I groaned and captured his mouth. He set a slow and steady pace, thrusting deep inside me again and again. I wrapped my legs around his hips, clung to him with my hands, and gave him all of me, every little bit of my heart and soul. I gave him everything because this was all that mattered. We really were unbreakable.
We reached the peak at the same time. As my orgasm consumed me and I contracted around him, I heard him groan my name, felt his body tense against me, and I savored every drop of his love pulsing inside me, right where I wanted to hold him forever.
He collapsed against me, sweaty and breathless, but quickly rolled to his side and pulled me against him so he wouldn’t hurt me. I relaxed into him, exhausted and light-headed, carried along by a current of his strength and the knowledge that we would finally be okay. As awful as tonight had been, no one could hurt us again.
“I’m going to take care of you, angioletto,” Luc whispered in my hair, pressing a kiss against my temple. “You believe that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” I whispered, already sliding down the edge of exhaustion and into sleep.
“Whatever happens tomorrow, promise you’ll trust me. I’ll always protect you, vita mia. Everything I do—all of it—it’s only for you. Promise me you’ll remember that. That you’ll trust me to keep you safe, no matter what.”
“I... I promise.”
“That’s my girl.” He kissed me again. “Now sleep, angioletto. And remember how much I love you. Tomorrow, it will all finally be over.”
They came for him in the middle of the night.
I was sound asleep, wrapped safely in Luc’s arms when Marco entered the room and roused Luc sometime around two a.m.
Groggy, I pulled the sheet around me as Luc hastily dressed and their low voices carried across the room. In my fuzzy headed state from the drugs and pain, I caught only a couple of words.
Knights.
Grand Duke.
Installazione.
The last brought me fully awake. I sat up, dragging the sheet up my chest, ignoring the ache in my muscles. “Luc.”
“It’s okay, angioletto.”
“Don’t be long,” Marco said as he stepped toward the door. In the low light from the simmering fire, I saw he was already dressed. “They’re waiting.”
He moved into the hallway, leaving us alone. Before I could climb out of bed, Luc grabbed his jacket, moved around to my side of the bed, and leaned over with his hands braced on either side of me. “I have to go.”
Fear tightened my throat, and I clasped his arm at the biceps. “But—“
“It’s all right, vita mia. I told you I would fix everything, remember? That I’d keep you safe? This is part of that.”
I knew that, but I still didn’t want to let him go. I swallowed hard. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. You have nothing to be afraid of.” He sat beside me and brushed the hair back from my face. “My father’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore. He can’t hurt us. I never wanted this, Natalie, but Marco and Fee were right. It’s my chance to do the right thing. And I will. Do you know why?”
I shook my head, part of me afraid to hear the answer as I shifted my hand to his chest so I could feel his heartbeat.
“Because of you, angioletto. Because you make me want to be a better man. I’ve struggled with this world I was born into. I’ve struggled more than you will ever know. And I convinced myself that, regardless of my own urges, if I stayed out of it, if I didn’t participate in their twisted gatherings, then I was still a good person.”
“You are a good person.”
“But I’m not. Not really.” He closed his hand around mine at his chest and looked into my eyes. “A good person doesn’t let others suffer, not when they can stop it. A good person stands up and fights, even when they know they might not win.”
My heard twisted because it suddenly sounded as if he was getting ready to take on the entire Entente. “Luc—”
“A good person delivers a message to someone in Florence she doesn’t even know, putting her life on the line for a cause that’s not her fight.”
Tears filled my eyes because I heard loud and clear what he was saying. I just didn’t understand what it meant. “Luc...”
“I’m not a good person, Natalie. But I will be. For you. Because I want to make you proud, just as you’ve made me proud, every single day since we met.”
“I am proud of you.” I captured him in a fierce hug and pressed my face against his throat, holding on to him so tightly, never wanting to let go. “I’ve always been proud of you. You have nothing to prove to me. Nothing to prove to anyone.”
