LUCA
Days went by and my vita and I settled into a routine of sorts. Most mornings she would join me in the gym, usually arriving just as I finished my own workout, and we would go over her self-defense lessons. Although Enzo had warned me, I was surprised by the ferociousness with which she attacked the techniques. And she would be an excellent fighter if she would just get out of her own head, but more times than not, she couldn't believe she could do it, and so she couldn't, even though she insisted on trying over and over until she was so exhausted I brought our lessons to a close and sent her off to get a shower and some food.
In the afternoons-and some evenings-while Veda helped Lisa or read outside on one of the decks, I dealt with my amily's business dealings. After my last visit with my father, I knew he would never willingly hand everything over to me. It didn't matter that I was the son who had stayed, the one that put himself at risk so he could remain safe in the confines of his home. It didn't matter what I did, he would never see me as anything other than the baby boy who would help baby birds get back into their nests when they fell, just one action among many that lessened my worth in his eyes. He thought I had no backbone because I treated employees like Lisa with kindness and respect. Because I watched over those who belonged to me. So no, I would never be handed over the position of Boss.
Like everything else in my life when it came to him and the family business, I would have to take it by force.
Dinners, Veda and I spent together. Ever since the night I'd tied her to the chair, she showed up religiously with a smile on her face and an appetite.
She seemed content to ramble around the house, and it made me curious to know why she was suddenly so okay with being here when, up until a few days ago, all she could think about was leaving me. It was like once she'd gotten her own stuff out of her apartment, she was more at home here. Or maybe she'd just resigned herself to the fact that this was the way it was going to be from now on.
But who was I trying to fool? In the short time I'd known this woman, "resigned" was not a word I would associate with her. She'd even stopped fighting me about having her own room, and would snuggle into my arms at night like I would be the one to protect her from all the monsters in the world, not knowing that I was one of them. Or maybe she just didn't care anymore.
The monster you know and all of that.
It was strange, and unlike her, and it made me uneasy. Which was why I didn't return her smile when she sat down beside me and smelled the plate of stuffed shells in front of her. "Mmmm." She picked up her fork with one hand and grabbed a piece of garlic bread with the other. "I love Italian food."
I let my eyes travel over her hair, hanging loose over her shoulders the way I liked it. Some of her natural color was coming in at the roots and I made a mental note to have the colorist come back and put it back the way it was. "You've never told me that."
"It's true," she said. "It's my favorite. If it's got tomato sauce and some kind of cheese on it, I'm in. I could eat it every day." Cutting off a piece of the pasta with the edge of her fork, she blew on it before sticking it in her mouth, her eyes practically rolling back in her head. "Oh my god, that's good."
"Lisa is an excellent cook," I confirmed.
"Has she already left for the day?" Veda asked. "I'd love to find out how she makes this sauce."
"She has," I told her. "But I'm sure she'll let you watch her do it next time." She nodded in agreement, her eyes on her plate. Tonight she was wearing her favorite shirt with the sunflower on the front and a pair of pink knit shorts that hid her gorgeous thighs. It was a while before she noticed I wasn't eating. Fork in one hand and her second piece of garlic bread in the other, she let her arms rest on the table on either side of her plate. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Why aren't you eating?"
I studied her as I took a sip of my wine. "What's going on with you?" I asked her.
Those little wrinkles appeared between her brows. "What do you mean? Nothing's going on."
Nothing, my ass. Although it was nice to have us coexist in the house in peace for once, this wasn't the woman I'd grown to know and…
I shut down that thought before it could complete itself. I didn't love her. I loved to spar with her, verbally and physically. I loved her body. The rare sound of her laughter. Her smile.
Jesus fucking Christ.
I cleared my throat. "I'd like to know why you're suddenly so content, when not a week ago, all you could think about was jumping off one of the balconies and escaping."
She started eating again. "That's not true. I never planned to jump off a balcony. I was going to walk right out the front door." She tilted her head, thinking. "Or maybe wait until we were in the city somewhere and then get lost in the crowd."
"And you no longer have plans to do either of those things?"
Biting off a piece of bread, she wouldn't look at me, but she shook her head. "What's the point?" she said when she'd swallowed and taken a sip of her wine. "You laid down the law that I have to live here, with you."
"I did. But that's never stopped you before."
"Maybe I've had a change of heart," she said, so quietly I almost had to strain to hear her.
"A change of heart," I repeated.
She pointed with her chin at my plate. "Your dinner's getting cold."
"I'll reheat it," I told her. "This conversation is way too good to pass up."
Her shoulders fell and she set down her fork, eyeing the rest of her meal with something akin to sorrow. "Why do you do this?" she asked.
"Do what, amore?"
Her eyes met mine. "Ruin my meals."
"I'm not trying to ruin anything. I just want to know why you're not acting like yourself."
"Maybe this is me," she said. "The me I usually am. And the person you've known up until now is just some version of me that you brought out because you were such an asshole."
I had to give it to her, she almost had me with that one. Shaking my head, I said, "No. I don't believe that."
"You don't believe you're an asshole?"
"Oh, I know I'm an asshole. But I don't believe that this version of you is the real Veda. I think the real you is the one I've been dealing with these last weeks. I've felt the fire in your blood. This person"-I waved my hand from her head to her feet and back again-"isn't you. This is someone who's acting like she's content and happy because she's hiding something from me. And it drives me fucking insane when you hide things from me." "Did you ever think that maybe it's okay if you don't know everything?"
"No," I told her. "Not knowing things is how you get caught with your guard down. It makes me twitchy."
"Well, you have nothing to worry about." She picked up her fork again. "I don't have any nefarious plans to take you out."
I laid my hand on her arm, and her fork clattered to her plate. "Stop lying to me."
She stared down at her plate for a long while, and when she finally looked up at me, there were tears in her eyes. "Luca, I'm not hiding anything from you. I'm just trying to make the best out of a bad situation so I can get out of bed in the morning. I'm bored. I'm lonely. And I miss my life. The one I had before. I had friends. Not many, but one or two. I have parents, and I miss them so much I can't stand it. Well, I miss my dad," she corrected.
I sat back in my chair and thought about what she'd just told me. "If I let you call your father, what guarantee would I have that you wouldn't tell him something that would have the cops banging on my door?"
"You wouldn't," she said. "You'd just have to trust me."
I removed my hand from her arm, and she picked up her fork and started eating again, and I did the same. "I'll think about it," I told her after a moment.
She stopped chewing, her eyes flying to my face. "Thank you."
Taking a piece of bread, I said, "Would you like to go out on my boat tomorrow with me?"
Her eyes widened. "You have a boat?"
"Of course, I do. What kind of gangster would I be if I didn't have a way to escape by water?"
It took a second, but then a smile lit up her face. "That's true. At least from what I've seen in the movies."
"So? Do you want to go out on the lake tomorrow?"
"Yeah," she said. "That would be fun." Then, after a minute, she asked, "Do you have water skis? Or like a tube or something?"
I shook my head. "No. It's not that kind of a boat."
"What kind is it?"
"You'll see tomorrow."
Her good mood returned as quickly as it had left, and I smiled as I watched her plow through her dinner with all of the gusto of any Italian worth their salt.
I wasn't going to tell her that tomorrow's excursion was for more than just spending an afternoon on the lake. I didn't want to spoil her joy. It was a simple meeting between families, and I wasn't expecting any problems. I wouldn't have invited her otherwise. However, I would be sure to take the necessary precautions, just in case.
Throughout the rest of the meal, I allowed her to believe she had successfully thrown me off the scent, but I still wasn't fooled. Something more was going on with her. And I was going to find out what it was.