Page 49 of Devoted

Luca has only been gone a few hours and I swear I can still feel him on me. My body is still on fire, and I can’t put it out. Even after a cold shower.

So I’ve decided to distract myself. He might have a mansion, but I’ve seen every square inch of the damn place.

It’s all black, white, and gray.

I’ve managed to get through some of the photography course, going out into the backyard and snapping pictures of the vast amounts of greenery he has planted.

I’ve nailed the carbonara recipe.

It’s peaceful here. Luca was right; it’s like a retreat, where I get to snuggle with my own Greek God of a man. I don’t have Bobby, or the other guards, two steps behind me at every turn. I don’t have the overwhelming need to drink, thinking Dante will appear around every corner. And I even manage to sleep without the nightmares anymore.

I plop down on the couch and kick my legs up on the coffee table, turning on the newest episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. If Luca’s not here to make me laugh, then Captain Holt can instead.

I can’t help but think about poor Maddie and Grayson. I don’t know them, but Luca loves them like his own family. He’s so torn up about this, it’s hard to bear.Just because we’ve lived our lives in the mafia doesn’t make it hurt less.

“Hello?” A female voice startles me.

I turn down the volume on the TV. “Can I help you?” I call back and stand up.

Luca never warned me of any visitors.

An older lady, with her hair in a neat bun and glasses resting on the top of her head, steps around the corner into the living room. She has two big shopping bags, one in each hand.

I rush over. “Here, let me help you with those.” I take the bags from her hand and place them up on the counter.

She looks me up and down. “You look better than the last time I saw you.”

“Pardon?” I take a step back.

“I’m Gianna. Luca’s mom.”

“Rosa,” I reply, still completely confused. I keep looking at her. I can’t place her, but she seems so… familiar. I thought I recognized her in the photos, but just assumed that was because of Luca speaking about her.

Unless—I can feel the blood drain from my face.

She saw me.

“Did you see–”

She cuts me off and gives me a sad smile. “I came to help Luca one night. He was a bit panicked and exhausted.”

I cast my eyes to the ground, wishing the earth would tear open and swallow me whole. I know Dr. Jenkins tells me I have nothing to be embarrassed about–hell, Luca is very adamant about that, too. It doesn’t mean there is a switch I can flip to turn off the awful truth.

It’s embarrassing. His mom saw me at my rock bottom.

“I’m so sorry you had to see me like that. I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”

“Don’t apologize, please.”She pushes a gray tendril of hair behind her ear before pulling the first bag to her and opening it.

“It shouldn’t have been your or your son’s responsibility to get me clean.”I rub my hands along my neck as my heart rate picks up, the nerves getting the better of me.

“Well, Luca shouldn’t have kidnapped you, either. Has he been good to you?”A bag of flour and a bag of sugar appear from one of the bags.

“Yes,” I reply without hesitation. “Your son is a good man.”

She places her palms flat on the counter as she looks at me. When she raises one brow, I can see where Luca gets it. “Hmm. He could be. He just needs himself a nice woman to keep him under control.”

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out. For some reason, I kind of want her to like me.

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