Luca, seeing my reaction, pulled me to him and started nibbling on my ear. “Dimmi che mi ami.”
Oh God, how does he do that? “Stop it, Luca.”
“Ti amo di piu’ che della mia vita.”
I think I may have stopped breathing. I think my brain had lost any and all ability needed to string a coherent sentence together.
“Sposarmi il mio amore.” Grabbing both of my arms, Luca brushed his nose against my neck. Just how he knew I liked it.
“Luca I—”
“Marry me, amore mio. Make me the happiest man in the universe, and be my wife. Let me take care of you and love you how I know you need to be loved. How you deserve to be loved. You are my life. I couldn’t possible exist without you.”
I could feel the tears brimming as I closed my eyes. My head was spinning so much that the only thought that came to me instantly was Trudy. The story of her one and only true love was swirling around in my head like a tornado. Her words seem to batter down upon me like a ton of bricks. “He was looking at you like you were the only woman in the world who ever existed. I knew then he was never going to let you go.”
A small croaking sound seemed to tear away from me when I didn’t want it to. I was overcome—overwhelmed by the force of it all.
“Yes.”
Pulling me from his arms, Luca burned his eyes into mine. “What?”
A single tear escaped my eye, and Luca was there straight away to wipe it away. I knew then he would always be there to wipe away all of my tears. He just completed me.
Finding it hard to focus on him with my blurry eyes, I said, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Grinning like a silly twat, Luca pulled me into his arms and spun me around. “You’ll be my wife? You’ll actually marry me?”
Laughing hard, I shouted, “Yes, now put me down!”
“I knew speaking to you in Italian would do it.”
I shook my head. “You are a right prick, do you know that?”
Luca smacked my bum and growled at me. “You can’t talk to me like that now. I’m your husband.”
Turning off the tap and getting in, I glared at him. “Not yet you’re not.”
Luca joined me, sliding in all excitedly and pulled me onto his lap. “I’m your husband because I fucking tell you I am.”
Laughing and shaking my head, I pushed at him. “It didn’t take you too long to go from sweet and sexy to a commanding little shite now, did it?”
Luca stroked my face and kissed me. “You love it when I go all commanding on you. No matter what, you always put up with it—despite your complaints. You get me, Clara, and that’s why I know for a fact that you’re the woman of my dreams.”
Laying my head on Luca’s shoulder, I sighed my contentment. He was right of course. He always was in an annoying way. Luca was the man of my dreams, and I couldn’t wait to become Mrs. Belatoni.
Smiling like Cheshire cats, Luca and I eventually made it out into the big, wide world. Luca needed to make some business calls, and I needed to do some admin in the office. We reluctantly pulled away from one another and were waltzing into my office when something caught my eye.
Looking up to the next floor, I found Belinda and Tony coming out of her room. She smiled at him seductively and stroked his face. Tony, in turn, pushed her up against the wall and kissed her.
Not wanting to spy on their tender moment any further, I turned away and walked into my office. I was sitting there for about ten minutes when the one and only Belinda walked in.
Silly grin. Check.
Flushed cheeks. Check.
Glassy eyes. Check.
Just-been-royally-fucked look. Check and double check.
“Belinda, how are you this morning? Do I really need to ask?” Strolling in, Belinda sat down on the chair and regally crossed her legs with a smile. “That good, ha?”
Belinda giggled. “That good.”
“You know, when I teased you about sleeping with him, I didn’t actually literally mean for you to sleep with him.” I shook my head with a smile.
“I couldn’t help myself. He was so just so damn cute and gentle with me last night. He speaks highly of you, and I love anyone who does that. Having him cradle me in his strong arms was too much to resist.”
I slinked back in my chair and sighed. “You know this is going to cause problems for you.” I saw her shocked expression and waved my hands in front of me. “I’m not talking about me. Don’t get too flustered. I mean for you and Tony.”
She bit her lip. “How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That he would get possessive quickly?”
I smiled knowingly. “I didn’t. It was just a guess. So I take it you’ve already had this conversation.”
Belinda frowned and looked away. “Yes. He said he didn’t want me sleeping with anyone else.”
I shook my head. “Jeez, what is it with Italian men?”
“What do you mean by that?” Snapping our heads up, we found Luca walking through the door.
“Don’t you ever knock?”
He completely ignored me and asked again. “What do you mean?”
I threw my hands in the air and I started pacing. “Oh, you know, Italian men giving us all the, ‘You can’t sleep with anyone else’ crap.”
Luca smiled. “Don’t knock Italian men, Clara. We take our women very seriously.”
I looked towards Belinda with a sigh. “You see, this is the thing. You want to know what the thing is?” Belinda nodded and smiled. “Luca talks about women like possessions. Noticed how he said, ‘Our women?’”
“But you are mine, Clara.”
I flew my hands up in the air. “See? Now this is what you can expect from Tony now. I bet even Alessandro is the same with Mia.”
Taking my left hand, Luca kissed my ring finger. “You don’t understand. We Italian men take pride in our women. Once they become ours, we look after them—cherish them, if you will. You can see that now, and you will still see that once we are married.” Luca smiled.
The little fucker!
