Chapter 20

FREYA

After our steamy shower, Luca dressed me in one of his shirts and a pair of his sweatpants even after I had told him I could wear my own clothes.

He ignored my request, saying something about feeling better with me in his clothes.

Then he stood for several minutes and told me he was debating with Bruzzatore over whether we should eat first or sleep. I wanted to go to sleep, so I was happy when Luca brought me to the bed.

But to be honest, I probably would have gone to sleep whether or not he’d told me I could.

I tried to keep my distance from him while we were sleeping, but he wasn’t having any of that. When we lay down, he grabbed me by my waist and pulled me to him so I was lying on his chest. His arms wrapped around me tightly, and our legs tangled together.

It was by far the best sleep of my life. Not that I would tell him that. ~He doesn’t need a bigger ego.~

I woke up to the feeling of Luca playing with my hair as I lay on his chest. My entire body was buzzing with electricity and contentment.

I thought about a few days ago when I’d first met him and how absolutely terrified I’d been.

I’d had every right to be terrified. And I didn’t regret pushing Luca away, although it had hurt both of us more than I could ever imagine.

It had given me time to think. It had given me time to really come to terms with the connection that we had. There was no way that I could deny that we were ~destinos~ now.

I was one hundred percent certain that Luca belonged to me, and I to him, even if it was a bunch of stuffy old mafia men who linked us together all those years ago. I was done denying it.

I tilted my head up at him and smiled, “Good morning.”

He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead.

“Actually, good afternoon. It’s about 4 p.m. in Naples right now.”

~4 p.m.? How is that possible?~

I sat up and looked out the window. Sure enough, it was dark outside. “Oh my gosh. How long did we sleep?”

He shrugged, turning over on his side. “Not sure. I’m just glad you got some rest. Bruzzatore was getting ready to kill me if I didn’t catch you up on your REM cycles.”

He reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.

I laughed again, thinking about Bruzzatore trying to kill somebody he shared a body with. Somehow, I didn’t think that would stop him trying.

Luca sat up and wrapped his arms around me again.

“Come here. I’m not ready to let you out of my arms yet.” He lay back down and brought me with him.

I giggled. On plain instinct, I reached up and kissed his lips. When I moved away, my eyes widened as I realized what I had just done.

“I did not mean to do that.”

Luca tugged me closer when I tried to move away.

“Trust me, ~destino~, I did not mind at all. You can kiss me anytime you want.”

I rolled my eyes. “You would say that. You just like kissing me because I’m your so-called ~destino~.”

“Even if you weren’t my ~destino~, il mio amore, I would still be extremely attracted to you. I mean, just looking at you makes me want to rip your clothes off.”

I gasped and tried to shove him away, but his arms were like steel traps. “Is your mind always in the gutter?”

He smirked. “Il mio amore, you are on top of me, straddling me, wearing my clothes. How could my mind not be in the gutter?”

I didn’t know what to say, but thankfully my stomach responded for me. It let out a loud rumble. I blushed.

Luca laughed. “C’mon, let’s get some food in you.”

As we walked downstairs, he kept one hand on my back, making sure that some part of him was always touching me. I’d never thought I would say this, but I was glad that he maintained physical contact with me.

The thought of being in pain again—the pain that I felt when he wasn’t nearby—terrified me.

Matteo was already in the kitchen when we walked in. He smiled at me and wiggled his eyebrows. “Well, it’s good to see that you’re feeling better, Donn—”

“Don’t talk to her until she’s eaten,” Luca snapped, completely interrupting Matteo.

I gaped at him, but he just kept pushing me toward the table, where a bunch of Italian breakfast food was laid out, even though it was closer to dinner.

I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at Luca.

“Excuse me, he can talk to me if he wants to. You need to stop bossing people around.”

I noticed that Luca’s expression was flickering towards Bruzzatore again. I knew then that I probably shouldn’t mess with him. Without saying a word, he scooped me up in his arms, bridal style, and carried me to the table.

He sat down, keeping me in his lap.

“No,” he said. “Food!” He shoved a plate in front of me and nodded toward it, signaling for me to take some.

When I squirmed in his lap, he tightened his arms around me. I winced. Clearly, Luca wasn’t in an arguing mood.

I gave Matteo an apologetic look, which he returned with a shrug and a smile that said he dealt with this sort of thing all the time.

Luca grabbed my chin gently and moved my head so I was looking at him. “Don’t pay attention to Matteo. Eat.”

I rolled my eyes. “Bossy much?”

Luca squeezed my hips in warning, and I smiled cheekily as I reached for some food.

I could feel his hot breath on my ear as I ate, and it just made me squirm in his lap even more.

“Tomorrow we’ll eat at the best restaurant in Naples.”

I looked back at him as I took a big bite of a cornetto. “So you’ve been here before?”

