Page 94 of Mine Again (Mafia Bride #2)

Chapter Ninety-Three

Isabella

L uca slides his hand into my hair and stares at me hard, his eyes absorbing me with subtle desperation. He grazes his thumb over my cheek, tracing my bottom lip and the corner of my mouth.

I’ve missed him so much since Hale tore us apart. But he’s here now, and my heart aches with happiness in the most beautiful, painful way.

“I knew you’d find me.”

His thumb halts mid-stroke, and his brilliant eyes lock on mine like his heart skipped a beat.

“Always. There’s not a force on earth strong enough to keep me away from you.”

His words sear into me. For a second, my chest feels too full to breathe.

Behind us, Hale groans. We ignore him.

Luca’s breath rasps against my cheek, ragged and hot, every exhale feeding the fire already burning in me.

He cradles the back of my head and crashes his lips against mine. The kiss is hard, desperate. He devours me, his fingers digging deep into my hair to get an iron grip as if wanting to fuse me to him forever.

Fine by me. I want nothing to come between us again. Ever .

I kiss him back just as fiercely. Luca is here with me, alive and well.

It wasn’t a trap after all.

Hale didn’t anticipate Luca’s resourcefulness. I should have known he was bluffing. My man outmaneuvered him, the so-called master player. I couldn’t be prouder.

Luca came for me. Not out of duty, but because he’ll always choose me.

My fingers fist in the back of his vest, and I let myself get lost in him. In the strength of his arms holding me up, the taste of his lips, the sparring of his tongue.

Fire explodes in my veins. The rest of the world could go up in flames, and I wouldn’t care.

Without saying a word, Luca makes me feel like his, just by gripping me and kissing me.

The cold in this hidden passage is dispelled by his brilliant sun, and the longing in my heart to be even closer, to bask in his warmth, grows with every passing second.

My chest is too tight for my heart. My hands shake. I keep kissing him to stop myself from coming apart.

“Luca,” I whisper against his mouth, and his name sounds like a prayer and a demand.

“Arms,” he says, and I wrap them tighter around his neck.

He lifts me higher, my legs locking around his hips. My bow clatters to the floor, but I don’t reach for it. I don’t need it anymore. Luca is here.

He carries me up the passage, kissing me between steps because he cannot stop. Nor can I.

Another groan rattles from Hale, but neither of us pays him any attention. Let him think we’re leaving him there to rot.

I vaguely notice two guys standing by the entrance of the hidden passageway.

Luca tears his lips from mine just long enough to order, “Tell Maximo I have Isa. Target contained in the east service tunnel. Bring cuffs and a medkit. He doesn’t get to die today unless I say so. ”

“Copy,” one of them answers, already reaching for his comm.

Luca heads for the first door he sees, kicking it in with his boot. It crashes against the wall, and after a quick check that no threat is looming, he steps inside.

We’re in a small sitting room washed in daylight, dust motes spinning like gold in the air. It smells faintly of sunlight-warmed fabric, a softness so at odds with the earlier gunfire and smoke outside.

For a moment, it seems like we’ve entered another world. One that’s beautiful and serene, away from destruction, deceit, and chaos.

He shoves the door shut behind us and presses me to the wall, holding me tight.

I never want to be anywhere else.