* * *
Stella
Luca leaps up and jerks me into his arms. Tears run down my cheeks as he spins me in a circle, squeezing so tight I can scarcely breathe. But I don’t want him to stop. I’m so stupidly head over heels in love with him; I’d rather die in his arms in this moment than have him release me.
I wasn’t lying. I’d been in love with Luca Valentino from that terrible moment in the cemetery at my mom’s funeral. He’d been my ray of hope on the worst day of my life.
What scared me the most about being with Luca wasn’t all the terrible things he’d done, but that no matter how many times he did them, I’d still forgive him, I’d still love him.
He was beautiful and broken, scarred and savage, but he was mine.
CHAPTER46
AMORE MIO
Stella
I tighten my hold around Luca’s waist as he throttles the engine, and we zip around another corner on the sleek motorcycle. A wild laugh escapes from the adrenaline and the sheer happiness. It’s been a week since I moved back into the penthouse, for real this time. Not that I had that many clothes to remove from my crappy old apartment but the few belongings that remained were important.
Dad was gone.
His side of the apartment had been emptied. He’d ran out on the last month’s rent, his unpaid debt, and me. A few months ago, that would’ve broken me, but now with Luca at my side I could endure anything.
“Almost there, princess.” Luca’s shout distracts me from dark thoughts of the past.
“Where are we going?”
“If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” I catch a peek of his mischievous grin through the helmet’s visor.
I focus on the surroundings, the lush green and quiet streets of the wealthy suburb of Eastchester. The neighborhood begins to look more familiar as he slows the Ducati and pulls up in front of a sprawling yard.
Luca cuts the engine and removes his helmet, then mine. He takes my hand and helps me off the bike then covers my eyes with his free hand.
“What are you doing?” I laugh.
He spins me around a few times until I’m dizzy and breathless from the nervous giggles.
“Luca!”
“Okay, okay.” He presses his lips to mine, a slow, sexy kiss that has me panting for more. When he releases me too soon, I grumble a curse.
He lets out a husky laugh, hand still covering my eyes. “Are you ready?”
“Yes!” I hiss.
He turns me a quarter way then removes his hand. A huge lawn stretches out before us and a pad of concrete fills the central space. My brows knit as I regard the semi-familiar land. It isn’t until my gaze settles on the pond with the small dock in the back and the thick trees that it all comes back to me.
“The picnic?”
A slow smile crawls across his face as he takes my hands. “I bought this land a while ago, but I was never quite sure what to do with it. I love my penthouse, and it’s perfect for one of the city’s most eligible bachelors but—”
My heart thumps out an erratic staccato as his eyes lance into mine.
“One day soon I’m going to ask you to be my wife, and this will be our home. I want to fill it with your warmth and laughter, and eventually, but not too soon, tons of our children.” Mischief sparkles in those dark eyes. “I hope your heart grows stronger with each day we spend together.”
My jaw drops, and all the air evacuates my lungs. “Luca …” He’d said those exact words to me at the cemetery all those years ago, and it had gotten me through the first awful weeks without my mom. Heat burns my eyes, and my heart sprouts wings. It’s the only explanation for the mad flutters.
“I love you more than there are stars in the sky, Stellina,amore mio. I can’t wait to start this life with you. Do you like it?”
