Chapter 32

FREYA

I sat on the bed late in the afternoon, watching Luca pack up our hotel room as we prepared to go home. We would board our flight tonight around midnight Naples time.

I had tried to help, but he’d just chuckled at me and told me to sit down. Tired from our adventure-filled day, I hadn’t bothered arguing.

We’d spent the day seeing everything there was to see in Naples, and it had been absolutely amazing. My face hurt from smiling so much. I was still smiling as I watched Luca move around the room, glancing at me every once in a while and smiling back at me.

Everything about him was perfect. I couldn’t help but admire the way his body moved and how his large muscles flexed. He was breathtaking; it was hard to believe that a guy like him would want a girl like me.

“Luca?” I asked him hesitantly.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Please don’t be mad,” I said as I wrung my hands.

He turned to me fully. “Okay, now you’ve really got my attention.”

I took a deep breath. “We can’t go home yet,” I said.

His expression turned shocked. “What? You’ve been begging to go home for weeks. I thought you were excited.” He came toward me and sat down next to me, taking my hands in his.

“I know, but that was before I visited my mom. I can’t leave her. She needs our help. Carlo is basically a monster.”

Luca sighed. “Yes, I agree with you there. I already have it under control.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I sent one of my men to watch over your mother and send me daily updates. I wish that there was more I could do, but I need to get back to my family. Once everything is under control there, I will revisit the situation and evaluate how your mother has been treated, and then decide if she needs to be brought to New York and be put back under Conti protection.”

I shook my head. “But what if something happens? I can’t just leave her here. We have to go help her now.”

“Someone will watch over her and will intervene if anything happens,” Luca said.

“I cannot just simply take someone away from their ~destino~. Carlo will not allow it. He may not seem like it, but he is a powerful member of the family. He is the ~Atteso~ of one of the Rossi family branches in Naples. He has a lot of power. There is no telling what he could be capable of if his ~destino~ was taken away from him.”

I nodded reluctantly.

He reached up and cupped my cheek gently. “I know that I would never give up if I lost you. I would tear the world apart first.”

I leaned in closer to his touch, loving the feeling of the sparks running through my body. “Okay,” I whispered.

That made me feel a little better. There were so many questions that I had for my mom. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that she never wanted to see me again.

Not after how happy she’d been to see me before Carlo showed up.

But she had survived this long without me. She could go another month, right?

Luca wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close to him.

“Please don’t worry too much, ~il mio amore~. I will take care of everything.” He bent down and kissed my forehead.

I leaned into him further. I couldn’t help but trust him.

As Luca and I boarded his private jet to head back to New York, my stomach rolled with nerves. Mainly because I was about to get back on a plane and I couldn’t help but still feel terrified of flying, but also because I was about to go back to Luca’s home and meet his family. How was I supposed to help Luca lead a mafia crime family? I could barely pay my rent every month. What if they didn’t like me or thought that I was unworthy?

I knew Luca could sense my anxiety. He kept one arm safely around me at all times and was always rubbing either my back or arm— as if to remind me that he was there and I had nothing to worry about.

The private jet was bigger than I’d expected, with several rows of seating and a sofa in the back. When we reached our seats, Luca pulled me to his chest before I had the chance to sit down. He placed me on his lap as he sat in his own chair.

At first I didn’t mind. I simply rolled my eyes and allowed him to hold me. Feeling his arms wrapped around mine was honestly helping to calm my nerves. We stayed like that for a few minutes before the plane moved.

Then I quickly tried to stand and take the seat next to us, but Luca just tightened his grip on me.

“What are you doing?” I gasped.

Luca acted like he couldn’t hear me and rubbed his nose up and down the side of my neck. I shoved his face away from me and tried to get out of his lap. He didn’t budge.

“Seriously, Luca! Let me sit in my own seat!”

He pretended to think about it, then shrugged. “Nope.”

I gaped at him. “What do you mean, ‘nope’?”

