Benjie didn’t waste any time. He was up, throwing his paws over my shoulders for a great, big hug. I couldn’t help but giggle the whole time he was lapping up my face.
“I think he’s going to miss you.”
I looked over to Jeffrey with a smile. “I think I’m going to really miss him, too.”
Jeffrey watched us for a moment and smiled back. “Listen, I have to hit the road, as I have to be back no later than six. There’s still plenty to eat in the fridge, so help yourself. Just give me a call once you want to leave, and Maria will come round to sort everything out.” He pulled his hand out of one of his pockets and handed me a key. “This is a spare key for the house. You can leave it on the side table by the door before you go. Maria will take care of everything else.”
Pulling Jeffrey in for a hug, I squeezed him tightly. “Thank you so much for this.”
Jeffrey kissed the side of my head. “No sweat. I just hope you get your happily-ever-after. You more than deserve it.”
I nodded my head and watched as Jeffrey and Benjie got in the car and drove off. It wasn’t until I was back in the house that I realised I was completely on my own. It felt strange. Really strange. I was so used to having a house full of girls to spend quality time and chew the fat with. All this reminded me that I needed to call Belinda and make sure she was okay.
I turned the phone on and watched as all of the text and voicemail messages piled up on my phone. I sighed, but I knew I needed to go through them all. No matter how much I hated Luca for what he did, I still cared. I still wanted to know he was okay.
When I reached the kitchen, I started making myself some tea and toast. Once all was ready, I sat down and took a deep breath. Time to face the music.
Most of them were virtually the same as yesterday. There was one from Belinda telling me that everything was okay—apart from Luca, of course. It was the last voicemail which had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
“I know you’re with that weasel, Jeffrey. I’m coming to get you, and when I do, I’m going to kill that son of a bitch!”
The line went dead, and I immediately sat up in a blind panic. I frantically pressed the buttons to find out exactly when he made that call. When I saw it was at four o’clock this morning, I nearly had a meltdown. Thank God Jeffrey wasn’t here.
Putting all of my dishes in the sink, I gave them a quick wash, dried them, and placed everything neatly back in its place. It was then I heard something. It distinctly sounded like gravel crunching on the driveway.
Looking out of the window, I wasn’t surprised to see Tony driving and an angry-looking Luca in the passenger’s seat. All I could think about as I saw the car nearing the house was that Luca was meant to be resting.
Finding my feet, I ran outside towards the car. “What the hell are you doing here? You should be in bed!”
Luca ignored me, got out of the car, and I immediately noticed his murderous look. “Where is he?”
Stopping in front of him before he sprinted, I held my hand out to him. “Don’t you think we have more important issues here to discuss?”
Luca, still ignoring me completely, took a run for the house. Tony was beside me in next to no time, shaking his head. “Morning, Clara.”
I huffed. “Morning, Tony. I would ask you how you are, but I’m guessing you’re probably pulling your hair out with this one.” I motioned towards the house. Tony chuckled as we waited for Luca to finish his search. After about two minutes, he popped his head out.
Throwing my hands in the air to show him how exasperated I was, I walked steadily back to the house. I noticed that Tony wasn’t moving, so I shouted, “Come on, Tony. You’re not getting away that easily.”
Once I was inside the house and the door was shut, I looked at Tony and pointed towards the kitchen. “If you need a drink or anything, there is plenty in stock in there for you.” Tony took the hint, nodded, and walked out of the living room.
“Where is he then?”
Looking up towards the love of my life’s eyes, I saw the sadness hidden behind all of that anger of his. I could understand in a sense why he was so angry. It was better to hold onto rage than to show any signs of pain.
“He left this morning.” Seeing the agony rip across his face, I went to him. “I stayed in the spare bedroom. Nothing happened between us; I swear. He just offered me a place to stay, and I took it.” Relief washed over his features as he took me in for an embrace. Being so close to him and smelling him was just too much to bear.
“I know nothing happened. I saw when I went up there that there were two unmade beds. Jesus, Clara. Why did you run? Why didn’t you just talk to me?”
I pushed him away in anger. “Don’t turn this around on me. I wasn’t the one who has been lying this whole time.”
Luca sat down, and when he did, he winced slightly. “You’re still sore aren’t you?”
He sighed. “It’s getting better, but I can’t say my heart is right now. That’s been in pieces since you left me.”
I threw my hands up. “What do you expect? I thought our relationship meant more to you.”
Snapping his head up, Luca had fire in his eyes. “You’re everything to me. I couldn’t lose you. I can’t lose you. You’re the only purity I have ever had in my life. You make me feel like I can be a normal person who lives a normal life. For the first time ever, I feel complete.”
I felt my composure beginning to waver, so I decided to go on the defensive. “I refuse to be a mistress. I will never—ever—be that woman.”
Luca leaned forward and captured my hand. He immediately gripped me with those beautiful eyes. “You have never been and will never be my mistress.”
I shook my head. “No matter what, you’re married. That’s one piece of the jigsaw that can’t be ignored. Until you find a suitable piece to take its place, it will always be an issue for us.” Sighing, Luca sank back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “What does she have over you? What could she possible know to make you tie yourself down to something as major as this? You said you never touched her, so why is she so persistent?”
