Luca

31 - Spying

Luca

I’m feeling good today. Really good. Last night with Sofia was everything. I wasn’t expecting to wake up and find her pressed against me. I certainly wasn’t expecting her to want me the way she did. God, she was so open and honest with me, and it meant everything.

Feeling her naked body against mine… I could barely contain myself. Her soft curves, the heave of her chest, and the way she touched me were everything I knew they would be.

Se.x isn’t everything. I know that better than most. And we didn’t have penetrative se.x, but that didn’t matter. Sofia turned me inside out, and I loved every moment of it.

Yes, I think I’m going to like having Sofia as my wife. We certainly have that sexua.l chemistry down. The honest truth is that I have never been so sexuall.y attracted to a woman before. There’s just something about Sofia that has me tied up in knots!

I woke up this morning with Sofia still in my arms. I smiled while kissing her head, and I pulled her closer to my body as she slept. It felt right to hold her. Yes, she’s the daughter of our enemy, but she’s more than that. She’s mine!

Sofia must have sensed me watching her sleeping because she opened her eyes and giggled. I kissed her because I couldn’t stop myself. She didn’t resist. In fact, she kissed me with so much passion, I couldn’t help pressing my hard-on into her. Sofia moaned loudly, and I couldn’t stop myself from making us both cu.m before I allowed her to get up.

I carried her into the shower, and I washed every inch of her gorgeous body. I tried not to let my eyes linger on the scars she bears thanks to that piece of crap father of hers. Scars aside, I smiled as Sofia took a washcloth and ran it slowly over my body.

Is this what it’s going to be like when we’re married?

Us, taking care of one another?

I wasn’t lying when I told my brother that I’m falling for Sofia.

How could I not when she’s so perfect?

I’m not stupid. I know how dangerous falling in love can be for men like us. It was drummed into me enough. Dad never let me forget it. But I also saw how much he loved Mom and would do anything to keep her safe. He fell in love, and he never once pushed her away. Dad knew that to keep Mom safe, he needed to keep her with him. Falling in love doesn’t always mean a death sentence, even if you do need to ensure the woman you love is protected at all costs. There’s always someone out there who would love nothing more than to take out the wife of a man like me. Kill the wife, weaken the man enough to end him.

There’s nothing I won’t do for Sofia. No matter what anyone thinks of me, I don’t have a heart of stone. Once Sofia is my wife, I won’t let her leave me. I will love and protect her until my last breath. I’ll even ensure that when I’m gone – God forbid I’m killed or die young – that Sofia will be taken care of.

I’m not at work today because I have wedding prep to discuss with my father. Believe it or not, there’s plenty I need to talk through with my father. Mom will be organizing everything when it comes to Sofia, and it’s Dad’s duty to do the same for me. Sofia and I won’t get much of a chance to choose anything for our wedding. But I’m okay with that. I know Mom will make it special.

I’ve been watching Sofia for the past five minutes through the gap in the kitchen door. She’s in there with Lorna and Olga as they prepare dinner. Sofia hasn’t stopped smiling yet, and Lorna wants to know what she’s so happy about.

I smile as Sofia dances around the kitchen. Lorna and Olga are laughing good-naturedly. I hear Lorna ask if Sofia has ants in her pants, to which Sofia laughs happily before sitting on a stool at the counter.

“What are you doing out here, spying on your girl?”

“s**t!” I hiss at my brother. “Why are you sneaking up on me? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” I ask quietly, not wanting Sofia to hear me. I don’t want her to think I spy on her, even if that is what I’m doing.

“I saw you out here, so I thought I’d see what you were up to,” Dray says while looking through the gap in the kitchen door. “What’s she so happy about?”

I shrug. “No idea.”

“You’re such a liar. Did you sleep with her? She’s got that look about her. Naughty, naughty, Luca. You know you should have upheld tradition and waited until your wedding night.”

I roll my eyes. “What century are we in? Who do you know waits until their wedding night to have se.x?” Even though that’s exactly what Sofia and I are going to do. “But to answer your question: no, we didn’t have se.x last night.”

“Ah. So, you just did everything else. Nice.”

I shake my head. I am not getting into this with my brother. Sofia deserves more respect than to be spoken about like that.

“Mind your own business, Dray. What Sofia and I get up to is none of your concern.”

“Right,” he scoffs. “You know, I can always test Sofia for you.” Dray looks at me and smirks. “You remember how I do things? Make sure she’ll be faithful.”

I grit my teeth, grab the front of his shirt, push him back, and pin him to the wall.

He chuckles, knowing he’s gotten to me.

“Don’t push me, Dray. You go anywhere near Sofia, and I’ll break your neck! And no, I am not joking.”

Dray smirks. “She really is under your skin. Hasn’t she?”

I grit my teeth. I don’t answer him.

“Stop worrying.” He sighs. “I can see what Sofia already means to you. Knowing that you care for her, I would never do that to you, Luca.”

I scoff. “Dray, almost every woman I’ve dated, you’ve slept with. Why the hell would I believe you wouldn’t try the same with Sofia?”

“Apart from the fact that she’s a Romano?” He questions. “You weren’t in love with those other women, Luca. They didn’t love you, either. They loved your money and your power. They didn’t deserve you, and I had to make you see they weren’t worth your time. Should I have done something so despicable? Probably not. But it was the only way to make you see their true colors. However, even I can see that Sofia cares about you and none of those other things.”

The anger I was feeling suddenly diminishes, and I release the hold on my brother. He pulls his shirt into place and sighs.

