CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Katherine
LUCA HAD STOOD up to his father—that much I’d gathered—but there was something else...something that’d caused Luca to growl at his father like a wolf, and that was a side of Luca I’d never seen.
I bit my lip as I leaned against the closed door, processing what I’d heard and what Luca had shared.
Luca had always done his best to be the dutiful son. He bore the weight of his family’s expectations without complaint, but something his father had said had made Luca openly bristle.
Had Luca been defending me?
I frowned in thought. What could Giovanni have said to make Luca react like that? I guess it didn’t matter, but Luca’s reaction created a chain reaction in my thoughts that felt suspiciously like pride.
Luca was more than capable of handling himself in the business world; he didn’t need Giovanni shadowing his every move any longer, yet he tolerated his father’s influence.
Except today.
Today, he’d stood up to Giovanni and basically told the old curmudgeon to back off.
For me.
A warm, cozy, tingly feeling crept from my belly to my heart.
And now we were going to Nor-Cal Rescue to play with fluffy dogs. I couldn’t imagine a better start to the day.
I dressed quickly, and by the time I exited the bedroom, ready, Luca had already ordered an Uber to pick us up. Before we left the room, he teased, “Should I prepare for another hostel experience, or shall we be staying here for the duration of our trip?”
“Kiss my butt, you know the answer to that,” I said, shaking my head with a small laugh. “I don’t want to stay in another hostel, thank you very much. And screw you for making me realize that I’m not cut out to be a boho hipster. You dashed my dreams, Luca.”
His eyes lit up at my teasing. Our playful banter was something I’d sorely missed, even if I was loath to admit it.
When he slipped his hand into mine, I didn’t pull away.
We arrived at Nor-Cal Rescue, a small shelter run by volunteers and kept afloat by donations, and were greeted by the coordinator, Emmett George, an affable man with twinkly eyes and a bushy beard.
I shared a look with Luca, knowing we were thinking the same thing—Emmett was the people version of a husky.
I liked him immediately.
“The lady here says you two are from New York... Business or pleasure?” he asked, looking from me to Luca with an engaging smile. “Either way, it’s right decent of you to volunteer some of your time with our pups.”
Yips and yelps echoed in the background, and I smiled, eager to get started. I’d always wanted a husky, but my father hadn’t been interested, so I never got the chance.
When I discovered there was a rescue group in San Francisco, I knew there was no way I was leaving without cuddling with some big fluffy dogs.
Luca, far less animal crazy than me, looked just as excited as I was to help out, and that only intensified the confusion in my heart.
There were no easy answers between us—I should probably stop looking—but in the meantime, I was going to give myself permission to simply enjoy the day.
Emmett brought us into the compound, a clean but small space where every kennel was occupied by some type of northern breed, from Siberian husky to malamute.
And they were all freaking gorgeous.
“How could anyone abandon a dog like this?” I asked as Emmett leashed a beautiful red husky with eyes as blue as Luca’s. “She’s amazing.”
“She’s a runner,” Emmett explained with a sigh as he hooked up a fluffy malamute for Luca. “This purebred lady is an escape artist. Apparently, her previous owners couldn’t keep her occupied and she got bored. And when huskies get bored, they find mischief. In Cora’s case, the owners gave up and surrendered.”
I made a sad face. “That’s awful.”
“Well, some people see a husky or northern-type breed and all they think is ‘Wow, pretty dog,’ with no thought as to how the breed must be cared for. The overwhelming crime for each of these dogs is that their previous owners simply didn’t know what they were getting into when they purchased from the breeder.”
Animals were my weakness. I wanted to throw gobs of money at the shelter to ensure that the pups remained safe and cared for. As if keying in on my desperate desire, Luca said, “I’d love to make a donation, if I could.”
“We never turn down cash,” Emmett said, smiling. “Feeding these hungry beasts doesn’t come cheap. We feed the pups a grain-free diet, as most get skin allergies from that crap that most people feed their dogs. Not here, though. Nothing but the best. Hell, sometimes I even go without just so these beautiful rascals get a good meal.”
“It’s official, I love you,” I said to Emmett, casting a glance at Luca, who was chuckling. “You are an incredible human being to give so freely of your time and resources. Yes, please, let us leave you with a donation. It’s the least we can do.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. Why don’t you take Cora and Togo for a walk, and when you come back, I’ll have the paperwork drawn up for your donation. It’s tax deductible, you know.” He fake whispered to me, “I always try to tack that on so that people feel free to be generous.”
I laughed, knowing that Luca would probably be ridiculously generous, and I was grateful for his willingness to reach into his pocketbook, even if it was only to score points with me.
We set out with a brisk pace, which helped mitigate the bite in the foggy air. The city was certainly not sunny today, not that the dogs minded one bit. For the pups, this was perfect weather.
Togo, the malamute, was leading pretty hard, but I was impressed with how Luca handled the big dog. My dog, Cora, was more playful than anything else, wanting to sniff and investigate everything, turning to look at me every now and again with a doggie smile.
“They are pretty cute,” Luca admitted as our dogs kept pace with each other. “Let me guess, you want one.”
“And if I did?”
“Then we’d leave with a dog, I suppose.”
Luca made everything sound so simple.
Want a dog? Get one.
Don’t like your career? Get a new one.
Love me? Get married.
I withheld my response. I was utterly confused about where to go from here, but if I decided to back out of the contract and stay in California, I had no doubt that my father would cut me off, leaving me penniless.
