He Chose Childhood Sweetheart, I Married the Don

The cellar was damp and dim, but it was quiet, and that was enough.

After a few days, Luca had my things sent down anyway.

I arranged everything neatly, then lay down and drifted off.

In the dream I was back at the Ferrara estate.

There was a time someone had accused me of stealing a ring — an heirloom — from Elena, the Don's third daughter. Elena had me kneel on the courtyard stone in the middle of winter for two hours straight, then had someone beat my palms with a belt strap until they bled.

Luca came by chance, black coat moving through the dark. He crouched down and pulled me up.

"Elena, you don't have the authority to do this," he said. "The Don doesn't allow that kind of thing here. You need to watch yourself."

Even with Elena furious at him for it, he brought me somewhere warm. He found liquor to clean my palms and wrapped them carefully himself.

In the candlelight, his eyes were steady.

"Don't be scared. I'll look out for you from now on."

"Okay," I said.

The dream ended.

Still half-asleep, I saw Luca sitting there in front of me, real and close. He wiped the tears from my face with a patient expression, voice almost gentle.

"Bad dream again? It's okay. I'm here."

I looked around, remembered where I was, and whatever warmth I'd had left for him went cold.

I sat up and moved away. "What do you want."

His expression went still for a moment, then softened again.

"Word came in from the Ferrara organization. Don Donato's hosting a major oath ceremony in Naples and he's called for me to attend. I figured you and Lila haven't been back to the mainland in a while, so why not come along?"

I watched the slight guilt in his face and understood exactly what this was. He wasn't inviting me. He was covering for himself.

"No thanks," I said. "Wouldn't want her getting scared sick from seeing me."

Luca let out a quiet breath. His voice relaxed. "You're being dramatic. Lila's doing much better. Let it go."

Afraid I'd change my mind, he kept going. "Lila and I leave tomorrow morning. While we're gone, you can move back into the main room. When we get back and she's mostly healed, let's stop doing this. We're family, just like before."

I didn't care enough to argue. I just wanted him gone. "Fine. Go pack. Don't be late."

He left, satisfied.

They set out the next morning.

I went back to the bedroom to get my things together. I opened the door and something hit me immediately — a smell that didn't belong.

The room was in disarray, things knocked over and out of place. I followed the smell to the window.

My clothes had been torn and tossed in a heap, and underneath them was a dried stain on the floor.

I had never been with a man, but I knew what I was looking at.

The blood rushed to my head all at once.

I opened the window and looked out. It faced directly onto the cellar entrance.

While I was locked in that cellar, they had been in my bed.

I was shaking with the force of how angry I was.

Luca Galvani. There is nothing decent left in you.

I called for the escort who was supposed to bring me to Naples.

We leave tomorrow.