He Hid Me for Eight Years, Now I'm Another Man's Betrothed

"Luca, it's been a while."

Luca gave a slight nod, then turned his face away.

But I knew him too well. On the surface he looked unbothered, but every muscle in his body was taut.

He was nervous. He cared.

A few rounds of drinks in, someone started stirring things up.

"Luca, Adriana, you two were the golden couple back in the day. How'd you ever split?"

"Seriously, it's been eight years and you're both still single. If that's not fate, what is?"

"You've come full circle. Just make it official again!"

Adriana smiled but said nothing, turning to look at Luca.

Luca picked up his glass and took a sip. The silver lighter turned once between his fingers beneath the table, a motion so practiced it was nearly silent. He didn't look at Adriana. He didn't look at anyone.

His gaze drifted, just barely, toward the far end of the room.

Where I sat, in the corner. Away from the main table, away from the light, the way I had always been kept.

Then someone suggested a round of Truth or Dare.

After a few rounds, the bottle landed on Adriana.

"Adriana, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Her eyes locked on Luca as she answered without a shred of hesitation. Her tongue pressed once against the inside of her cheek before the smile arrived, perfectly placed.

"Ohhh," the crowd drawled, all loaded implication, and the question came fast on its heels.

"Do you still have feelings for Luca?"

The room went silent. Not the polite kind. The kind that falls over a table when someone asks a question that could rearrange alliances.

Adriana paused for two seconds, then smiled, resting her chin on her hand, holding Luca's gaze.

"Of course I do. I always have."

The room erupted.

"Get together! Get together!"

"Kiss! Kiss!"

Luca just sat with his head bowed, no reaction at all. The lighter had gone still in his hand.

Then it was his turn.

"Luca, truth or dare?"

He set his glass down. "Dare."

"Kiss one of the girls here!"

His eyes found mine, soft and warm.

I straightened in my seat, certain this was the moment he'd finally come clean, that he'd at least give some kind of sign. Something the room could see. Something that named me, even halfway.

Even if it was just enough to stop me from reading into things the wrong way.

But the next second, his gaze slid past me and landed on Adriana.

"I pick Adriana."

I froze. Every part of me locked in place as I watched Luca walk over to her, lean down, and press his mouth to hers.

It wasn't a peck.

It was deep, rough, consuming.

More like a kiss laced with spite than anything resembling tenderness.

The whole room screamed. Soldiers pounded the table. Someone whistled through their teeth. The noise filled the private room of the social club like a verdict being handed down, and I sat inside it, invisible.

When it was over, Adriana's eyes were rimmed with red. She threw herself into his arms.

"I knew it. I knew you hadn't forgotten me. You still have feelings for me."

I stayed hidden in the crowd, swallowing down the bitterness clawing its way up my throat, and watched her.

Luca didn't push her away.

His hand went to her waist, steadying her, as if the only thing on his mind was making sure her trembling legs didn't give out. A Bellini princess, held upright by a Moretti capo in front of every name that mattered. And I was no one in that room.

Beside them, my brother Matteo slammed the table, grinning ear to ear.

"No way! You two are serious?"

"Luca, you sly dog. Eight years of staying single and it was all for Adriana. Living like a monk!"

I looked at my brother, brows pinched together. My fingers went to the hollow at my throat and pressed there, hard.

The bitterness in my chest sank deeper.

Once Adriana was steady on her feet, Luca let go of her, casual as anything, like nothing had happened.

"It's just a game."

Adriana tilted her face up to his. "But I meant every second of it."

The room went quiet for a beat. The kind of quiet where everyone is deciding what they just witnessed and how much of it was real.

That was when I stood up.

Every pair of eyes swung toward me.

"Bianca, what's up? You wanna say something?"

Luca slowly lifted his gaze to mine.

Something flickered across his face. He looked down, grabbed his phone, and typed a message to me, fast.

Bee, about what just happened. Don't be mad.

No one kisses the woman they actually love in front of a crowd like that.

I don't love Adriana. That kiss was just to get back at her…

Don't say anything you shouldn't.

I almost laughed. A bitter, hollow sound caught in my throat. After everything, the only thing he was afraid of was that I'd lose my temper and blow the secret wide open. Eight years of omertà between us, and the only vow he'd ever kept was the one that kept me silent.