“Married!” Belinda shot out of her chair faster than feet on hot coals.
“Well done. I hadn’t had time to get round to that yet.” Luca just smiled, but Belinda was hyperventilating.
“Married? You’re getting married? Eek!”
Running over, she gave me a big hug. “Oh, Clara, I’m so happy for you. And you, too, Luca.” Belinda kissed Luca on both cheeks.
“Thank you, Belinda. You are the first of the ladies to know.”
My head snapped towards him. “You’ve told your men already?”
“I told them yesterday.”
My eyes widened. “What?” I could feel the anger rising again. Deep breaths, deep breaths. “You only asked me this morning. What if I had turned you down?”
Very matter–of-factly, Luca stated, “That was never going to happen. I would have tortured you into submission. I always have, and I always will. Remember what I said from the start? I always get what I want.”
I pointed towards the door and shouted “Get out, before I gouge your eyes out.”
“I love you, baby.”
“Oh, shut up, arsehole!”
Blowing kisses he retreated out the door, but not before saying, “I’ll be back later to take you for lunch.”
Once the door was closed, I turned to Belinda. “You see that? He always has to have the last word! My God, he frustrates the hell out of me.”
“As you do him I should imagine.” Belinda smiled. “Do you think he had a reason for coming in here?”
“He probably thought I wasn’t going to tell you, so thought he’d barge his way in and do it himself. Tosser.”
Belinda giggled. “You were made for each other. I’m so happy for you.”
Seeing her genuine delight, I couldn’t help but smile back. “I must admit—so am I. And I never thought I would say that.”
“You two are so adorable one minute and like grrr th
e next. It’s quite fascinating.”
Sitting down, I shook my head—although I still couldn’t help the smile. “So, getting back to you and Tony. How do you feel about him?”
She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think I would have slept with him last night if I had been a bit more clear-headed. It just complicates matters, you know?”
“I know, but I did offer you the option of quitting your clients a while back. You’re getting paid for being Manager, so do you really need to do the other side of it anymore?”
She bit her lip and looked away for a moment. “No, but I enjoyed that part. I suppose a part of me thinks I should settle down a bit now, but the other part of me doesn’t want to be dictated to by a man.”
Smiling, I knew exactly how she felt. “I feel for you, hon. I really do. The problem we have here is that if Tony knows you’re going upstairs with a client, he might freak. The other problem we have is that I doubt very much that Luca would rein him in.”
She closed her eyes in frustration. “I see what you mean. They’re going to stick together, aren’t they? Like two peas in a bleedin’ pod!”
“Exactly.”
“Why do men have to complicate everything?”
Cracking up laughing, I walked around my desk to Belinda and squeezed her shoulder. “Look, don’t over-analyse it all. Take each day as it comes, and see how you feel. Take a breather from that side of work, so you can concentrate on what you really want. It will make Tony happy, and in turn, it gives you the time to see how you feel.”
Belinda smiled up from her chair and squeezed my hand. “Thank you. It’s probably what I should do; it’s for the best really. What should I tell the clients when they come in?”
“That’s up to you. You can tell them the truth, or if you think its best, tell them that you’re not well and that the doctor has told you to take it easy for the next few days. I’m sure they’ll understand.”
Standing up, Belinda took me in for a hug. “I actually have a new client coming in shortly. I suppose I had better go and find someone else to look after him.”
I was about to ask for more details, but a knock on the door interrupted us. “Come in!”
The door opened and behind it stood a timid-looking man of around seventy years old. “Miss Murphy?”
I looked at him in confusion. “Yes.”
Coming through the door, the gentleman quickly marched over to me with something in his hands. I didn’t know what it was until he held out his hand to me.
“Mr. Belatoni sent me to get your ring size. May I?”
Shaking my head towards Belinda, I reluctantly gave the guy my left hand. He tried three different ring sizes until we found what seemed to be the perfect fit.
“Very well,” was all he said before he marched back out the door.
“I can’t believe that man!” I was beyond exasperated already.
Belinda laughed and headed towards the door. “I’ll come speak to you in a bit.”
After a few minutes of shaking my head, I decided to get on with my work. For a couple of hours, I buried myself in emails and correspondence, which needed tending to. I dealt with a few bills and made a couple of calls.
I was just in the middle of needing a break when a knock at the door sounded. I knew for a fact it wasn’t Luca because he never knocked.
“Come in!”
It was Belinda. “I took care of that appointment. He’s actually here now with Melinda.”
“Okay, great. What’s this new guy like?”
Scratching her head, she looked away for a moment. “He looks to be in his early to mid fifties, dark blond, greying hair. That’s not the worst part, though. The worst part is that he’s a vicar.”
I shook my head. “Sometimes, they’re the worst.”
She started laughing. “Yeah, I know. And the weirdest part of all is he that has your surname.”
Stiffening, my head snapped up towards Belinda. “What’s his first name?”
Sensing my anguish, she started to look panicked. “Michael. Michael Murphy.”
I slinked back in the chair and closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe that of all the people in the entire world, my father had to be the one to come here.
“Does he know about me?” More sternly I asked, “Does he know?”