“I may be a lot of things, Luca. Evil, manipulative, uncaring, violent, dangerous, and it’s all true. But I’m not completely heartless, Luca. I always told you that if you ever fell in love, I would never do anything to spoil that for you. I won’t lie. I don’t understand this thing between you and Sofia. Yes, she’s beautiful, only an i***t would think otherwise. But that doesn’t mean I want her or would do anything to hurt you. I know I’ve been a stupid bastard, Luca. And I truly am sorry.”

I squint my eyes. “Okay. You look like Dray, but you don’t sound like him. What have you done with my real brother, imposter?”

Dray rolls his eyes. “Very funny. Look, I’m trying here. Cut me some slack, okay?”

Laughter coming from the kitchen draws my eye.

“Sofia,” I hear Lorna say. “I’ve never seen you so giddy. After what happened with Dray yesterday, I thought you’d still be upset.”

“I was upset,” Sofia says, and I can’t stop myself from moving closer and peeking in. “But Luca talked to me about things. He promised that he’d make sure Dray never touched me again.”

“And you believed him?” Lorna asks.

Sofia nods. “Yep. I believed him because Luca wouldn’t lie to me.”

Olga chuckles. “No, he wouldn’t. Luca has always been an honest boy.”

I smile because I can’t stop myself.

“Typical.” Dray huffs. “Even Olga thinks you’re the be-all and end-all.”

“No,” I tell him without taking my eyes off Sofia through the gap in the door. “She, along with everyone else who works for the family, knows that I’m the more reasonable one out of the two of us. That, and they know I won’t shoot them for looking at me when I’m in a bad mood.”

“Bastard.” Dray laughs.

I smile again when Sofia leans her arms on the counter. “Luca isn’t like I imagined. I can admit that.”

“How so?” Lorna asks.

“Papa told me how violent the Vidal twins were. He said that no matter which one Don Vidal chose for me, I would be nothing but their punching bag. I would never be allowed to leave the house, and if I so much as looked at another man - unless my husband demanded that I flirt with someone else - he would kill me.”

“Jesus Christ,” Dray hisses. “Romano really is a cunt.”

“You proved him right, though. Didn’t you?”

“Thanks a lot.” My brother hisses.

But he did exactly what Romano told Sofia he would. Dray hurt Sofia in ways no man should hurt a woman, proving Romano right. Dray can argue the fact all he likes, but he knows I speak the truth.

“I was scared when we arrived here,” Sofia continues. “Papa said that Dray was the worst out of the twins, and he hoped that’s who I would be marrying.”

I close my eyes as my left temple begins to throb. I can’t afford to let that take over me right now, so I push it away.

“I’m sorry, but your father is a nasty piece of work.” Olga huffs.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Lorna says.

Sofia, however, continues to talk as if they haven’t spoken. “Luca isn’t like that, though. He makes me happy. He’s so wonderful, Lorna. He makes me feel safe. And when he kisses me, it’s like there’s no one in the world but us.”

“Careful,” Olga chuckles. “You sound like you’re falling in love.”

“It’s more than that,” Lorna says. “What did you do, Sofia?”

“Did you sleep together?” Olga asks.

“No,” Sofia shakes her head. “Not like that.”

“But you did things with him?” Lorna asks, dropping the knife she was using onto the counter. “Sexua.l things?”

I squint my eyes. I know women talk about these things, but that doesn’t mean I want Sofia to divulge that information, even to the woman she considers her mother.

Sofia shifts in her seat. “Yes, we did. But I’m not going to talk about it, Lorna. Luca deserves more respect than to be gossiped about. I would hate it if Luca went and told others what we did.”

“And you think he’s not?” Lorna asks.

Sofia shakes her head. “I know Luca won’t tell anyone what we did.”

“And you know this, how?”

“Because I trust him, Lorna, more than I’ve ever trusted anyone.”

I smile despite my racing heart. She trusts me, and that means a lot.

“Looks like she does have respect for you.” Dray murmurs.

I nod. “I told you. Sofia isn’t like all those other women, Dray. She’s special.”

Dray chuckles. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“Yeah,” I say without taking my eyes off Sofia. “Just remember to take my word for it that I’ll kill you if you ever touch her again.”

He slaps me on the back, knocking me forward slightly. “I won’t forget. Besides, Dad’s already warned me off the girl. He’s banned me from cage fighting for three months! I mean, what the fuc.k am I meant to do in my spare time?”

I roll my eyes. Dray should think himself lucky that’s all that Dad did to him.

“I don’t know, Dray. Go take classes on how to treat women.” I drag my eyes away from Sofia and look at my brother. “Because one day, you’ll meet someone you won’t be able to stop yourself from falling for, no matter how hard you try. You’ll finally understand that hurting her just because she breathes isn’t the way to go about things. If you’re lucky enough, she’ll love you in return. But I hope she’s exactly like you, gets pissed off by something you’ve done, and smacks you into next week!”

Dray blinks, his lips tremble, and he bursts into laughter. “Jesus Christ, Luca! You know, I wouldn’t mind a strong woman like that. Who knows,” he shrugs. “Maybe she’s out there somewhere. s**t!” He hisses as my eyes begin to roll. “Luca, are you okay?”

I can’t answer him. I can barely stand straight. This isn’t supposed to be happening to me right now!

I can feel my eyeballs shaking in my skull.

The world seems to be shrinking, my vision narrowing, and I know that I can’t fight this.

“Luca,” I hear Dray whisper as I fall into him.

The world around me turns black, and I’m right back to being the scared little boy I once was.

Great!