He held me close and turned his lips to my neck. “Then maybe I need to prove it to myself.”
He drew back long before I was ready to let him go. And in the dim light, with shadows dancing over his handsome face, he smiled at me and very gently kissed my lips. “You are my life, Natalie James. The very reason my heart beats. And I will love you across the ages. Nothing will ever change the way I feel. Nothing.”
His words were steeped in love, but underneath, I felt pain. A pain I didn’t understand. One that scared me right to the very center of my soul. Especially because he’d just used my maiden name.
I blinked, unable to hold back the tears that slid down my cheeks. “I love you too, Luc. Always. Just you.”
He kissed my forehead, his lips lingering for several moments. Then he let go of me and pushed to his feet.
Tugging his suit jacket on, he said, “They’ll bring you to the grand hall sometime this afternoon. The ceremony will happen tonight. Stay with Fee. She’ll tell you what to do.”
I swallowed hard and swiped at my cheeks. “Ceremony?”
“My vows and installazione as the Grand Duke.”
“Grand Duke?” Even though all I wanted to do was grab him and never let go, I forced myself to keep things light. To be the supportive wife he needed right now. “D-don’t get any ideas. I’m still not calling you master. Or sir.”
He chuckled, leaned back over the bed again, and kissed me one last time. “Still so stubborn. I will settle for being amore della tua vita.”
“You are the love of my life,” I said as he drew back. “Per sempre.”
A sad smile curled his lips, and as he stepped out the door, he whispered, “Go back to sleep, angioletto. And dream of me.”
He quickly closed the door at his back. Alone, I stared after him before rolling onto my side and looking into the fading embers of the fire.
But I didn’t sleep. All I could do was hope and pray that he was right. And that in a few hours, everything would be okay.
It had to be. Because I couldn’t live without him.
“Everything will be in Italian,” Felicity said to me hours later as we walked up the biggest staircase I’d ever seen. “You won’t understand what’s going on, but try to pretend that you do.”
We were in an ancient building high in the hills somewhere near Florence. The structure was massive, made of pillars and stone. A plush red carpet was laid out like a pathway from the enormous double doors up the grand staircase. Torches were lit along the way, hanging from rings embedded in the wall, and candles burned on tables throughout the space.
At the top of the stairs, we turned right and made our way down another long corridor lit with sconces. At the end of the hallway, Felicity stopped outside a door, lifted her hand to knock, then hesitated.
I drew up beside her and realized why she’d stilled. Voices echoed from inside. Angry, familiar voices that made me suck in a shocked breath.
“You may act the grieving son to every one of the men here today,” Luc’s mother sneered, “but I know what you really are.”
“And what am I, Mother?” Luc snapped.
“You are a vicious liar. One who does not deserve to wear the colors of the Grand Duke. Where is Giovanni? I demand to know where he is right this moment. Rule should fall to him. Or to Dante. Never to you.”
“Dante is too f
ucked in the head to ever rule this House. You and Father saw to that when you murdered his wife. And your precious Giovanni ran like the coward he is.”
She gasped. “You... What did you do to Giovanni?”
“Not nearly what he deserved. Giovanni is a rapist and a murderer who deserves to be burned for his crimes. But then you already know that, seeing as how you created him in Father’s likeness.”
“I.. It is not your job to pass judgment.”
“Oh, but it will be my job, Mother. In a few minutes, it will be my only job. And I promise you this. When I find Giovanni, I’m going to make him wish he were already rotting in hell with that sick fuck Benito. They have raped and tortured and tormented their last victim. And if you don’t like that, then feel free to join them.”
“Luciano! You cannot speak to me like this. I am your mother.”
“Not any more.” His heavy footsteps crossed the floor. “You’re nothing to me. As far as I’m concerned, you can die in the old world Father created, or you can live in the new one I build. The choice is yours.” He jerked the door open. “But your power is over. And your reign of terror is finished.”
