Chapter Seventeen

~ Nico ~

"Sir."

I glanced at the massive man that walked up to Jake and then took a quick step closer to Luca. I knew if he was here, he was probably harmless, but I couldn't seem to get past his size.

"Detective Waterston is waiting in your office," Fred stated.

"Ah yes, the second half of this meeting." Jake shot me a look. "Are you ready for this?"

"For what?" I asked.

"Detective Waterston is here to talk to you and confirm that you left with me of your own free will, Nico," Luca stated. "Are you going to be comfortable doing that?"

"Can you stay with me?" I asked.

"Uh..." Luca glanced at Jake. "Can I?"

"I'm not sure to tell you the truth. He might want to speak to Nico alone to be sure you aren't there to pressure him into saying what you want him to say."

"What about Stefano?" Luca gestured to my bodyguard. "Can he stay with Nico?"

Jake winced. "I'm not sure about that either, but if there is a problem, I'd be happy to stay with Nico. Detective Waterston knows me, so he knows I wouldn't try and coerce Nico."

"Why don't we see if Detective Waterston will allow Luca to stay before we freak out?" Vinnie said. "We could be creating problems where there aren't any."

While what Vinnie said made sense, it did not reassure me. I really wanted Luca to stay with me.

"My office is upstairs," Jake explained.

I held tight to Luca's hand as we left the lab and took the elevator up to the floor where Jake's office was located. Before we could reach his office door, another man with brown hair and a beard joined us.

"This is Miles Cranston, one of my lawyers," Jake explained. "I thought it would be a good idea to have him on hand."

I wasn't sure why, but whatever.

When we reached Jake's office, two men were inside. I knew neither of them.

I edged closer to Luca.

Jake walked right up to the smaller, younger looking one and pressed a kiss to his lips. I was going to assume that this was Jake's husband.

That meant the other man was probably the detective.

When he stood and glanced at me, I turned my head and buried it in Luca's chest. I didn't like the way he looked at me. It wasn't in a sexual way like Steve had, but more like he wanted to pick my brain and dig out all of my secrets.

Luca stopped and turned to cup my face with his hands. "Hey, it's okay cuore mio. Detective Waterston isn't going to hurt you. He just wants to talk to you."

"Why don't we all sit down?" Jake asked.

Luca led me over to a set of chairs by the window. He sat down and then pulled me down onto his lap. I immediately buried my face in his neck. Stefano took up a spot next to us, clasping his hands in front of him.

"Detective, this is Luca and Nico Sabatino," Jake said. "Luca, Nico, this is Detective Waterston. It's okay to talk to him. He's one of the good guys. I promise."

I was surprised when Vinnie nodded.

"Detective Waterston can't be bought," Vinnie stated. "He believes in the law, but he knows that there is sometimes a gray area between black and white, good and evil."

I nodded so they knew I'd heard them, but I didn't lift my head from Luca's neck.

"Baby, you're going to have to look at the detective so he can ask you his questions."

I shook my head.

Luca sighed before asking, "Can you ask your questions this way?"

"I suppose," the detective replied.

"Nico is a little uncomfortable with large men," Luca explained. "The night we eloped, while he was still at his house, his mother shot him up with some drug that incapacitated him and made him unable to fight back when one of the guards working for his parents tried to sexually assault him."

"Do you have his name?" Detective Waterston asked.

"Wouldn't matter if I did. It's just Nico's word against his."

I wasn't sure if Luca was stating that because he didn't remember Steve's name or if he wanted to get his hands on the man himself. Since he mentioned Steve's name before, pretty sure he didn't forget.

"Mr. Sabatino, I do need to ask you a few questions."

I huffed before lifting my head out of Luca's neck and looking across the room to the detective. "What do you want to know?"

"The first thing I want to ask is if you are here of your own free will."

"No," I answered honestly, feeling Luca stiffen beneath me. "I don't want to be here. I never wanted to be here. I want to go back home to Italy."

Luca relaxed.

"Can you tell me about the night you disappeared?"

"Eloped," I said. I remember what everyone else had said. "My parents were forcing me to marry someone I didn't want to marry. I've always wanted to marry Luca, ever since we met when we were kids, but my parents hate Luca. They even accused him of raping me when I was sixteen, but we were just kissing. They sent him to prison for four years."

Detective Waterston's eyes went to Luca. "You have a record?"

"I do," Luca admitted. "Like Nico said, his parents accused me of raping him when we were just kissing. No one would listen to Nico when he said it wasn't true and I went to prison for four years. After I got out, I moved to Italy to live with my grandparents. I only came back for Nico."

"I assume you are in the same business as Mr. Borelli?"

Luca and I both glanced at Vinnie, who gave us a small nod.

"I am," Luca admitted.

"And you two are married now?"

