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“Don’t do that,” I said with a plea. “No more lies.”
“I thought I was protecting you.” He raised my hand to his mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“Is Aiden worried sick about me?”
Luca lowered my hand into the warm water and nodded. “Yes, but he knows you’re safe with me.”
I slid into the bubbles. “When can I see him?”
“Tomorrow,” he confirmed. “Kali requested to see you, too. She’s worried about you.”
“Can you arrange for them to come for lunch? But send my brother first. I want to sit on the back patio with him. Alone.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Do you have something to hide?”
I shook my head. “Of course not. I haven’t seen my brother in close to a year. We need to have this discussion without your intervention. You can’t smooth over my issues with Aiden.”
“Fine.” His jaw flexed. “As you wish. But I will have guards on standby. You cannot leave this property until I resolve this with the Albanians. That means no sneaking down to the beach without proper protection. Do you understand me?”
“I’ll be fine, Luca. I learned my lesson.”
He reached across me to grab the body wash. “Sit back and relax,” he instructed. “Let me take care of you.”
I did as he asked, and Luca grazed a soapy loofah down my arm. He was quiet the entire time he washed my body, careful not to touch my bruises.
Luca was never a big talker, so I had learned to savor these moments of silence with him. We were alike in this regard. When I was a child, I could never express myself in words. I used my paintings to give life meaning and understand how the world worked.
We both had traumatic childhoods, Luca’s much worse than mine. His abuse and my neglect had turned us into different people. Because of our families, we grew up faster. The darkness of the world had become more apparent. Painting kept me sane and allowed me to unleash my feelings on the world in different ways than Luca.
I heard a noise outside the bathroom and turned my head. The door was closed.
“What’s going on out there?”
Luca glanced over his shoulder, then back at me. “I told Marcello to move your stuff into my bedroom.”
My mouth widened in surprise. “Really?”
“You’re going to be my wife, Drea. What’s mine is yours now.”
“I never accepted your proposal,” I pointed out.
He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Are you saying no?”
I shook my head.
“That’s what I thought.”
“I still want a real proposal with a ring and you down on one knee, begging me to marry you.”
He smirked. “Whatever my queen wants.”
Luca leaned over the tub, fisting my curls in his hand, and kissed me. His lips were soft against mine. He didn’t seem to notice or care about my rough, scratchy lips as our tongues tangled. Luca’s free hand fell onto the side of the tub, and I pulled him toward me, desperate for his touch. I moaned in his mouth as I moved his hand between my thighs.
He laughed against my lips. “So impatient, my queen. You’re too sore for sex tonight.”
“Make me come.” I shoved his fingers inside me. “I need to release this pent-up energy.”
He sucked my bottom lip into his mouth, his fingers moving inside me. I rocked my hips, and Luca added another finger, stretching me out.