Knowing that, I really shouldn’t bring a dog into my life, but there was something about Cora that I couldn’t quite shake.
But there was also something very appealing about how easily Luca took to the pups.
“Did you ever have a dog?” I asked.
He laughed. “No. Mother wouldn’t hear of it. The thought of an animal loose in her home? She’d rather die. But I never felt the need to have a dog, either. I guess I’m ambivalent about animals.”
“My dad wouldn’t let me have a dog, either. But unlike you, I always wanted one. Dogs are amazing. They never judge you, and they’re always happy to see you. How can you not love that?”
He shrugged. “Guess I never gave it much thought.”
“So, even though you aren’t really into dogs, you were willing to do this with me today?”
“Katherine, I would do anything you asked. Spending time with you is all that matters, whether it’s in a private sex club or a soup kitchen filled with homeless people. You are the only factor that matters in the scenario.”
Tiny flutters tickled my heart. Togo whined and immediately found a spot to poop. I burst out laughing at Luca’s chagrined expression. I fished out a plastic poo bag from my pocket and handed it to him.
Togo, finished, glanced up at Luca, very proud of himself.
“I feel ya, buddy. That’s how I feel after a good poop, too,” he said, causing me to laugh harder. Luca flashed me a quick grin before scooping up the pile and throwing the bag in the nearest trash can. “That might be why I never felt the need to get a dog,” he admitted as I wiped my eyes, still giggling.
I looked to Cora, wondering if she was going to follow suit, but she seemed ready to resume our walk without relieving herself.
We walked a few more blocks, admiring the architecture, sharing likes and dislikes, until we returned to the shelter, where Emmett had a few new jobs for us.
“Oh, goody, more poop,” Luca remarked wryly as we started cleaning out kennels while Emmett took the rest of the dogs to the small yard to stretch their legs a bit. Luca paused to rest on his shovel. “If I did have a dog, I would feel zero guilt hiring someone to handle the dirty work.”
“I would be okay with that,” I admitted, wrinkling my nose at the odors in the room. “This is a little more than I bargained for.”
“Big dogs, big poops.”
I laughed again. “Yes, that seems to make sense.”
We finished up in the kennels, and Emmett funneled the dogs back into their cages. It broke my heart to see such beautiful dogs stuck in cramped little cells. “It’s like prison for dogs,” I said with a sad face.
“That’s exactly how I see it, too,” Emmett agreed, but there wasn’t much he could do to change the situation. He was doing the best that he could with what he had. “But our goal here is to find forever homes for these pups, so this is a temporary pit stop to wherever they’re going to end up. We never put a dog down, but we are limited in our space, so we can only take the dogs that are easy enough to rehome.”
“Careful, Emmett, you’ll have my softhearted fiancée offering to build you a new structure to house all the poor, abandoned and neglected dogs in San Francisco.”
Emmett laughed, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was standing next to one of the wealthiest men in the world. What good was all that wealth if you couldn’t put it to good use? “If you were to build a new compound, where would you build it?” I asked, curious.
Luca just shook his head, knowing the direction my thoughts were traveling.
“Ah, hell, I don’t know. Hard to say with real estate prices the way they are here in the city. I haven’t even looked. Don’t want to put my energy toward something that will never happen. But before I start sounding like a downer, we do all right here. We have some pretty generous donors that keep Nor-Cal Rescue alive, so I’m not complaining.”
I seriously loved this man. So kindhearted and humbled by every blessing. I looked to Luca, practically begging him with my eyes to make this man’s dream come true.
“Can I get a business card?” Luca asked with a small sigh, and my smile widened.
Emmett fished around in a pocket and found the saddest, most crumpled-up excuse for a card and handed it to Luca with a chagrined expression. “No one ever asks for business cards. I just keep that one in my pocket so I don’t forget our 501(c)3 identification. Sometimes our donors want that info right away.”
Luca hesitated. “If you need to hold on to it...”
“No, you keep it. I needed to get a fresh one out of my office at some point anyway. Besides, in light of that sweet donation and your time, I think I can let loose of one card.”
I shared a secret smile with Luca as he pocketed the card and looked to me. “Are you ready to go, sweetheart?”
I took one last lingering look at Cora and Togo, hoping with all my heart they found loving homes soon, and nodded. I didn’t even mind Luca using the endearment; my heart was filled with sap and goo.
We walked to the awaiting Uber and climbed in.
Sweaty, smelly and starving—but I couldn’t imagine a better day.
Maybe I’d been wrong to assume things about Luca.
He’d spent this entire time with me, without complaint, just to show me that he was different.
That I was worth the trouble he was willing to face by refusing to leave me behind.
A suspicious tingling tickled my nose. Luca misinterpreted my emotion as sadness for the dogs, pulling me close to say, “Don’t worry, those dogs will find excellent homes. I’ll see to it, I promise.”
I barked a watery chuckle and buried my face against his chest. I wished concern for the dogs was the reason for my sudden urge to bawl. Stop being so damn amazing, I wanted to shout, but I didn’t. Instead, I just let him believe that was the reason and simply nodded.
“Thanks for being so generous with your donation,” I said, finding my voice again.
I heard Luca’s smile as he said, “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a pretty redhead with a soft heart.”
I laughed and rested my head against his shoulder.
Yeah, and I was a sucker for the sexy Italian who’d stolen my heart when was I just seventeen.
But I wasn’t going to admit it...at least not yet.