HIS FORBIDDEN BRIDE

CHAPTER 13

The rain had stopped, but the air outside was still cold.

The guards had not let Sophia inside the gate. She stood just outside it, in a white dress that was already splashed with mud at the hem. Her hair was perfect, her makeup perfect. Even desperate, Sophia tried to look like a movie star.

I felt Luca's hand tighten around mine as we walked down the front steps. Maria was behind us. I had not expected her to come, but when she heard it was about my father, she had said, "No one lies about a father in this house," and followed us.

Sophia saw us and her face lit up — but not with relief. With triumph.

"Lila! Thank God," she called out, her voice loud and shaky, like she was acting for an audience. Two of the younger guards were watching. Ms. DeLuca was at the window. "I went to your father's house, Lila. He's not there! His neighbor said strange men took him last night!"

My knees went weak.

Luca felt it instantly. His arm went around my waist.

"Don't listen," he whispered in my ear, low enough that only I could hear. "I called your father yesterday at 6pm. He was cooking. He told me he was making your favorite soup. Remember?"

I did remember. Luca had put him on speaker. My father had laughed and said he put too much pepper.

Sophia kept talking, louder now. "Mrs. Romano, you have to believe me! Luca told everyone he forgave Lila's debt, but he didn't! He's keeping her father in one of his warehouses to make sure Lila stays obedient! That's why she stays! That's why she defends him!"

That was it.

The last string of fear in my chest snapped, and what replaced it wasn't fear.

It was anger.

Pure, clean anger.

I let go of Luca's hand and walked forward, until I was right at the gate. Only iron bars between me and her.

"Sophia," I said. My voice was quiet, but it carried. "Say that again."

She blinked, surprised I wasn't crying. "What?"

"Say again that my husband is holding my father hostage."

"Well, he—"

"My father, Joseph Carter, is 62 years old. He has a bad knee. He lives at 14B Willow Lane. He goes to church every Sunday. He taught me how to read. He stayed up for three nights when I had fever when I was nine. And you are standing at my house, in the mud, using his name to get attention?"

Sophia's mouth opened. Nothing came out.

"Do you know where my father is right now, Sophia?" I continued. My voice was shaking, but I didn't stop. "He is at home. He is probably watching his small TV. He is safe. Because my husband — the man you just called a kidnapper — paid off his hospital bills. He sends a doctor to check on him every week. A doctor you never sent. A doctor your family never sent when you were borrowing money from him for your designer bags."

Luca made a small sound behind me. Maria was completely silent.

"You want to call the police, Sophia? Call them," I said. "Call them right now. I will give you my phone. Tell them Luca Romano is holding my father hostage. And when they go to Willow Lane and find him sleeping in his bed, safe, what will you tell them? That you made it up because you are jealous?"

Sophia's perfect face twisted. "You think you're so high now? Because you have a bracelet? Because his mother had tea with you?"

She pointed at my wrist. At Maria's bracelet.

"That bracelet should be mine!" she screamed, finally dropping the sweet act. "I was supposed to be Mrs. Romano! I waited for three years! I did everything right! I wore the right dresses, I went to the right parties, I kept my mouth shut when he was cold! And then you — you village rat — you come in with your cheap cream dress and your debt and you steal everything!"

The guards flinched.

I looked down at the bracelet. The little red stones caught the gray light.

"No," I said softly. "You didn't do everything right. You did everything fake. And Luca doesn't want fake. I didn't steal him, Sophia. You lost him because you only ever loved what his name could do for you. I love him even when he paces and is annoying and tries to follow me to tea with his mother."

Behind me, I heard Luca choke out a laugh.

Maria stepped forward then. She had been so quiet I almost forgot she was there.

"Sophia Rossi," she said. Her voice was ice. The old Mrs. Romano voice. The one that made board wives tremble. "You have stood at my gate twice now and caused a scene. The first time, I allowed it because I thought you were heartbroken. Now I see you are just cruel."

