“Me too,” he said with laughter in his tone. “If it weren’t for Salvatore saving my ass, I don’t know if I would even be here right now.”
“So I’ve been told,” I chimed. “Seems your need for danger caught up to you after all. If only you’d listened to your sister, who is older and wiser.”
He smirked. “Some lessons you need to learn on your own. That was one of them.”
“Are you hungry?” Luca asked me.
“I can eat,” Aiden answered.
I nodded.
“How about a liquid lunch?” Kali suggested with a big smile plastered on her face.
Luca rolled his eyes. “Drink whatever you want, but Alex needs her strength.”
“Loosen your tie,” I fired back at him. “It won’t kill you to have some fun with us.”
Everyone stared at Luca, awaiting his response.
“Fine. I’ll get the wine from the cellar.”
I held out my hand. “Need some help from Betty Boner?”
My fake Bond girl persona.
Luca smirked. “Always.”
“What the fuck?” Aiden groaned.
Kali laughed. “Betty Boner? I want to know the story behind the name.”
“Inside joke,” I told her as Luca led me toward the house. “We’ll be right back.”
Alex
Luca led me through the hallway by the hand, taking one turn after another until we descended the stairs into the basement. A chill rolled down my arms when my feet hit the bottom landing. For a moment, the stone floor brought me back to the room where my kidnappers tortured me. Only time and distance would heal the physical and emotional wounds those monsters left behind.
I stopped to catch my bearings, and Luca tugged on my hand.
He noticed my hesitation and slid his fingers beneath my chin. “What’s wrong, beautiful?”
“It’s nothing.” I rolled my shoulders. “Just thinking about those assholes.”
“We’ll find them. And when we do, you will get your revenge. I won’t stop looking until I rip their heads from their bodies.”
“I need it to be over so I can move on.”
Luca ran his thumb across my lip. “It will be over soon. I promise.”
We continued walking down the long hallway in silence. Lamps hung on the stone walls, illuminating a pathway to the wine cellar. My nose turned up at the scent of moss. I sneezed a few times, and Luca handed me his Brunello Cucinelli pocket square.
Only the best for the king.
I took it reluctantly, not wanting to blow my nose with an expensive piece of silk. Money meant nothing to Luca. He knew, one way or the other, he could always make more. But I had a hard time spending the money I made on frivolous purchases.
Luca stopped in front of the wall of solid glass and pressed his hand to the scanner. A green light flashed along with his name on the screen, then the door slid to the right, allowing us entrance.
We stepped into the room, which was temperature-controlled. The door sealed behind us, and Luca went straight for a rack on the far right side of the room.
I sat on top of one of many casks. With his back to me, Luca uncorked a bottle of red wine. He set it on the table, then grabbed two more bottles from the racks before he looked over at me.
He lifted the bottle and crossed the room, standing in front of me. “Want a taste?”
I nodded, and he poured wine into my mouth. Luca took a swig and licked his lips.
“My dad got a new shipment last week. What do you think?”
“Sweet. Fruity.”
I knew nothing about wine other than it tasted good. You would never catch me sniffing glasses or doing any of the shit I’d watched Luca and his father do over the years. Just pour me a glass and leave the bottle. That was my motto with drinking wine.
Luca laughed. “Not very insightful.”
“It’s good. That’s all I know.”
“Open up.” He rested the bottle against my lips, and I drank more wine.
We drank in silence for a few minutes, passing the bottle back and forth like old times. On our first night together, we downed a bottle of champagne. I could still remember how hard my heart pounded in my chest as I sat beside Luca. He made me feel things I hadn’t understood as a young girl. But now that I was an adult, I knew those butterflies in my stomach were nothing compared to how much I loved him now.
I wrapped my fingers around the neck of the bottle, and electric shocks sparked my skin from his touch. He’d always had this effect on me. His skin was warm and soft, not what you would expect from someone who killed men with his bare hands.
Luca moved between my thighs and hooked my legs around his back. He set the bottle on top of a cask and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, losing myself at the moment, forgetting about everything but us.