The tension seeping from the room was so thick, I barely breathed. Luc and his mother stared at each other across the space, neither backing down, oblivious to the fact Felicity and I were in the hall. Luc’s mother’s shoulders stiffened, and she slipped on the gloves in her hand, then crossed the floor in her expensive heels and perfect black suit.
She faltered in the doorway when she saw me. Her eyes widened slightly then hardened to cold ice chips, and her lips thinned until they were a tense straight line. But she didn’t stop. And she didn’t speak to me. She simply stiffened her spine and swept past me, disappearing down the hall with a click of her heels.
“Ladies,” Luc didn’t look thrilled to see me, but I didn’t care. “Come in.”
As Felicity moved into the room, I stepped into him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tight.
He smelled like rum and spice, and dressed in the black tux, he was absolutely gorgeous. But he barely hugged me back. As he let go of me and closed the door, I felt the stress radiating off him in waves.
Marco pushed up from the chair across the room where I hadn’t realized he’d been sitting and kissed Fee’s cheek. The two exchanged quiet words, and as I entered the room it struck me that they made a beautiful couple—Marco all dapper and dark in his tux and Fee pale and perfect in her fitted black dress.
Luc swept his jacket back and rested his hands on his hips as he moved up at my side. “Well, that went well.”
Marco slipped an arm over Fee’s shoulder, careful not to dislodge her updo. “Think she got the message?”
“One can only hope.”
I looked from Marco to Luc. “Still no word from Giovanni?”
“No,” Luc said. “But you have nothing to worry about. Giovanni’s cowering like a rat, but he can’t stay in the shadows for long. When he surfaces, we’ll find him.”
I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. I was happy Benito and David Bonello were both dead. I was even glad Luc’s father was gone. And I had no love for Giovanni after the things he’d done, especially knowing he’d played a part in Elena’s death. But I was suddenly worried about Luc. The rigid, authoritative man standing beside me who’d just destroyed his mother with a few ruthless words was not the same sweet, loving man who’d whispered reassurances in my ear last night. Yes, there had always been a dominant side to Luc, but this was different. This was a callousness I didn’t understand. And I was suddenly afraid his quest for vengeance, his need to do the right thing once and for all might push him too far. That it could possibly change him into someone neither of us recognized.
“Even the lost pup can be reintroduced to the pack, and after enough time, assimilate until it is virtually indistinguishable from the other beasts.”
Signore Vecellio’s words echoed through my head. I quickly reached for Luc, desperate to talk to him, to reassure myself that wouldn’t happen. “Luc—”
A bell chimed throughout the ancient building, cutting off my words.
“That’s our cue.” Marco glanced down at his watch. “We have to go.”
Luc dropped his arms to his sides. Marco and Fee kissed. The door opened, and several other men in tuxes entered the room, with black capes already hanging open off their shoulders.
Panic seized my chest. For reasons I didn’t understand, I felt as if my life was about to dramatically change. And that there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Luc...” My hands landed against his chest, preventing him from stepping away. “Wait.”
“It’s okay, angioletto.” He looked down at me as chaos swirled around us. For a moment, his unique and stormy eyes held mine, his expression softened, and I saw my Luc in those eyes. In that ruggedly handsome face. In the man who only seconds ago I’d barely recognized. “Everything’s going to be okay. I promise.”
He gripped my arms at the shoulders and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes and breathed him in—his familiar scent of rum and jasmine and cedar. But he was gone before I could slide my arms around him.
Footsteps sounded. Opening my eyes, I found myself alone in the middle of the room with Felicity.
Felicity stepped up to my side and took my hand. “There’s something you need to know before we move into the ritual room.”
I did not like the word ritual. Stomach swirling, I turned to look at her, unable to make my lips work.
“You’ve been here before,” Felicity said, squeezing my fingers. “Only this time, you won’t be on the balcony.”