“I mean you will be sitting right here for the flight. And no one is going to argue with me about it,” he said as he held me closer to his chest.

“Oh, you wanna bet?” I asked stubbornly as I pushed him away once again with much more force. His grip on me still didn’t loosen. The plane was moving faster.

“Luca, please! This isn’t safe! I have to sit in my seat and put on a seatbelt!”

He pushed his face into my neck and then brought his lips to my ear. “Calm down, Freya. I will not let anything happen to you.”

His calming voice made a little bit of the tension leave my body.

“What about seatbelts?” I asked shakily.

“I hired the best pilot that money can buy. I promise you that nothing is going to happen. And if something happens, then my arms will act as your seatbelt,” he said.

~Is he stupid or something?~ “Um, I don’t care how strong you think you are, Mr. Mafia Don Guy, if this plane crashes into the ocean, your arms cannot save me!”

He smiled a bit. “Relax, ~il mio amore~, everything will be okay.”

I shoved at him yet again, really putting all of my strength behind my blows to his chest.

“No! We are not doing this! Let go of—”

Suddenly, Luca clamped his giant hand onto the back of my neck possessively, forcing me to turn and look at him.

He brought my face so close to his that our noses were almost touching, and I watched as his expression darkened, Bruzzatore lurking underneath the surface.

I swallowed hard.

“You will sit here for the entire flight and that is final. Am I clear?” Luca asked, his voice an octave lower than usual.

At first, I couldn’t speak. I was too consumed with staring into his eyes. It was like I could see another person in there, staring back at me—his grip on the back of my neck tightened.

“Freya, give me your word.”

I nodded my head quickly, afraid of what Bruzzatore would do if I didn’t agree.

“I’ll stay here.”

Luca grunted his approval.

“Good. Now come here.”

He released his grip on my neck and gently brought me closer to him so I could lean my head against his chest. Then his hands made their way under my shirt, where they rubbed my back in a soothing way, just as he had done on the flight to Naples when we’d first met.

His touch calmed my body a lot, and soon I was completely at peace. Luca pressed a soft kiss to my head.

It surprised me how quickly he could go from dominant mafia don, demanding respect, to my sweet and loving ~destino~ who I knew would never hurt me. After a few more minutes, the plane was officially in the air. And, amazingly, I was fine.

“Hey, Luca?” I whispered as I tilted my head up to look at him.

“Yes, ~il mio amore~?” he asked.

I took a deep breath. “I love you.”

Luca looked taken aback for a moment, but soon his face broke out into a breathtaking smile. In a flash, his lips came crashing down into mine.

Once he released my lips from his, he looked at me and smiled widely.

“I love you too, Freya. More than you’ll ever know.”

“Aaawww,” someone suddenly said next to us. “It feels like my heart is about to explode from the cuteness.”

Both of our heads snapped up. Our eyes connected with Matteo’s: he was sitting in the row next to us with his elbow on the armrest and his chin propped up in his hand.

I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed him sitting right next to us. Of course, that meant he’d been present for my entire confession of love to Luca. How embarrassing!

Luca’s expression went from loving to terrifying in a heartbeat.

“Find somewhere else to sit, Matteo. Go bother the pilot or something.”

Matteo raised his hands in surrender.

“Just thought we could all keep each other company during the flight home.” He stood. “But I can see where I’m not wanted.”

He saluted Luca, winked at me, and then took a seat as far away from us as possible.

I looked back at Luca. “Well, that’s certainly one way to ruin a perfect moment,” I said, playing with the collar of his shirt.

Luca shook his head. “Matteo is a good ~Atteso~, but I’m considering killing him right now.”

I ran my hand through the side of Luca’s hair. “Shall we try it again?” I asked.

Luca raised an eyebrow. “Try what?”

“Luca,” I started, “I love you.”

He smiled softly and then brought me forward until my forehead met his.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of you saying that,” he whispered to me. “I love you too, Freya.”