Chapter 21

FREYA

“So where are we going?” I asked Luca when we stepped out the doors of the hotel lobby.

“Well, first we need a cab,” Luca said. He walked in the direction of the street and hailed a taxi with ease.

“Wait, why don’t we just walk? It’s a really nice night,” I said as a cab pulled up.

Luca opened the taxi door for me. “We are on a tight schedule, love.” He motioned me in.

Not seeing the point of arguing, I got into the car, and Luca followed behind me. He had a plan.

The driver said something to us in Italian, which I assumed was him asking where we were going. Astounding me, Luca gave him the location in what sounded like perfect Italian.

“You speak the language?” I asked him, shocked.

“Of course, it’s the language of the motherland,” he replied, as if it were no big deal. “It is normal for a Don to learn to communicate in English and Italian. It makes it easier to communicate with other families when I come back to Italy. They turn their noses up at those of us who’ve switched to English for our everyday business, you see.”

I nodded and fidgeted with my seatbelt as the car pulled away from the curb. How the hell could one person be so perfect?

He was good-looking, strong, kind, and smart. ~What on earth does he possibly see in me?~

Before I could buckle my seatbelt, Luca wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders and tugged my body over to his, nuzzling my hair.

“You’ll sit here. I’m not ready to be away from you yet.”

“I was literally less than a foot away from you.”

Luca shrugged. “Too far.”

I decided not to argue, instead settling contentedly into his rumbling chest and watching the beautiful streets of Naples pass by. As we made our way to our destination, the driver kept glancing at us through the rearview mirror any chance he got.

I squirmed in discomfort.

I wasn’t sure why he was watching us, but he seemed to be extremely interested in all that we were doing. Luca was too busy playing with my hair and rubbing my leg to notice. But he immediately stiffened when he saw my discomfort, following my gaze to the driver.

His eyes narrowed and he gave a pointed cough that was clearly meant to indicate something to the driver.

The driver sucked in a sharp breath and quickly looked away, keeping his eyes glued to the road for the rest of the ride. Once we got out of the taxi, I turned to Luca and poked his chest.

“You need to stop getting so mad at people just for looking at me.”

Luca wrapped an arm around my shoulder and led me down the street. He huffed. “I should be the only man looking at you.”

“Was that really why he was looking at us?”

He sighed. “No. As beautiful as you are, I’m sure he was just curious about the girl on the Don’s arm. He was probably wondering if you were my ~destino~. It would be a big deal if it got out that I had found you. It’s common knowledge that you were missing for most of my life.”

“He was in the mafia?” I asked in shock.

“Yes. Like I said before, Naples has one of the biggest mafias in the world.”

“Yeah, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. That’s crazy. And he knew who you were?”

Luca grinned. “Not to brag or anything, but your ~destino~ is kind of a big deal in this world.”

I rolled my eyes. “It seems like he’s humble too.”

He nipped playfully at my ear, making me laugh. He stopped in front of a fancy liquor store and opened the door for me. I gave him a skeptical look as I walked inside.

The store was filled from floor to ceiling with customized wooden cabinets featuring countless varieties of wine. It was the very definition of elegance. Everything was pristine.

I felt a little out of place in my jeans, sweater, and coat that I had bought for ten dollars at a thrift store. My eyes widened as I noticed the price of the bottle nearest to me. It was seven hundred euros.

I looked at Luca. “What are you up to?”

He just winked and grabbed my hand as he pulled me through the store, completely ignoring my question. He walked up to a man dressed in a suit who was setting up a display on a table. The man looked up at us and smiled as we approached.

He said something in Italian, to which Luca replied in English: “I’d like your best bottle of Chianti,” as he brought me close to his side.

The man just smiled and nodded, unfazed, and disappeared through a door.

“The best bottle of wine?” I asked Luca. “Won’t that cost a lot?”

Luca shrugged. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, I promise.”

I turned to him. “You’re planning on spending hundreds of euros on a bottle of wine?”

“Thousands probably,” he said nonchalantly.

My jaw dropped to the floor. “Thousands?”

Luca smiled, putting his hands on my waist. “It’s really not a big deal. I’ve spent much more than that before.”

“Yes, but have you ever spent that much on a bottle of wine?”

Before he could answer, the man came back holding two bottles. “These are the two that I would recommend, sir. This one comes from—”

“We’ll take the one that is cheaper,” I immediately interrupted.

The man looked a little taken aback, but covered his shock quickly. “Of course, miss.” He brought forward one of the bottles.

“This is going to be the cheaper one at eight thousand euros.”

“What?” I gasped. “That’s like nine thousand dollars, right?”

“We’ll take it,” Luca said.

I turned to him. “You are not buying that.”

Luca raised an eyebrow and gave me an amused smile. “And why not?”

I looked at the man standing in front of us. “Would you excuse us for a moment?”

The man nodded, “Of course.”

I grabbed Luca’s arm and tugged him to the front of the shop.

“I’m not letting you buy that,” I stated.

“Freya, you deserve only the best. And I’m going to give that to you. Starting with the best wine that money can buy.”

“I don’t even like wine, Luca. There are so many better things you can do with that money.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like donating it. Having it serve some sort of real purpose other than paying for a bottle of overpriced grape juice.”

He didn’t look convinced.

“Okay, here, if you really want to make me happy then give me your credit card and I’ll buy the wine.”

Luca was looking very confused. “That will make you happy? Buying the wine yourself?”

I nodded my head and held out my hand.

He still looked very skeptical, but nonetheless, he slowly reached his hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. Then he handed me his credit card.

And I ran out the front door of the liquor store.