Sophia went pale. "Mrs. Romano, I—"

"I am Maria," she snapped. "And this — " she pointed at me, " — is my daughter. Lila Romano. She wears my bracelet. She wears my mother's bracelet. That means she has my protection. That means if you lie about her father again, if you use her family's name again, you will not be dealing with Luca. You will be dealing with me. And I am much less forgiving than my son. Do you understand me?"

Sophia stared at Maria like she had never seen her before.

Maria turned to the head guard. "Marco, if Miss Rossi ever comes to this gate again without an invitation, you do not open it. You do not take her messages. You call the police for trespassing. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Madam," Marco said instantly.

Sophia looked at all of us — at Luca holding me like I was precious, at Maria standing like a queen next to me, at me, no longer shaking in a too-big dress but standing tall in my own cream dress.

She realized she had lost. Completely.

"This isn't over," she whispered, but her voice had no power anymore. Just tears. "He will get tired of you. Men like him always get tired of village girls."

Luca finally spoke. His voice was low, calm, and deadly.

"No," he said. "Men like me spend our whole lives waiting for a woman like her. And when we find her, we never let go. Goodbye, Sophia."

He nodded to Marco.

Marco and another guard walked Sophia away from the gate. She didn't scream this time. She just walked, mud on her white dress, shoulders shaking.

I watched until she turned the corner.

Only then did my legs give out.

Luca caught me before I hit the ground.

"I've got you," he whispered, lifting me up in his arms right there in the driveway. In front of everyone. "I've got you, my fighter."

I buried my face in his neck. I wasn't crying. I was just breathing hard.

Maria came closer and put a hand on my back. Her hand was warm.

"You did well," she said quietly. "A true Romano wife. Your mother would be proud. Your father would be proud."

At the mention of my father, I jerked up. "We need to call him. Right now. I need to hear his voice."

Luca was already pulling out his phone.

He dialed, put it on speaker.

It rang once. Twice.

Then — "Hello? Lila? Is that you, my pumpkin?"

My father's voice. Sleepy and a little confused.

A sob broke out of me that I couldn't hold back.

"Papa? Papa, are you okay? Are you at home?"

"Of course I'm at home! Where else would I be? It's raining here, my knee hurts, so I'm inside. Why, what happened? Did that boy — I mean, your husband — did he not feed you? You sound like you're crying!"

Luca and I laughed at the same time, tears in my eyes.

"No, Papa, he fed me. He — everyone — we just... I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Well, you hear it. I'm fine. Doctor came yesterday. That nice doctor your husband sends. Said my blood pressure is fine. Stop worrying. You worry too much, like your mother."

Maria smiled at me.

"I'm coming to see you on Sunday, Papa. I'll make you soup."

"You better. And bring that husband of yours. He still owes me a game of chess."

"I will," I whispered.

We hung up.

For a long moment, the three of us just stood there in the cold driveway after the rain. Luca holding me, Maria's hand on my back.

Then Maria said, "Come inside. Both of you. I made fresh tea. And Lila, you are still wearing my bracelet, so you have to sit with me for dinner tonight. No excuses."

I nodded, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. The red stones on my wrist shone.

Luca looked down at me, his forehead touching mine.

"You were incredible," he whispered, so only I could hear. "Did you see her face when you said I send the doctor? God, Lila. My wife. My fierce wife."

"I was so scared," I admitted in a whisper.

"I know. But you didn't run. You fought. For your father. For us."

He kissed me then. Quick and hard, right there in front of his mother and the guards and the whole house. Not a soft kiss. A proud kiss.

Maria cleared her throat, but she was smiling. "Inside. Before you both catch cold and I have to nurse you."

She started walking back to the house. Luca put me down but kept his arm tight around my waist.

As we walked up the steps together, I looked back once at the gate.

It was empty.

Sophia was gone.

For the first time since I married into this family to pay a debt, I felt like this house was truly mine. Not because of a contract. Not because of a debt.

Because I had fought for it. And won.

Inside, the house was warm. Tea was waiting.

And for the first time, I wasn't a guest or a debt.

I was home.