He nodded, then grabbed my wrist and brought the pastry in my hand to his mouth, taking a giant bite out of it.

“Hey!” I said and pulled the cornetto back. “Get your own!”

He smirked. “But it tastes so much better coming from your hand.”

I heard a gagging noise coming from behind us and looked over to see Matteo pretending to throw up.

“Watch it,” Luca said. “You weren’t any better when you met Elio.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Attesos get ~destinos~ too?”

Matteo nodded and smiled dreamily. “Yes, most people in the mafia get one now, ever since the program was a success with the Dons. His name is Elio.”

My heart melted a bit at Matteo’s expression. It made me happy to see him happy. I wondered if Luca felt, or ever would feel, the same way about me.

Or if I would ever feel that way about Luca.

Luca placed his chin on my shoulder and poured himself some coffee. “To answer your question, Matteo and I come to Naples once a year for the annual Don Conference.

“Our family’s destra, my second in command, Angelina, stays back in New York. She watches over things while we’re away.

“Naples has the biggest mafia community in the world, so it makes sense that most dons from around the world meet here.” He smiled a bit.

I shook my head, surprised by this secret world hiding right inside this city. “That’s actually super interesting.” I started picking at some fruit, then paused. “How long are you guys staying?”

Matteo spoke this time: “We were only supposed to stay for two days.” He glared at Luca. “But someone has been forcing us to stay.”

“He’s just grouchy because he’s never been away from his ~destino~ for more than five minutes,” Luca said.

“Damn right I’m grouchy! How would you like to be away from Freya for two weeks?”

Luca glared at him and hugged me to his chest.

“Mmm, that’s what I thought,” Matteo mumbled.

“Wait, two weeks? No, no, no!” I pushed myself away from Luca and stood.

“I was only supposed to be in Naples for five days! I have a job I have to get back to! I have friends who will be worried about me!”

“Freya, come here,” Luca said. He held his arms open, still sitting down, motioning for me to sit back in his lap. “C’mon, it will help you calm down—you know it will.”

I looked at him warily. His arms opened wide like that, welcoming me, were so tempting that I couldn’t help but give in. I practically jumped into his arms and buried my face into his neck, absorbing all the comfort he could give.

“I need to go home,” I whispered.

“I know. And you will. I’ll be bringing you home soon, I promise. But we’re going to have one more night in Naples, and you’re going to enjoy being here without worrying about when you’re going home.”

I lifted my face out of his neck.

“Luca, I have a job to get to. I have rent to pay. I need to go home now,” I said in somewhat of a panic.

Luca ran his hand up and down my back in a comforting way.

“I will take care of everything. I have a lot of power you don’t know about. Any problem you might have when we get back will be taken care of. I promise.”

“What do you mean? How could you possibly—”

“Just trust me, ~bella mia~. I will take care of you. You have nothing to worry about. One more day in Naples, that’s all I’m asking. I want to make you fall in love with this city tomorrow.”

I took a deep breath as I looked into his eyes that seemed so sincere.

I had responsibilities that I needed to get back to. I was providing for myself—I had no one else to do that for me. I had to keep a roof over my own head now that my dad was gone.

Even so, I couldn’t help but trust Luca’s words.

I sighed. “Okay. One more day. But the day after tomorrow, I need to be on a plane back home.”

Luca smiled. “Good. Now eat some more.” He turned me in his lap so I was facing the table again. I rolled my eyes at his bossiness but did as I was told.

“So where are you guys from then?” I asked around the delicious pastry in my mouth.

“Upstate New York,” Luca said as he sipped his coffee. “Our family’s headquarters is in the forest near the Canada border, but I spend a lot of time in the city for work.”

“I’m from New York too,” I said. “But from in the city.”

Luca nodded. “I figured that since we were both flying from JFK. What part of the city do you live in?”

I opened my mouth to tell him, but stopped myself. What if I eventually changed my mind and decided I wanted to get away? Then I would definitely regret telling him.

I was really from the South Bronx, but I decided I couldn’t tell him that.

“Queens,” I said, blurting out the first neighborhood that came to mind. “Near Jamaica.”

Luca narrowed his eyes but nodded. Could he tell that I was lying?

“So we’re about four or five hours away from each other,” he determined.

“I guess so,” I said, looking away from Luca. I couldn’t stomach lying to his face.

The hand on my hip tightened as if Luca wanted to question me, but he didn’t say anything further.

I continued to eat my food in awkward silence.

Matteo eventually sat down and ate with us once Luca decided that I probably wouldn’t be able to finish the insane amount of food on the table.

Once I was officially done, I leaned back into Luca’s chest and rubbed my full stomach in contentment.

Luca’s chest rumbled behind me, and he bent to kiss the top of my head.

“Are you ready for a night in Naples?”