The blood drained from my face.
“Don’t speak. Just watch. It won’t be like before, I promise. As a wife, you won’t be required to participate in the ceremony, only sign as a witness.”
I nodded and tried to swallow the bile rushing up my throat.
“And try not to react when they install him as Grand Duke. I know it will be an emotional moment, but it will be over quickly.”
My adrenaline shot up. I had no idea what that meant. But I couldn’t ask because she was already pulling me toward the door.
And because inside, I was screaming.
Screaming, because she was leading me into the same room where they’d raped and beaten my husband. Only this time I was supposed to feign happiness over what they were about to do to him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Natalie
Felicity led me down the wide steps and drew me to a stop outside a set of massive double doors. With a whispered “Good luck, I’ll be right here when you come out,” she stepped back.
I swallowed hard, fear coursing through my veins as I stared at the doors, unsure what was waiting for me on the other side. Every instinct I had said to run, but before I could figure out how, both doors opened, and a man in a black cape wearing a white bauta mask held out his arm, indicating for me to enter.
Each time I’d been surrounded by men such as this, something horrible had happened. My heart beat hard and fast, and my hands grew sweaty as I forced one foot in front of the other, moving into the room as I tried to stay calm. No matter what I tried, though, I couldn’t seem to fill my lungs with air.
Another man, wearing the same outfit, motioned me toward a chair against the wall to my left. I moved in front of it and turned to look over the massive room. Every eye in the place seemed to lock on me, but I tried to ignore their stares.
The room was filled with dozens of people, all hidden in robes and masks. The carpet was blood red, as I remembered. The walls made of stone. Columns edged the space. At the end of the grand hall, two enormous pillars—bigger than the rest—flanked a raised dais holding a long flat slab of stone—the same stone that had been in the middle of the room during Luc’s ritual and which he’d been chained to.
My stomach revolted, and what little I’d eaten today threatened to come up. Visions of that awful night filled my mind. Memories of the naked
women in masks, his body hanging from the ceiling, dripping with blood...
I shook my head to rid myself of the visions. A bell rang out, followed by a series of chants. Swallowing back the sickness, I opened my eyes only to realize the masked men were all now focused on the altar and what was about to happen.
For a split second, I looked up and caught sight of Luc’s mother, standing on the same balcony across the room where I’d stood not long ago, witnessing Luc’s torture. Almost as if she’d sensed me, she glanced my way, and as the chants rose up around us, our eyes held across the distance.
She was the only other woman in the room, and disgust darkened her features and pale eyes as she stared at me. I wanted to feel pity for her, but couldn’t. Luc had been right. The world as she’d known it was collapsing, and I was glad. She’d sat back and done nothing while her husband and his men had ruined countless lives. She deserved to be isolated and alone. And yet...she was the woman who’d given him life. The one person who was supposed to love him unconditionally. For all of my own mother’s faults, I knew deep down she only wanted the best for me. How would Luc survive in this world with this woman still here, trying to undermine him at every turn?
Just as quickly as she’d looked at me, she tore her gaze from mine and focused on the altar at the end of the room. I was sure she blamed me for everything that had happened, but I didn’t care. And I told myself she no longer mattered. Luc would survive just fine because he had me. Because I was the only family he needed.
I straightened my spine and looked toward the altar, nervous but anxious to get on with this ceremony so I could get back to Luc. The chants grew louder. A door opened, and then I saw Luc enter the room near the dais with a man dressed in a red robe and gold mask.
The man in red was the Grande Cavaliere, the “advisor” to the head of House Salvatici. I stiffened, remembering the way he’d stared at me in that cell. Remembering too when Luc had told me the man did not like him.
Sickness threatened again, but I focused on Luc, drew strength from the fact I could see him. He was still dressed in his tux, only now he was wearing a red sash across the dress shirt beneath his jacket. And he was the only one besides me who wasn’t hidden behind a robe and mask.