Shaking her head, she shut the door behind her. “No, I never said a thing. What’s the matter? Who is he?”
Slamming my fists into my desk, I shot up. “Fucking arsehole!”
I raced to the door and had a very panicked looking Belinda behind me. I was halfway up the stairs when I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I didn’t even realise I was crying until I turned to find a blurry looking Luca.
“Shh, baby. I got you. It’s all taken care of.”
Wiping my eyes, I glared at him. “Let me go, Luca. I’m not fucking around this time. I need to see. I need to see!”
Luca pulled me against his chest and held me tight. “Stop fighting me. Don’t do this to yourself.”
Wriggling and writhing underneath his grip, I screamed, “Let go of me!” Pure adrenaline-fuelled rage ripped me apart from the inside out. I had to go see for myself. I had to see what it was my father was doing now after all those years of beating me fucking senseless because I was the one who was the sinner. ME!
Spinning around to Luca, I glared one more time. “If you don’t let go of me, I will never forgive you.”
Seeing I meant business, Luca dropped his tightened grip. “Baby, please. Don’t do it. Don’t do this to yourself.”
I wasn’t listening. I was off running up the stairs towards Belinda’s room. I took the special key card I had, which opens all of the doors, and I placed it in the slot. Once the light turned green, I pushed the door open.
No daughter ever wants to see her father lying on a bed being fucked into oblivion. The fucker wasn’t even aware I was there at first. His moans and groans underneath Melinda made me feel sick. Melinda noticed straight away and mouthed the words, “What’s wrong?” as she was riding him.
I just stood there, as still as a statue. I couldn’t think, couldn’t move. All I could do was stand there and watch as my father got his jolly’s off.
It was only when his breathing got faster and more erratic, that he grabbed Melinda’s hips, moaned out loud and shot his eyes open to find his one and only daughter had just witnessed her father come inside someone other than her mother.
Eyes still wide with shock, I gave my father a disgusted look and turned and walked out the door.
I raced down the stairs with Belinda and Luca following me. They looked concerned for me, but I couldn’t utter a single word. I was numb. Suddenly, I was so numb that I didn’t feel whole anymore. It was like my inner core was missing.
Shutting my office door behind me, I slunk back in my chair and buried my head in my hands. It wasn’t long before I felt his arms around me.
We stayed like that for a couple of seconds before I managed to calm, and my senses came back. I pushed Luca away and stared into his eyes.
“You knew about this, didn’t you?”
Luca looked down to the floor, and I knew then I had my answer. “Why, Luca? Why?”
He sat himself down on the edge of the desk, sighed and took my hand. “I didn’t do anything; it was your father that enquired about the place. I was going to keep it a secret from you, so you didn’t have to get hurt in all of this. Once he started making enquiries, I started one of my own. He’s been doing this sort of thing for years, Clara. I don’t know how he found out about The Castle, but the minute he made the enquiries, I saw it as an opportunity.”
I glared at him for more answers. “What, Luca?”
“I thought if he came here then I could get evidence on him. You wouldn’t let me kill him, but I’d be damned if I let him get away with what he’s done to you.”
Seeing Luca’s anger and worry for me didn’t quell my own anger. I was fuming at Luca for
keeping this from me. I was fuming at everything that had happened since Belinda told me who he was, and I was absolutely livid with my father.
I was about to tell him he had no right when Melinda barged through the door with a dressing gown on. “What was that all about? This guy’s having a full-on meltdown—whoever he is.”
I shook my head and chuckled. I actually chuckled! I just couldn’t believe this was really happening.
“Clara!” a voice shouted from the door.
Luca stood to attention and was about to lunge for my father when I put my hand out to stop him. “Luca, no. Let him in. I want to talk to him.”
“Oh, no. I’m not leaving you alone with him!”
I threw daggers at Luca to let him know I meant business. “Luca, go. I’ll be fine. I need to speak with my father alone.”
Belinda—and now Melinda—both had their eyes wide open in shock. Their mouths were practically on the floor in astonishment.
Walking towards the door, Luca had his back to me, but now faced my father. “Okay, I’ll be right outside, but if I hear even a tiny bit of distress from my fiancée, I’m coming in, and it won’t be pretty. Capisce?”
My father nodded his head, but then returned his eyes back to me. Once the door was shut, I stood still. Waiting.
“So, you’re getting married?”
I laughed. Is this man for real? “Yes, I’m getting married.”
“So, this is what you’ve been doing since you left home. Whoring yourself.”
Yes, I think he was for real. “Quite frankly, what I do here is none of your fucking business.”
My father had the cheek to get angry. “Don’t blaspheme, young lady!”
“Or what, Daddy? You’re going to get your belt and beat me like you used to?”
Stepping closer, the rage on his face brought back unwanted memories. I almost recoiled, but I stood strong. I wasn’t going to let him get to me.
“Your mother and I always said you had the devil in you. You were always going against the Bible—always going against us.”
I shut my eyes and breathed deeply, so I wouldn’t completely lose it. “And you’re saying this after fucking one of my workers. How did you rate the experience, Dad? Did you like her better than all of the other women you’ve been screwing behind mum’s back?”