"We are," Luca said. "After I rescued Nico, we flew to Canada and got married and then we flew home to Italy. I believe Vinnie supplied you with a copy of the marriage license."

"He did, and the Canadian Vital Statics Office confirmed its authenticity."

"Then why is any of this even a question?" Luca asked. "We could have solved all of this with a phone call."

"As law required, I had to set eyes on your husband to confirm that he is not being coerced."

"I'm not," I said. "Since the moment my parents sent Luca to prison, I've been waiting for him to come back for me. And I don't care what my parents say. I'm an adult and I can make my own decisions and I want to stay with Luca and live in our beautiful villa in Italy and make cookies and bread with his grandmother."

I turned and buried my face back in Luca's neck. This was all getting to be too much for me. It seemed like so many people were trying to keep us apart. I wanted them all to just go away.

Luca wrapped his arms around me, one at my waist, the other stroking my back.

"It's okay, cuore mio ," Luca said in a soft, gentle tone. "No one is going to separate us. Just as soon as we get done dealing with all of this, I'll take you home and you can make cookies with Nonna ."

He obviously knew what was upsetting me.

This is why I loved this man.

"Let's talk about your arrest record, Mr. Sabatino."

Oh, hell no!

My head snapped up and I glared at the Detective. "I'd like to speak to Detective Waterston alone." I was terrified, but for Luca, I could be brave, even if it was only for a few minutes. "Can everyone give us a few minutes?"

When everyone started out of the room, I stood up so Luca could go with the others.

"Are you sure, baby?" Luca asked.

"I'm sure." I wasn't, not really, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "Stefano, you go with them."

"Mr. Nico—" Stefano started.

"You can wait for me right outside the door." I fisted my hands so no one could see them trembling. I didn't want to be alone with the detective, but I wanted him gone and the only way to do that was to talk to him.

I waited until the door closed behind everyone before raising my eyes to the detective. "You are here to question me, not my husband, so ask your questions."

"Alright." The man obviously knew I didn't want him questioning Luca about his record. "Tell me exactly what happened when he went to prison."

"It was ten years ago," I started and then explained the whole situation. How I had loved Luca for years before that first kiss and loved him to this very day. I explained everything that had occurred that fateful day when Luca was taken for me, how many times I had pleaded for someone to listen to me, and my misery when no one did.

When I was done with that part of my story, I started explaining to him what had happened with my parents during those ten years before Luca rescued me.

By the time I was done, I was standing at the window looking out over the city below, tears pooling in my eyes. I'd been lucky. They had stayed in my eyes instead of trickling down my cheeks.

Bet my red eyes looked horrible.

"Is there anything else you need to know, Detective?" I asked as I turned around to look at him. "Are you satisfied now that I am here of my own free will?"

"Yes." Detective Waterston stood and then stuck his writing pad and pen into his pocket. "I'm sorry that I had to ask all of these questions, but your parents have been raising quite the stink. My captain has been riding my ass to find you and solve this case."

"Well, it wasn't a kidnapping. I eloped."

"Yes, well, your parents are convinced that you were kidnapped. You might want to talk to them about that."

I almost snorted. "Yeah, I'll get right on that."

"I'm sorry you had to fly back to the US, Mr. Sabatino. Now that the case will be closed, you are free to go home. I'll make sure that my captain knows this was all a misunderstanding."

Yeah, right, a misunderstanding.

The detective dug his card out of his suit jacket and held it out to me. "If you have any problems with your parents, give me a call. You're twenty-five years old and old enough to make your own decisions."

"Wish my parents understood that."

They really didn't.

I stayed by the window and watched as the detective walked out of the room. The moment the door opened, Luca hurried back in. I smiled when he scanned me from head to toe, looking for anything out of place.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked as he stopped in front of me and drew me into his arms. "Why did you decide to speak to him alone?"

"Because I wasn't about to let him question you over your police record. He was supposed to be here to make sure I wasn't kidnapped. Your criminal record had nothing to do with it."

"Oh, cuore mio. " Luca stroked his knuckles down the side of my face. "I was never worried about him questioning me about my criminal record. I served my time in the eyes of the law. There's nothing he can do me."

I didn't know how those things worked, but I wasn't taking any chances. Luca was mine to protect even if he didn't know it. I might not be very good at it, but I'd try to my dying breath.

"How about I treat you all to lunch before we head to the Thomas place?" Jake suggested. "I can easily get reservations at Le Bernardin. "

I had grown up in New York City, so of course I'd heard of that fancy French restaurant. It was one of those places that people like me usually read about in the society pages and dreamed of going to, but never got to step through the doorway.

"You hungry, cuore mio ?"

I smiled as I nodded quickly.

Luca smiled back at me before pressing a kiss to my forehead. "Okay."

I was excited.