against you is a threat against us. It won’t be tolerated if she threatened you,” he adds, clearly waiting for more details from me, his gaze penetrating my skin, but not in the way I want it to.
I sigh and answer, “I ran away from home, from my family, from everything I’ve known for the past two decades.” He nods in understanding, and I continue, “I was supposed to marry another man, someone I didn’t know, for a family alliance.” Luca doesn’t look pleased at all; his eyes narrow, and a frustrated sigh escapes his mouth as if he already knows the rest of the story.
“I thought I was off their radar. Apparently, I was wrong. She found me, and if I hadn’t called for Abert, she would have taken me back with her. Instead of sitting here with you, I’d be preparing for a wedding celebration.” I shrink into my seat, nausea rising again as I say it out loud. Just the thought of it rekindles my fears.
Luca’s expression now looks furious. “She threatened you?” he asks through gritted teeth, removing his hand from my thigh, where it had rested until now. I feel exposed, as if he has just stripped away a piece of my clothing.
“Luca, don’t jump to conclusions,” I try to calm him. “My mother is a good woman, but if my father wants something, and he really wants this union, she will do whatever it takes. She would come back to take me. It seems staying here with you is saving me from another fate with them,” I answer honestly for the first time in a long while. It feels liberating.
He calms down, understanding. “You will stay close to security. You won’t move a meter without Abert or me. Is that clear?” he demands. I nod in agreement, knowing it’s the only thing that will keep me safe right now. I just hope she won’t have the courage to reveal herself to humans. They are pawns in a dangerous game they don’t even know they’re playing, and I feel a painful sting of guilt for involving him in this.
“No one will take you from me. You can only belong to me,” he asserts again with his characteristic possessiveness, looking at me with that hungry gaze I had been waiting to see since yesterday. I can’t tear my eyes away from his. I’ve fallen for them again.
No matter how hard I try to ignore him, the moment our eyes meet, it’s like a magnet, and I have no control. I’m lost.Alin, you have to get a grip. You’re staying here to utilize the close protection, not to fall back into thinking about Luca!
My eyes follow his as he leans forward, bringing his face closer to mine and placing his hand back where it was before, feeling its warmth on my thigh. His face is so close to mine, I can feel his breath on my lips, and a shiver runs down my spine. I swallow hard, trying to close my eyes and think about anything else, not to drown in his eyes again, when I suddenly feel his other hand caressing my neck, urging me to open my eyes and meet his hungry gaze waiting for me.
This man will be my downfall, I know, but I am ready to face the consequences. I’m ready to face everything when he looks atme like that, as if I am the only thing in the world he wants right now.
“Alianna,” I blurt out without thinking twice, repeating my full name.
“Alianna is my name at home. Alin is the short version. No one calls me Alianna except my parents,” I say under his breath, as if it were a truth serum.
“Shame. Alianna rolls off the tongue nicely. I could get used to that name,” he whispers, his lips brushing against mine.
My breath catches, and in an instant, the door opens, and I push him away from me, straightening up as if we were doing something forbidden. Luca doesn’t look pleased.
“You two are like magnets to each other. You really can’t be left alone for even a minute,” Mariano comments, laughing.
It seems that joke only amuses him; for me, it just induces panic. How right he is.
“Mariano, I hope for your sake this is urgent,” Luca growls at him. The shark is not amused at all that his meal was interrupted.
“Your delivery is waiting,” Mariano responds immediately, a strange look on his face. Do I see satisfaction in his eyes?
“What delivery?” I ask right away, my curiosity suddenly piqued. Is he going on another one of his criminal escapades, only to come back and ignore me again? A pang of disappointment hits my chest once more.
“Stay out of this, Alin. You can go downstairs to Cora. Mariano and I are leaving.” He surprises me by planting a long, warm kiss on the corner of my lips, reawakening my body.
“You’re mine, and today, a few more people are going to learn not to mess with what belongs to me,” he whispers in my ear before leaving the room.
If I weren’t so heated right now, I’d be angry at his caveman behavior. Why does my body respond to his possessiveness like this?
I’m sure he only cares about my looks. That’s what attracts him to me, nothing else. Play the game, and when it’s over, leave. I try to instill logic into my body, to prevent myself from falling for his games again.
Maybe if I believe this thought, not only will my heart distance itself from him, but my body will also stop wanting him.
Since I’ve decided to keep playing the game, I listen to Luca for once and head down to Cora’s apartment.
It seems she’s expecting me, as I see her standing at the entrance of her home, smiling her warm, always welcoming smile.
No matter how much my world burns, she always smiles at me at the end of the day without asking many questions. She understands my need for silence, and I thank her for that in my heart.
But it doesn’t take long before I regret it, as I realize I’m wrong this time. She grabs my hand, pulls me inside, and drags me to her playroom. She forces me to tell her why I lied to them that day.
