Page 50 of Luca
Because you’re beautiful. Because I like seeing you. Because something about you soothes the demons inside me.
Yet none of those words came out.
“Frankly, I’m waiting for you to bite my head off,” I teased. It was a half-truth. Her eyes flicked my way. Silence settled between us for a moment as we locked eyes, but then she averted her gaze. A flush crept up her neck and colored her cheeks. “You still want to bite my head off, don’t you?”
A sardonic breath left her. “It’s been-” Her soft voice trailed off, searching for a word, but then she sighed tiredly. “It’s been lonely,” she admitted, keeping her eyes averted. “I–” She cleared her throat before continuing, “I miss my brothers. Talking to someone. Anyone. My Italian sucks and there are few people able to communicate with me here.”
“If you’d only called me, I’d have flown over and talked to you.” Her husky laugh lit up my body. She thought I was joking, but I fucking meant it. I’d have dropped everything and everyone. She was the reason I went against my father for the first time at the age of twelve.
He almost killed an innocent five-year-old girl. Something about the terror in her eyes pierced through my soul and I couldn’t let him hurt her. So I attacked him. Stabbed him in the back. If only I’d aimed better and killed him right then and there.
“Talking to you would have been a welcome reprieve.” The words poured from her lips and then as if she realized how that sounded, she quickly added, “Your grandfather has been wonderful. Some days he’s kept me company. But he is one of the heads of the Sicilian mafia and not exactly friend material. So yeah, there is that.”
We walked side-by-side toward the beach. Silence, once again, filled the air. I could almost hear the pitter-patter of her heart. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. She let out an exasperated sigh, glancing at her feet, then she stopped.
Wordlessly, I offered her my arm and she looped her hand through it, then held on as she slipped her shoes off.
“Let me,” I offered, taking the shoes from her and letting them dangle from my fingers.
We resumed walking, her feet bare against the cobblestone. Her hips swayed with each step, tempting me.
“Halloween is this month,” I remarked out of the blue.
Her soft chuckle rang through the air. “That’s an odd thing to be thinking about.”
The wind swept and her dress fluttered around her body, highlighting her belly. That was our baby growing inside her.
Never in a million years had I imagined myself becoming a father. Considering our family history, I thought it was better to end the King line. But then Bianca came into our lives. She gave me hope of normalcy. My nieces and their happiness was confirmation that it was doable.
And now I had a chance to have my own family. I fucking wanted it. There was no way I’d give it up. I’d fight for it. I’d fight forus. But I’d have to be careful because Margaret was a stubborn woman, and she hated the Kings.
Except now there was so much more at stake here. Our child. Her future.
I wanted to give my child a happy life. The kind that Nonno gave me and Cassio. So I’d pull her into my scheme and we’d work out the rest. We’d have our whole lives to figure it out.
“A Halloween party was where I first ran into you,” I remarked. “You were dressed up like the Black Widow.” She barely stiffened, but I noticed it. “It’s just a costume, Margaret.”
Glancing my way, she tilted her head. “You seem different,” she said pensively. “Here at least.”
A sardonic breath left me. “Usually Iamdifferent here,” I admitted. “My grandfather gave Cassio and me some semblance of safety when we were kids. It’s the only place where we knew we were safe so I guess it stuck. Whenever I’m here, I feel at home.”
Comfortable silence followed.
“You are different too,” I remarked. She tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowed.
“I guess you’re right,” she commented. “It has been lonely.” A soft sigh left her lips and she started rubbing her belly again. “Besides, I need friends here. I have a daughter to think about and don’t want her to grow up lonely.”
“Have you thought about a name for her yet?” I asked her. She shook her head in response even though I knew that she’d liked my mother’s name when Nonno mentioned it. “This island is a good place to raise a family,” I told her. “When I was a kid, summer visits to Nonno were my favorite.”
“Hmmm.” I didn’t know what she meant by that but I let her process the words. It wasn’t as if Margaret ever held back. “Why don’t you move here then? Rather than live in New York or wherever you live.”
Jesus, she didn’t even know where I lived and I knew how she liked to eat her corn flakes.
“I actually want to do that,” I answered, steering the conversation exactly where I wanted it. “But Nonno would have women lining up all day and night until I chose one and married her.”
Margaret stopped and turned to face me, then threw her head back and laughed. She laughed so hard, she ended up holding her belly. She laughed so hard I was worried she’d drop the baby right here and now.
“You poor thing,” she mused, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “Oh my gosh. I haven’t had such a good laugh in a long time. Thank you.”
