Page 96 of Captured Fantasy

Or was I a woman who finally had the guts to choose who I was and who I wanted at my side?

The doorbell rang and I put the shoes on, distracted once again.

I walked down the stairs and through the kitchen, folding a towel that had fallen on the floor by the stove. There was a shape on the other side of the door that looked to be Federico and my stomach sank. I’d hoped to see Cosimo. I needed to touch him, to taste him, and let him take me upstairs to leave his scent all over my body and my bed. To reassure me there was light at the end of this tunnel.

I pulled the door ajar and froze, my eyes falling on the man standing on my porch. It was Lucien, his cold eyes weary. It was the first time I’d seen him since he killed Romano and took over the outfit. There was a heaviness about his shoulders that hadn’t been there before. When I met his gaze, he inclined his head smoothly.

“Mr. Esposito,” I said, trying to keep my face impassive. “Can I help you?”

“Yes,” he said. “May I come in?”

I hesitated, keeping my hand on the door. Why was he here? I shifted, looking over my shoulder as I considered telling him to leave. He put his palm on the door and gave it a gentle push, backing me up as he stepped inside.

“I don’t know if you should be here, Mr. Esposito,” I said quietly.

He looked down at me, frost gathered on his lashes. “I’m only here to speak with you. And you can call me Lucien, Enza.”

I stepped back to put some distance between us, unable to guess his thoughts. His lack of readable emotion made the back of my neck prickle, putting me on high alert.

“May I take your coat?” I said.

He handed it to me and straightened his gray Italian suit. There were faint bruises from exhaustion below his eyes and a single line in his smooth face—a hairline fracture in the perfection of his jaw. In the last year, Lucien had become a different man, one with a heavier burden.

“Coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

He followed me into the kitchen and stood by the island counter, watching as I made two cups of coffee and laid out a plate of lemon pastries. When I laid down his mug, he touched my forearm and I startled, spilling coffee on the counter. There was a long silence and he looked at me with his eyes narrowed. I put my hand over my mouth.

“I’m not here to come onto you, Enza,” he said.

“I hope not, sir,” I said. “Given that you have a wife now.”

Something flickered in his eyes. “I came to say I was wrong.”

If the world had stopped spinning and flew off into space I would have been less surprised.

“I was wrong about Olivia,” he said. “I thought she would be something else…something I hated. But she’s not. She’s…beyond perfect and somehow we just…work together.”

“You—you’re in love with her,” I said softly.

Lucien nodded.

“And she loves you?”

He nodded again.

“Well,” I said, feeling a lot more confident. “She’s a better woman than I because I could never have loved you, Lucien Esposito. And you were fucking lazy in the bedroom so I hope you’re treating her better than you treated me.”

Now it was his turn to be shocked. I half expected him to reprimand me, but instead he smiled, the corner of his mouth jerking up. His face wasn’t made to smile and I found myself fascinated by the awkwardness of it. Like a dog walking on its hind legs. Possible, but not natural.

“I was,” he said. “But it wasn’t by accident. I didn’t want to lead you into believing I thought about you like that. I’m sorry.”

“You could have at least given me a few orgasms, “ I said, raising a brow.

“Well, it sounds like you’re not hard up for them now,” he shot back.

“What does that mean?”

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