Page 38 of Luca

Paolo approaches with Tony behind him. "Boss, she's not on the property. But one of the valets saw a woman in a silver dress walking toward the main street about forty minutes ago."

Forty minutes. She's had a forty-minute head start on me.

"Get the car. Now."

The streets nearby are busy with nightlife – tourists heading to restaurants, locals bar-hopping, the usual mix ofpeople looking for entertainment. I scan every sidewalk, every café terrace, every place she might have gone.

Then I hear it. Loud music thumping from a club three blocks away.

"There," I tell Paolo, pointing toward the sound.

The club is exactly the kind of place Sofia would never go. Dark, crowded, loud enough to make conversation impossible. A place where people go to lose themselves.

Which is probably exactly what she wants right now.

I push through the crowd at the entrance, ignoring the bouncer's protests about the line. Inside, the music is so loud I can feel it in my bones, and the air is thick with smoke and sweat. There’s a sexual energy that comes from too many bodies moving in too small a space.

It takes me five minutes to find her.

She's in the center of the dance floor, and I stop breathing.

This isn't Sofia. This isn't the careful, controlled woman who barely touched her wine at dinner parties and spoke in whispers. This is someone else entirely.

She's moving like the music is part of her, head thrown back, hair loose around her shoulders, completely lost in the rhythm. Her dress clings to every curve as she moves, and every man within twenty feet is watching her with naked hunger.

She's absolutely captivating.

And she's mine.

The possessiveness that hits me is so strong it's almost violent. Every instinct I have is screaming at me to get her away from the predators circling her, to put myself betweenher and every man who's looking at her like he wants to devour her right where she stands.

But there's something else too. Something that makes my blood run hot even as my temper explodes.

I want her desperately.

Not the Sofia I married. Not the quiet, obedient woman I thought I was getting. I want this woman. The one who disappears into crowds and dances like she's making love to the music and moves through the world like she owns it.

A guy moves closer to her, trying to catch her attention, and I'm moving before I consciously decide to.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shout over the music when I reach her.

She opens her eyes and looks at me without surprise, like she knew I'd find her.

"Dancing."

The simplicity of her answer, the complete lack of apology or explanation, makes me want to shake her and kiss her at the same time.

"We're leaving. Now."

"No."

No. Just like that. No explanation, no acknowledgment that she just walked out on a party and disappeared into the night without a word.

"This isn't a request, Sofia."

"And this isn't a negotiation, Luca."

She tries to turn away from me, dismiss me, and something snaps.