Gripping his eyes shut, I saw the pain and anger surface. I didn’t like seeing him suffer like that—no matter how angry I was with him.
“When I was fifteen, I lost my virginity to her. It was all a setup, so I could be tricked into marriage. You see, one of the reasons why my mother and father fought so much was because he wanted me to marry her. He was without a job, and he knew that if I married her, then Isabella’s father would join him in a family-run restaurant business. My mother wanted to ask Giuseppe for the money, but he wouldn’t let her. He said he was too proud to go to his wife’s family for help.” Luca laughed sarcastically at the thought.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. His father sounded like just as much of a piece of work as my own father was. “So, he thought forcing his fifteen-year-old son into marriage was the better solution? That’s just unbelievable.”
Luca shook his head and looked at me with a smile. “I know. Tell me about it. The night I killed him, they were both fighting over it. I just couldn’t stand it. Once I left, I settled in with Giuseppe, and my life went on as normally as possible. It was five years later when Isabella found me. It seemed she was in a similar situation with her father when we met. Quite laughable now when I think about it. She said she knew about what I had done, but would promise to keep quiet if I fulfilled my father’s wish. I tried to offer her money to go away, but she refused. She wanted me and wasn’t going anywhere until she got me. I told her if she thought I was going to sleep with her again, then she had another thing coming. She even tried to blackmail me into that as well.”
My eyes widened. “What a bitch! I really wanted to wipe that smug look off her face when she came into my office as bold as brass like that. I really wish I had now.”
Luca growled a little. “I would have loved to have seen that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Luca, thi
s is not the time.”
Flicking my nose, he said, “Sorry. I would never hit a woman—you know that. But I must admit it would give me great pleasure in seeing another woman give her what she deserves. She tries, but fails miserably at trying to seduce me. Half the time, I think the only thing that keeps her relatively happy is that she knows she can dip into our bank account whenever she pleases. I put enough in there to keep her happy, and she’s happy that her father is now back on track with the business in Italy.”
With a deep sigh, I came to the conclusion that this bitch of a woman was never going to let Luca go without a fight. She was keeping him from finding true love… Keeping him from being happy. I just didn’t know what could possibly be done to resolve this situation.
“I can kill her if you want me to,” I offered with a cheeky grin.
Luca laughed, pulling me in for a hug before kissing my head. “You don’t realise how much I really love you, amore mio.” Sliding his hand down towards my leg, Luca hitched my skirt up. “I think I need to get reacquainted with you.”
I started breathing heavily, but stopped his hand. “We can’t. I can’t do this with a married man.”
He ignored me and carried on. “As far as you were aware, I wasn’t married yesterday when we made love. I’m not married to her, Clara. Not in my heart. I don’t love her. I have never loved her. You, however, are already my wife to me. You belong to me. Because you are mine.”
I hissed with pleasure as I felt his finger slide down to my wetness. “What about Tony? He might come in!”
“Tony won’t come in unless I call him. I need to do this, Clara. Let me take care of you. Let me show you how much I love you. I need to make you mine all over again.”
I didn’t know why he kept saying that, but hell, what did I care when his fingers were working their delectable magic?
“I need to taste you,” he whispered into my ear. “If you won’t let me make love to you, then at least let me taste you.”
I tried ever so hard to resist temptation. I really did. But Luca’s presence mixed with his words of love held me in his spell.
“Voglio fare l’amore con te. Sono dipendente dei tuoi baci.”
Any remnant of resistance I had fell deplorably by the wayside with just those few words. Whatever the hell he had said, he knew he had me.
Shooting out of my seat, I shouted. “Upstairs! Now! I’m not doing this here.” I didn’t waste any more time; I was off.
The minute I was in my bedroom, I pulled Luca hungrily to my lips. My desire for him was burning hotter than ever. I always thought it couldn’t get much hotter, but I was wrong. He was everything in my life that I needed and more.
He was my everything.
Ridding me of my clothes, Luca pushed me towards the bed. “I’ve missed you so much, amore mio. I can’t live without you. I need to smell you. I need to taste you so bad, it hurts.”
I moaned with pleasure as Luca swiftly pinned me beneath him. Within a nanosecond, my nipple was in his mouth, which was quickly followed by the other. Every flick and feel of his wet tongue sliding across my sensitive nub had the fires raging in my stomach. Right then, I didn’t care that he was married to another. I just needed to feel him.
“Make love to me.”
Trailing kisses down towards my belly, Luca neared that spot that he knew and loved all too well. “I promise I will make this right. I will do everything in my power to make you happy. I swear to you that I will find a way. And then I will make you my wife. Then, I will take you again.”
I was about to protest that I didn’t care, but then his tongue was there, lashing away at my throbbing clit. My body reacted straight away as my back arched in pure rapture.
“Sei la mia rosa. Ti adoro.”
“Luca!” I cried as his words hit straight to my groin.
“You’re so beautiful. I could taste you all day.”
