Page 80 of Beauty and the Daddy
Her voice is a whisper, rinsed in sleep, and it hits me like salvation. "Then stop pushing me away."
17
BELLE
He thought I was asleep, and you should have seen the look on his face when he realized I heard every word.
Sofia and I can't handle any more loss.
Yeah. Me neither.
He's a terrifying man, but also stupid-cute at how sheepish he looks when I tell him not to push me away.
We're both staring at each other now, suspended in this strange, twilight honesty. He's kneeling at the edge of Sofia's bed like he's praying at something that looks a lot like regret.
He tries to stand, already halfway gone in his head, and I catch his wrist.
"Stay," I whisper.
He freezes like he can't believe what I just said, and for once, Luca Moretti's fresh out of plans.
But he doesn't have to worry. I've got him.
I slide Sofia's arm off my ribs, inch by inch, and kiss her forehead. She sighs, rolls, clutches her pillow in place of me, and I know all's good in dreamland. I set the remote to low volume and ease off the bed.
"Come with me," I whisper. "I want to talk somewhere private."
We tiptoe out like burglars.
"This way." He leads, occasionally staring at me like I'm the mirage here.
We move through the house on soft feet—hallway, library, the corridor—until the night air kisses my face. The balcony wraps the east wing like a sweeping cloud. The city's out there, humming. The estate's a sleeping giant beneath us.
"You want to talk?" he asks, hope etched in every word.
Fuck. I got him out here, didn't I? But where the hell do I even begin? Opening up to Luca Moretti isn't exactly like coloring between the lines. I walk past him, clutch onto the balcony railing and stare out ahead like there's inspiration to be found in the darkness.
Luca just waits, patient as a saint.
That makes it easier to talk. He feels like a safe space right about now.
I lean into the rail.
"I've been thinking about my father," I begin, voice barely above a whisper. "How furious I was when I learned he'd gambled with my life to save his business."
The stone rail bites into my palms. "I hated him for it. But now... I understand desperation. I understand making impossible choices to protect the people you love."
I glance over my shoulder. "Even when those choices destroy everything."
He didn't do it because he's a bad person. He did it because he got in over his head trying to save the company and the jobs of people who've worked for him for twenty years."
"Good men make mistakes," Luca whispers from behind.
"Yeah." I glance over my shoulder, seeing the sharp angles of his face in the moonlight. "I think that's the hardest part. Realizing someone can be good and still mess up so completely."
I don't know if Luca knows I'm not just talking about my father anymore. Well, smack my face and call me stupid, but Luca's a good man the world calls a beast. A contradiction in every way, and one I can't bring myself to keep at arm's length so easy.
I see him. Through and through.
