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Ten years ago, Luca had asked me if two broken halves could make a whole. Back then, we both thought the answer was no. It turns out we were both wrong.
71
LUCA
I rolledover the next morning with a wicked hangover and the sun in my eyes. My skull pounded so hard it felt like hellhounds were racing through my head. The clock on my bedside table said it was after ten o’clock, which fucking pissed me off. I never slept for more than two hours at a time, and it was well past my usual wake-up.
Only lazy assholes sleep this late.
I rolled onto my back, and the mattress shifted beside me, a reminder of what happened last night. My confession. Alex fucking my younger brother. The clusterfuck that was my thirtieth birthday bash.
Alex reached over, running her long fingernails down my stomach. “How do you feel?”
Her words said one thing, but I knew what she wanted to ask.
How do I feel after confessing my love for her?
“Fine,” I lied.
I told Alex I loved her, but she didn’t reply. That wasn’t a dream. I said those words aloud, even though I’d known my feelings for her went above and beyond love. A single word could not encompass what Alex meant to me.
No amount of money or actions could ever convey that she was more than a Queen, a symbol of power in my world. She was everything to me. And this time, I was not fucking this up with Alex. I was not letting her go.
After we left Marcello’s bedroom, we took a shower together. I was so drunk I could barely stand. Drunken nights like those were rare for me. I never lost control like that. But seeing Alex with my brother fucked with my head. It wasn’t like the last time with the Knights.
“We should talk about last night,” Alex suggested.
“It’s in the past,” I assured her. “I opened the door to what happened between you and Marcello.”
“I’m mad at you for putting me in that position,” she said with a pouty expression on her pretty face. “But I’m kind of glad you did.”
She wanted to have this discussion last night, but I was too fucked up to hold down a conversation. Instead, we quickly washed and got into bed, falling asleep the second my head hit the pillow.
I slipped my fingers between hers and rolled onto my back. She sucked in a deep breath when our eyes met, a silent communication occurring between us.
Last night was a fucking nightmare.
I lost the game and almost lost the girl.
“Do you hate me?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
Alex would have stayed with Marcello last night if she had been that angry with me. She would have done it just to prove a point.
She pressed her lips together, then shook her head. “No. Even when you’re a real bastard, I still can’t find it in myself to completely hate you.”
“You should.”
“Luca,” she sighed. “If we’re going to make a marriage work, we need to be open with each other.”
Silence clung to the air like smoke, and I allowed it to wash over me as I thought about last night. About what I saw, what I forced her to do. And how I still couldn’t believe I had said those words aloud and in front of Marcello.
I glanced over at her, taking in the sight of her naked body. “I’m sorry, Drea. What I did last night… I thought it would be fun. I thought you would like it after what we did last year with the Knights. But I never expected…” I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers and sighed. “I didn’t see that coming. Fuck, I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”
She curled up against me, rubbing her fingers over my hand. “I’m telling my grandfather I choose you. Please don’t make me regret this decision.”
I raised her hand and kissed her soft skin. “Never, baby. I promise.”
“Did you mean what you said to me last night?”