Page 121 of Alpha-Ex Wedding Ruse
My phone buzzed on the table. Trina.
I let it ring once. Twice. I didn’t feel like talking to anyone.
Especially not to Trina, who was probably calling to yap about what a successful event it was, and how Luca and Elena made such a wonderful bride and groom.
But when it started to ring a third time, I figured it must be very important, so I reached for it.
Sniffling, I wiped my nose with the back of my hand before hitting the answer button. “Is everything okay, Trina?”
“No,” she blurted, her voice tight with panic. “The whole place is a crazy mess.”
I sat up straighter. “Did someone have a reaction to the food? Did—”
“It’s not the food, Leila. It’s the groom.”
A thick knot formed in my throat. “What happened to Luca?”
“Are you not watching the stream for the soirée? The entire city is going crazy.”
I quickly hung up the phone and opened the stream. And the headline that welcomed me was, Luca Vaughn cancels wedding to the Bronx Princess, Elena Moreau.
I stilled. What?
Almost immediately, the doorbell rang. I hung up the phone and went to check it out.
To my surprise, Luca was standing at my front door.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Leila’s POV
Luca stoodat my front door, drenched from the heavy rain. His shirt was untucked, his bow tie hung loose around his neck, and his crisp white shirt clung to him, outlining every hard line of muscle.
“Luca, what are you doing—” I began, but he stepped forward without a word. Instinctively, I stepped back as he let himself in.
I stumbled, nearly losing my footing—not because he’d touched me. We weren’t even brushing shoulders, but even those few inches felt like too much. It was the look on his face—the storm in his eyes. Need. Raw, unfiltered desire. And something else…clarity.
“Luca…” My voice broke into a whisper as he shut the door behind him.
“What are you doing here?” I managed to choke out, my breath quickening as I kept retreating while he closed the distance. “Why did you…” I swallowed hard. “You shouldn’t have…why did you call off your wedding?”
“You know damn well why I did it, Leila.” His voice was a low growl, rough enough to scrape against my skin.
“I—Luca…you shouldn’t have. You shouldn’t—” My back hit the wall, and I swallowed hard.
His presence was overwhelming—in the kind of way that made my pulse race. His scent wrapped around me, flooding my senses until speech became impossible. My wolf stirred violently, urging me not to push him away again. I was cornered.
“Luca, your father—”
“I don’t care about my father,” he snapped, cutting me off. “I don’t care about Elena. I don’t care about her father. I don’t care about this wedding. Never did.”
I didn’t think I could ever feel pity for Elena. But now…I kind of did. Watching your fiancé call off your wedding less than a day before it? That had to hurt.
Luca’s hand came up to my face, cupping my cheeks. My eyes fluttered shut as I let myself lean into his touch.
“I couldn’t do it…” His voice was a whisper now. “I couldn’t marry another woman when you were right here. And the last thing I want is to make you my mistress, because I could never stay away from you. You complete me, Leila. You make me feel like I’m not drowning, like I am…worthy of love. Because I’ve spent my whole life believing I couldn’t be loved. Not when my own mother left me. And as for my father,” he let out a humorless chuckle “well, you’ve met the man.
“And then you came along…” His eyes burned into mine. The way he looked at me made my wolf leap inside me. The way he looked at me made the thousand and one butterflies in my belly take flight. The way he looked at me—like I was the only thing in his world that mattered.
