Page 76 of Mafia Scars

It was true.

Wasn’t just something I made up or felt in the heat of the moment.

“How many cars do you have? Scratch that. I mean vehicles.” I’d seen a Ferrari and a bike back in LA. I guessed he must have rented those, or he could have bought them.

He was rich enough.

He raised a brow and grimaced. “I’m not sure. “

“What do you mean?” Who lost count of how many vehicles they owned? I had just the one car back in LA.

“I lost count, doll. But the good news is, I’m not half as bad as Claudius. The man is into motorcycles. I swear he’s obsessed, and there’s nothing anyone can do to help him.”

I laughed. “And you don’t think you’re obsessed?”

“No, because apart from my actual bike that you haven’t seen yet, I collect vintage cars. That’s an actual thing to be proud of. He’s like an adrenaline junkie.”

Okay, I had to agree with that.

From what I saw of Claudius reminded me of one of those extreme sport types who’d jump a bike from a plane or something crazy like that.

When we got inside the car, I noticed the back seat had a large picnic basket and a bottle of Domaine Leflaive—Montrachet Grand Cru as in from Côte de Beaune, France.

“Jesus, Luc, what the hell is all this?”

“I said normal. I’m going to show you what normal means for me, here in Chicago.”

“Expensive wine and vintage cars.”

“Part of the seduction.” He winked at me.

“You don’t have to seduce me.”

“I do. That way every day’s an adventure. I wake up thinkingHow can I have her today?”

This was nice. I almost felt like things really could be like this. For us.

I wanted the excitement of each day being an adventure with him.

I leaned forward and kissed him, wanting more but sating my needs with the fire from the kiss.

The day was bright and beautiful.

We drove out for hours, got stuck in traffic twice, but the time gave us a chance to talk.

When I saw where it was we we’re heading, my spirits soared. We we’re heading down to Lake Michigan. The scenery around that area was amazing.

We pulled up in a little area at the entrance of thick woodland.

I’d never been here before.

Luc took the stuff out of the car, then my hand, and led me to a secluded area by the lakeside.

I had to stop and take a moment to take it all in when I saw it.

The area was covered in gardenias, just like the image I got when Luc had talked about his vineyard in Italy.

“Luc, oh my gosh.”