Dread weighs in my stomach as I push open the front door to my mansion. I know what I have to do, even if it’s the last thing I want to do.
The war with the Falcones might be over, but this is the start of a whole new battlefront.
Luca Russo and Frankie Falcone, taking over the world. Step one, taking the power from the Capris and protecting my family. Which means I can’t keep her.
I suck in a breath, quietly closing the door behind me.
This will be the last time I get to have her there.
I creep my way up the grand staircase and head towards the bedroom, shrugging off my Armani suit jacket and resting it over the banister. My door is ajar, so I peer through. A peaceful Rosa snuggled up, her long jet-black curls fanning over the pillows.
I slip in through the door and remove my clothes, putting them on the black leather chair in the corner, and get into bed next to her. As soon as the mattress dips, she stirs next to me, making my cock twitch at the sweet little moans that escape her plump lips.
She nuzzles into my chest, so I wrap her tiny frame into mine, pulling her as close as I can.
“You’re home,” she whispers. I bury my nose in the top of her head, inhaling her vanilla scent and closing my eyes.
Home.
This is our home. For one more day.
“No matter what happens next, my treasure, you will always be my home,” I say, meaning every single word.
She plants a soft kiss to my stubbly jaw. A single tear falls from my eye.
The day I kidnapped her, I never thought she would steal my heart in return. I believed she was a typical wild child, a spoiled mafia princess. How wrong I was.
I just pray to fucking God tomorrow won’t send her spiralling back into the life I found her in. Where she masks her pain to stop the world from seeing her weakness.
After everything she’s been through, I don’t blame her for turning to the bottle to help ease the torture eating her up from the inside. If I could go back in time and stop that asshole from abusing her, I would do it in a heartbeat. I wish I could delve into her brain and erase the memories. I would gladly take on every single ounce of heartache for her.
She truly doesn’t realize how special she is.
Her warm breath blows against my chest as I close my eyes and slip into what I know will be my last night of peaceful sleep.
The waft of fresh coffee stirs me from my sleep. As I blink open my eyes I am met with a sight of sheer beauty. I trail my gaze up her long slender legs, groaning as I take in the matching black lace lingerie that she’s not even trying to hide with her open silky black robe. She gives me a bright smile, her big dark eyes gazing into mine.
“I thought you might need this,” she says. She has a slight hint of an Italian accent there, hidden under the surface of her New Yorker tone.
I sit myself up and watch as she licks her lips as she stares at my six-pack.
“Thank you, baby.”
I lean over and grab the mug of coffee, letting it burn its way down my throat. All it does is intensify the sickness I’m feeling.
I pat the mattress to signal for her to sit. And she does, without any hesitation, like always. My little submissive. But instead of sitting next to me, she pulls back the comforter and straddles me, her perfect breasts now staring me right in the face.
I can’t do this.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I take a breath.
“Rosa, baby. It’s time.”
She sits back, her ass now squashing my throbbing cock. A quizzical look painted on her beautiful face.
“Time? For what? To tell me what’s been bothering you?”
Bringing my palm to cup her face, I stroke her cheek with my thumb. “I have to let you go, tesoro. I don’t fucking want to; it’s the last thing I wanted to happen. When I said things got messy, I underestimated just how bad. I have to protect my family and you. To do that, I can’t keep you.”
She drops her gaze from mine. The seconds feel like a lifetime. My eyes start to sting.
“I-I don’t understand? I thought you would keep me safe? That I could stay with you?”
I shake my head as the warm tears fall from her eyes onto my fingers. I’m doing everything I can to stop my own from breaking through.
“This is keeping you safe, it’s protecting you. Frankie will look after you. The Capris–I’m in too deep, but your uncle is helping me. Right now, there is no way out for me, baby. If there was even a glimmer of hope, I wouldn’t do this. You have to trust me.”
She sniffles and backs away from me. My heart starts to split as the seconds pass.
“I need you to be strong, Rosa. I need you to be the real Rosa, the one you’ve shown me. The one who can take on the world and fucking own it. I can’t have you. I wish more than anything I could. Trust me. But life has other plans for me, yet again. They are way out of my control.”
She cuts me off. “What plans?”
Here we go.
“I’m engaged, Rosa.”
Her body stiffens on top of me. I’m sure I can hear her heart shattering right before me.
“No. Luca, no. Please don’t leave me. I can’t do this without you. I need you,” she chokes out.
I can’t take it, seeing her in pain is like being stabbed in the chest. It physically hurts. I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her into me, squeezing her tight.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeat over and over the sound of her sobbing filling the room.
Once the tears subside, she hiccups and pulls herself from my hold, leaving me empty. I don’t have the strength to tell her that I watched her uncle murder her father yesterday. Her whole world is falling apart and I can’t stop it.
“You don’t have to do this, Luca. Please don’t do this. Can’t we find another way?” Her voice is barely a whisper.
She stands and pulls her robe tight around her body.
“Trust me, right now, there isn’t another way. I wish there was.” I pull the comforter off my legs and stand, closing the distance between us. Tipping her chin up with my thumb, I bring her nose to mine and close my eyes.
“I want you to do all the things you’ve said you wanted to do. Don’t let your demons pull you into the darkness. Promise me,” I say, my voice quivering.
I need her to be strong without me.
“My demons will never leave me, Luca. You held them at bay. But the nightmares will return. He might be gone, but that doesn’t stop the pain. I can never get what he took from me back. I will never find this—” She gestures between us. “—again.”
If I ever find out who did this to her, I will give them a slow and painful death.
“Tell me who did this to you, Rosa.”
She shakes her head.
It’s the one thing she will never reveal, his fucking name.
“Do you love her?” she asks.
I snap my eyes up to hers, pleading with her to believe me.
