Luca

32 - What's happened to him?

Sofia

I heard the noise coming from outside the kitchen door, as well as Lorna and Olga. There was a scuffling noise, and then Dray yelled Luca’s name.

I jumped off my seat and rushed to the door. Dray was on his knees with Luca’s head in his lap. Luca’s body was shaking, and my heart pounded in my chest. I was so afraid that something terrible had happened to Luca.

Then men rushed toward Luca and helped Dray carry him to the living room. Marnie and Draven rushed into the room as they laid Luca down on the couch.

Now, I’m standing here, watching as Keaton checks Luca over. But he’s not responding to anything Keaton does, and I’m terrified!

What happened to him?

Why is he like this?

Lorna wraps her arms around me, and I lean my head against hers.

“Luca?” Marnie calls his name while crouching beside him and taking his hand. “Luca, it’s okay. Everything is okay. Oh, baby boy.”

“What happened?” Draven asks Dray.

Dray runs his hand through his hair while blowing out a breath. “I don’t know. We were talking, then his eyes began to roll. I didn’t sense anything that could have triggered this, Dad. He was fine. I swear.”

“What happened to him?” I ask no one in particular.

I don’t get an answer because Luca’s groan pulls everyone’s attention toward him. “Fuc.k.” He mumbles.

I close my eyes and breathe deeply. I didn’t realize it would be such a relief to hear him speak. My heart was banging way too hard because I thought something terrible had happened to him! I didn’t want to think that Dray could have hurt Luca, and it was wrong for my mind to go there. Dray is a monster, but I don’t actually believe he would do anything to Luca. Dray might not care about anyone else, but I know he loves Luca too much to ever harm him.

“Luca!” Marnie sits beside him on the couch and helps him to sit up. “Sweetheart, what happened?”

“I don’t know.” He mumbles. He sounds confused. “I was talking to Dray… There was a pounding in my temple… My eyes… I fell.”

“What the hell were you talking about?” The Don hisses at Dray.

Dray sighs. “Get it over with. Blame me for saying something that triggered this so that we can get on with the day.”

“Here, sweetheart,” Marnie hands Luca the glass of water Olga just brought in. “Sip this.”

He does, slowly, before handing it back to his mother.

“Sofia,” Luca mumbles.

“Luca,” I pull away from Lorna and rush to Luca’s side. Marnie smiles at me before getting out of her seat and letting me take her place. Luca looks at me, and I swallow hard at how pale he looks. “Are you okay?”

He smiles at me, and I know that smile is supposed to ease my worries, but it won’t. People don’t generally pass out for no reason.

“I’m fine.” He tells me.

But I shake my head. “You passed out, and you were shaking.” I look at Keaton. “Shouldn’t he be in the hospital? Shouldn’t you be doing tests to make sure nothing is wrong?”

Keaton looks at the Don, who looks at me. “Luca is fine now, Sofia.”

I want to argue with him, but I don’t.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I take a deep breath. I’m not going to stay silent. This is the man I’m going to marry, we’re talking about! I won’t be fobbed off.

“With all due respect, Don Vidal, Luca passed out. His body was shaking, and now he’s deathly pale. I don’t think he’s okay at all. Why isn’t he in the hospital? What if there’s something really wrong with him?”

I notice the smirk trying to break free on the Don’s lips. But Luca’s hand on my face draws my eye.

I look at him and blink.

“I’m fine, Sofia.”

“Luca, you don’t look fine. I’m just worried about you.”

Luca smiles at me while stroking his thumb over my cheek. “Everyone, leave. I need to speak with Sofia alone.”

I furrow my brow as everyone does, as Luca said. No one even protested for a moment; they just walked out of the room!

“There’s something I should have told you.” Luca sighs. “I didn’t keep it from you deliberately, Sofia.”

“Keep what from me?” I ask.

“I’ll understand if you feel lied to. I’ll even understand if you choose not to marry me.”

I shake my head and take his face in my hands. “Luca, the only way I wouldn’t marry you is if you’ve slept with someone else. I know this is an arranged marriage, but I don’t want to share you with another woman, or women. I know people like you, men of the Mafia, I mean, think it’s perfectly reasonable to have a wife and a mistress or two. But I don’t want to be one of those wives. What?” I whisper when Luca smiles.

“I’m not one of those men, Sofia. Shi.t like that doesn’t appeal to me. Believe it or not, my father taught Dray and me never to cheat on a woman.”

I smile. The Don is a scary man, but he loves his wife, and he taught his sons that cheating is wrong. I don’t doubt what Luca is saying because he doesn’t strike me as a liar.

“That’s good to know,” I say while stroking his cheek with my thumb. “So, what is it that you should have told me?”

Luca sighs. “I have TLE, Sofia.”

“You have what?” I ask, confused.

“Temporal lobe epilepsy.”

My eyes widen, but Luca shakes his head.

“It’s not as serious as you might think, Sofia. It’s the most common form of focal epilepsy.”

I swallow hard. “Were you born with it?”

Luca shakes his head. “I had an accident when I was eighteen and suffered a brain injury that left me with epilepsy in my temporal lobes. I have it mostly controlled with medication, and seizures are few and far between. However, there are times when I can’t fight it, and this happens. I’m sorry, Sofia.”

I blink slowly.

“What caused your seizure? Is it because of all the stress I’ve caused you lately?”

Luca narrows his eyes. “Sofia, you haven’t caused me stress. What happened to you because of my brother pissed me off in ways I could barely contain. But you did not cause this. Okay?”

