CHAPTER NINE
Katherine
IT’S A BLESSING, I told myself, each angry step more forceful than the next as I left the eatery. Better to know now that Luca still viewed this as an obligation that couldn’t be questioned. He was incapable of seeing my perspective, both in terms of the contract and when it came to a lifestyle other than the one we were raised in.
Yes, I went to an exclusive school. Yes, I was blessed with an incredible education, but I’d used that to get a taste of what life was like outside the Donato circles. All through college, I’d kept myself on a reasonable budget, not dipping into my trust fund when I went over it. Even when I was desperate for decent food, I told myself other students didn’t have that luxury. I wanted to see if I could live more modestly. And it turned out I could.
I wanted to do something worthwhile with my life, not spend it lunching and one-upping each other with material goods. I wanted to work with animals, find a small, cozy apartment and enjoy love without the expectations and petty judgment of those typical of wealthy circles. I wanted something genuine—not the facade.
At one time, I’d thought Luca was different, too. Before he’d started working for Giovanni. The more time Luca had spent climbing the corporate ladder (granted, he was the heir to the empire, so the climb probably wasn’t arduous), the less I recognized him.
He became closed off. He’d put in long days with Giovanni and be too distracted or too worn-out to talk after. The cunning business sense his father bragged about seemed at odds with Luca’s compassionate nature. Unlike Giovanni, Luca had a kind heart. Giovanni never would’ve orchestrated something as touching as Luca’s trip to the animal sanctuary because he didn’t place any value on sentiment. But not Luca. Luca had always been Giovanni’s opposite. Even so, self-doubt weighed on me while I worked through a degree my heart wasn’t in. I needed him and he wasn’t there.
The incident at the yacht party with that starlet was just the final straw. And when he didn’t apologize, it proved his true colors.
I wanted Luca to be different. Maybe that was why it hurt so much that he wasn’t.
I wanted Luca to be the man I’d foolishly believed he was when I was younger. Kind, generous, funny...compassionate...
It was foolish to wish he was someone else, but sometimes I thought I caught glimpses—especially when he was out of his usual element—like today, wearing yesterday’s trousers, looking wrinkled and adorably disheveled from sleeping in the world’s worst bed. And yet somehow still managing to find the most amazing place to eat on such short notice.
Yeah, he was charming when he wanted to be.
But it was all an act. That was the lesson I’d learned years ago, and I didn’t really see the need for a refresher course. If I was still that love-struck girl, I’d pin my hopes on the flimsy possibility that Luca had real feelings for me—but I wasn’t that girl.
I knew Luca was trying to live up to his father’s expectations. Giovanni and my father—not necessarily Luca—wanted this union. That point had been hammered home with painful precision.
It didn’t take long for Luca to catch up to me outside the restaurant.
“Caught your second wind?” he joked, his long stride matching my short, angry one. “Are we training for a five-K?”
“Stop, Luca,” I demanded, skidding to a halt. “I don’t feel like playing this game. We are not friends. We are not lovers. We are nothing. Got it?”
“Wrong.” He surprised me with a twist of his lips that was both sexy and dangerous at the same time. He closed the distance between us, and I didn’t have the good sense to back away. “You are my fiancée until the end of this week. When my time is up, we’ll see where the chips fall. Until then, you’re my bride-to-be.”
I opened my mouth to shoot him down, but he grabbed me by the waist and jerked me to him, stealing a kiss as brazenly as a thief in broad daylight. My knees threatened to buckle. I instinctively clutched his shoulders, my mouth opening under the onslaught of his lips. Luca’s tongue darted, going straight for mine—taking, not asking. The shivers started immediately, mocking my weak protests until they were a memory. This was what I feared most—losing myself to the pleasure that only Luca could give, forgetting why it was crucial that I free myself from the Donato golden cage.
Luca was the jailer, even if he presented me with diamond-crusted handcuffs.
Even knowing all that, I was helpless to stop him, because a part of me desperately yearned for the bliss I found in his arms.
Luca nipped my bottom lip as he slowly pulled away, his grip still holding me tight. “One week, my love,” he murmured, my foolish heart skipping a beat at the endearment. “You owe me one week...and the terms are nonnegotiable.”
I wanted to blurt, Screw the deal! but I didn’t. There was something in his eyes that invited no argument. Luca had never been a bully, but neither was he a pushover. Tension pulsed around us, weaving a sultry web, tightening until I could barely breathe. He knuckled my chin, forcing my stare. “Are we clear?”
I swallowed but managed a short nod. “One week.”
A slow smile spread across his lips before he dipped to taste me again.
When he released me, we were both breathing hard. It didn’t matter that we were standing on a busy city sidewalk, parting people like Moses and the Red Sea as they went around us. For a brief, heart-stopping moment, it was only him and me.
I wiped at my mouth as reality returned. Luca would use every second of the week to try to convince me to marry him. Perhaps in addition to his need to please his father, it was a game and his pride was on the line. It couldn’t possibly be because he truly did love me.
I wouldn’t entertain something so foolish.
But I could do this kicking and screaming, fighting the entire way, or I could concede for the sake of a smoother ride to the end. Could I beat Luca at his own game? Could I shut off my heart and play the part of his fiancée, knowing full well I intended to walk away when it was all done?
Honest answer? I wasn’t sure. I wanted to be strong enough to follow through with my plan, but there was a part of me that still yearned for what I’d thought I was getting when I was sixteen.
God, I’d loved him so hard.
They always said first love was the most powerful. Win or lose, the experience left a mark. I would bear Luca’s mark on my soul until I died.
Dramatic? Perhaps, but there was no other way to explain the hold he had on me.
Time to forget all that. Time to play to win.
“Okay, Luca,” I finally said, my tongue darting to taste where his lips had been. “I will stop fighting you on this and play the part of your fiancée until our deal is up. Where to next, honey?”
He slipped his hand into mine, answering, “On to Alcatraz, then shopping. I have a few places in mind, and I think you’re going to love them.”
I forced a smile and allowed him to pull me along, keeping step with his stride.
From the outside looking in, we might’ve looked like lovebirds out on the town, but I knew the truth.
At least... I think I do.