And boy did I want him tasting me all day. If he loved it, and if it felt like this, then who was I to complain?
All the words soon stopped as Luca lapped up every single morsel of me. He was taking his time gently licking and suckling all the areas he knew would make me scream with pleasure. Luca knew from the very start what buttons to press, and today was no exception. He was a master at everything he did.
As I closed my eyes, I fisted his hair in my hand and gripped onto it tightly. My feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they pushed into his back while he licked and sucked with all his might.
Feeling I was close, Luca placed a finger at my entrance and started his beautiful torture inside of me. “I want to feel you come on my finger, baby. I need to taste your sweetness.” He went back to my clit again, and it only took another two licks before I was there. Right there on that wave he always knew how to take me to.
“Luca, I’m going to come!” I had thought it was building up slowly, but I was so wrong. Luca just moved and licked faster than ever, making the rise of it come quickly and violently. I was right on the tip, knowing that one more flick would send me into oblivion.
I arched my back in anticipation of what I knew was coming at any moment. All it took was Luca’s growl—which vibrated through his tongue—as he licked me up in one fell swoop like I was the best ice cream he had ever tasted.
I was gone with my head back, my spine arched, and I was gripping the sheets like they were all that were holding me together. “Oh, Luca!” I shouted, unable to hide my desire. He had just given me everything I needed—and more.
I relaxed back on the bed and could feel his hot breath against my thigh. I let go of the sheets and breathed in deeply before opening my eyes.
Once I managed to stop seeing stars, I looked down and into the most beautiful face in the world. It almost took my breath away.
He kissed the inside of my thigh, and it made me feel like a goddess being worshipped. He knew I was his again. I could feel it in the air. I was always his, but somehow, when he marked his territory on me like that, it always brought that fact to the forefront. He was happy again. I was back to belonging to him … just like he always craved.
Trailing my fingers through his hair, Luca gently laid his head on my thigh. I didn’t know why this brought tears to my eyes, but having him this close after the most amazing orgasm just gripped my heart like never before.
For the next few minutes, we stayed like that in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were our breathing. It seemed like we were in perfect tune with each other.
As I stroked his hair, I let the tears flow. No matter what was happening in the outside world, I couldn’t deny the fact that I loved this man with such intensity it burned. Just like he was with me, I couldn’t possibly see a world without him in it.
Sensing something was wrong, Luca looked up with his beautiful caramel eyes. The worry in those eyes made the tears come even more.
With a worried frown on his face, Luca pulled himself up to me and wiped away my tears. “I promise you something, Clara. I will fix this. I swear to you I will fix this. And unless they are through joy, I will never make you shed a single tear again. I will go to the ends of the earth if I have to. And when I come back, I will make you my wife. We will have children together—grow old together. I will stop at nothing until you’re completely mine … because I love you. I love you more than life itself. Do you believe me? Do you believe what I say is true?”
Feeling the warmth of new tears, I nodded my head. I did believe what he said was true, and I truly believed he would do everything in his power to fix this. I didn’t know how, but I knew he would stop at nothing until he did.
I pulled his head to mine and delved my tongue into his mouth. I had to feel him … taste him. My body cried out for his touch. I knew right in that moment that I had to make him mine, too.
“Make love to me,” I breathed into his mouth.
Luca caressed my face before gently kissing me on the lips. “You’re not the other woman, Clara. I don’t want to make you feel t
hat way.”
I gripped his hand and surprised myself by saying something completely out of character for me. “Please.” The intensity in my eyes had him racing to find my lips again. One by one, all of his clothes fell away, and he was back on top of me in an instant.
“Do you want me to be on top?” I asked, about to move.
Grabbing my arm, he stopped me from even thinking about moving. “No. I need to do this. I need to show you what you mean to me.”
I relented, pulling Luca’s head to my lips again. It had been a while since I had felt what it was like to be underneath him like this. I didn’t realise just how much I missed it until now. With us being so close, it felt like we were as one—entwined together like a perfect thread. Feeling his moans vibrating through my body sent my pulse sky high. He always knew how to send my pulse rising to dizzying heights.
Luca broke our kiss and took time working me up around my neck. He dived further, capturing my nipples again as he took time lavishing them like they were his best sustenance. Travelling down even further, he got to my belly where he kissed and caressed every pore of my skin.
He pointed to my stomach. “One day, I’m going to put our baby in there.”
That thought should have frightened me, but it somehow filled me with a longing I never knew I had.
I pulled myself up to face him and smiled. “Let’s practice you putting our baby in there now, shall we?”
Luca growled loudly, and before I knew it, he was thrusting his hard cock inside of me. The intrusion made the gasp come in full force. He always knew how to steal my breath.
Moving inside me tenderly, Luca took one of my nipples into his mouth. I could never get enough of this man. Every touch and every flick of his tongue anywhere on my body had me spellbound.
It didn’t take long for that build-up to come again. Feeling his love pour into me like an endless waterfall had somehow magnified my heightened awareness of him. In my frenzy, I grabbed his hair as he kissed my neck. I cried out, “Luca!” as I pushed my hips up to meet him more.