I nod, though I’m not totally convinced. “Regardless, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he smiles. “I don’t want you to worry about this. I know it can be daunting. As I said, I will understand if you no longer want to marry me.”

So, my future husband has epilepsy. It’s controlled with medication, but he sometimes has seizures. I can handle that. I’ll need to learn everything there is to know about Luca’s condition so that I’m better prepared for when this happens in the future. But I know I can handle it.

I smile. “Luca, why would you think I wouldn’t want to marry you because of this?”

He shrugs. “I only ever told one woman whom I dated in the past. Once I did, she ended things with me. I was no longer the same man in her eyes, so she left me.”

“She didn’t deserve you,” I tell him. “I would never leave you just because you have epilepsy, Luca. I will need you to talk me through your condition so that I’ll know how to help you when this happens again.”

Luca takes my hands from his face and kisses my knuckles. “You’d do that for me?”

I smile. “I’d do anything for you, Luca. You’re going to be my husband, and that means something to me. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Luca leans in and kisses me softly.

I smile against his mouth.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Luca?”

He nods. “I’m fine, tesoro. We have a wedding to plan.”

I laugh. “Yeah, we do.”

“Sorry to interrupt.”

I try not to groan when Dray walks through the door without knocking. Not that he needs to, but it’s common courtesy to do so when two people are talking privately!

“What do you want, Dray?” Luca sighs.

Dray sits in the armchair. “I came to speak with Sofia. I think it’s time I got it over with.”

My eyes widen as I clutch Luca’s hand. I look at him. I do not want to go anywhere with Dray!

Luca smiles while shifting in his seat, swinging his legs over the edge of the sofa. “Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of me,” Luca says while wrapping his arm around my waist, pulling me close to his body.

“Fine.” Dray sighs. “Sofia. I owe you an apology.”

I blink, confused. “You… do?”

“Yes.” He rubs the back of his neck. “For everything I did. The tests. Well, the way I did them. For what I did after Amber got hurt, the fear. All of it.”

Am I hearing this right?

Dray continues, voice low. “I was doing what I thought was necessary. But that doesn’t make it right.”

Silence stretched between us.

Luca leans in and whispers in my ear, “Tell him how it made you feel. Don’t be afraid. I’m here with you.”

Fear knots in my stomach. Even though I’m terrified of Dray, Luca is right. I need to stand up for myself. I need to trust Luca to protect me.

I’m scared, but I lift my chin, trying to act braver than I feel. “You hurt me a lot, Dray.”

Dray nods. “I know.”

“You scared me,” I tell him, voice soft but steady. “You made me feel like I was nothing, Dray. You made me feel like I deserved to be punished just because of my last name. Then you hurt me all over again because of what happened to Amber. I didn’t deliberately cause her harm, Dray. No one told me that Amber needed to be monitored so closely. If they had, I never would have turned my back even for a second.”

Dray’s jaw tightens. “You’re right, and you didn’t deserve what I did.”

“No,” I say, finding the strength to meet his eyes. “I didn’t.”

Something flickers across his face — guilt, maybe. Or the closest thing to it that he’s capable of.

“I won’t hurt you again,” Dray says. “Not because of you. Because of Luca.”

Of course, it’s because of Luca.

Why the hell would this man give a damn about me?

I bet Luca forced Dray to apologize to me, because I doubt he did it on his own. Regardless of why Dray is apologizing, the fact is that he is.

I breathe deeply. “I appreciate the apology.”

“But,” Dray adds. “You need to understand something.”

“Dray,” Luca hisses between his teeth in warning.

“You wanted me to apologize, and I have, Luca. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get to say what I need to say.”

“It’s fine, Luca.” I smile at him before looking at Dray again. “What do I need to understand?”

Dray’s voice drops to a warning. “If you’re playing games… if you turn on my brother… if you betray him in any way, then nothing will save you from me, Sofia. I will kill you in ways you can’t even imagine.”

The threat hangs in the air like smoke, but I don’t flinch. Dray’s threat is what I’ve been expecting since the day I got here. I’m just surprised I didn’t get the same from the Don.

I can sense Luca’s anger vibrating from him. I’m worried that he could have another seizure. I don’t understand his condition yet, but I don’t want him to have another one.

So, I stroke my thumb over his knuckles. “Calm down, Luca. It’s okay.”

“Is it?” He hisses.

I nod.

I then look at Dray and tell him, “I would never hurt Luca, and I most certainly would never betray him. You don’t have to believe me, but I won’t do anything to betray my husband.”

Dray studies me for a long moment, searching for any sign of deceit. But he won’t find any because I’m telling him the truth.

Finally, he nods. “Then we won’t have a problem.” He gets out of his seat and leaves the room without another word.

I look at Luca and let out a shaky breath. “That was… terrifying.”

Luca smiles at me. “You handled it better than most men in this family would.”

I laugh slightly. “I didn’t feel brave.”

“You were,” he says. “You stood up to him when most wouldn’t.”

“I didn’t want him to think I’m weak, even though he knows that I am.”

“You’re not weak,” Luca says. “You’re the strongest person I know.”

I chuckle. “You think too much of me, Luca.”

“As much as you think of me.” He says while sliding his hand to my cheek. “You earned Dray’s respect.”

I blink. “I don’t know about that, Luca. But I hope he knows now that my loyalty is to you and always will be.”

“We’re going to be just fine, Sofia. You’ll see.”

I really hope so.