Chapter Six

~ Nico ~

My breath hitched in my throat. I felt like a wimp with how many times my eyes flooded with tears, but I couldn't help it. Luca had just declared his love for me. He hadn't even done that back all those years ago.

"I love you, too."

" Ti amo ," Luca corrected.

My grin went from side to side. " Ti amo ."

Something feral and possessive flashed in Luca's brown eyes as he drew in a deep breath. "I've waited a very long time to hear those words."

I leaned my forehead against Luca's and smiled at him. "They always belonged to you. I've known since I was ten years old that you were the love of my life."

"I beat you," Luca replied. "I was twelve."

Given that there was a five year age difference between us, Luca must have fallen for me a couple of years after we met. "That's a long time to love someone."

Eighteen years by my count.

"Oh, my love." I reached up and threaded my fingers through Luca's hair. The hard shudder that shook his body told me a lot. As hard as his life had been, I doubted there had been a lot of tenderness in it. I planned to change that. "You've waited so long for me, but I'm here now."

Luca's arms tightened around me and he buried his face in my neck. I said nothing about the tears dripping on my skin. I just held him close to me, giving him whatever strength I had.

I'd never be as powerful as he was. Our bodies were made differently. But I could give him this. I could give him the love, care, and the tenderness he had been missing all these years.

I jumped when the door to the hotel room slammed open and a man in a dark suit came charging in. Luca jumped up, still holding me in his arms, and swung around to glare at the man.

"Franco!" Luca snapped.

"Apologies, sir, but Mr. Borelli has been trying to get a hold of you. He says it's important that we get you and your guest on the plane and back to Italy as quickly as possible."

Luca frowned as he glanced toward the coffee table. He kept one arm wrapped around me and reached for his cell phone with the other. "Damn it, the battery died." He set me on my feet, but kept me close to his side. "Let me use your phone, Franco."

The man handed over his cell phone without comment.

Luca gave me a gentle push toward the bedroom. "Go get cleaned up and finish getting dressed while I talk to Vinnie."

I wasn't sure if he really wanted me to get ready to go somewhere or if he was having me leave the room because he had to speak to Vinnie about mafia business, keeping his promise to keep me out of it.

I barely had time to wash my face and pull on my shoes before Luca was calling out my name. I grabbed my suit jacket and hurried back into the other room.

"What's wrong?" I asked as soon as I saw the tension in his face.

"Vinnie called to tell me that we needed to up our timeline. Your parents are calling the cops, telling them that you have been kidnapped."

Technically true.

"We need to get married before they can stop us." Luca held out his hand. "Will you marry me?"

Why was that even a question?

I walked over and took Luca's hand, sending him a bright smile. Luca brought my hand up and pressed a kiss to the top of it, returning my smile.

"Franco, this is Nico, my fiancé and soon to be my husband. Nico, this is Franco. He's my bodyguard and right hand man. He's pretty much my brain on most days."

Franco gave me a respectful bow. "Sir."

"It's nice to meet you," I said.

Franco gave me another bow before looking at Luca. "Sir, if we want to get to the plane and in the air as soon as possible, we need to get downstairs and get you two married."

"Our ceremony wasn't supposed to be for another couple of hours. We'll have to see if they would be willing to bump it up." Luca winced as he glanced at me. "I'm sorry, amore mio . I wanted to give you a real wedding."

I smiled as I wrapped both hands around Luca's arm. "I don't care about the ceremony, just the groom."

"I promise I'll throw you the biggest most extravagant wedding ceremony ever when we get home to Italy."

"I don't need extravagant, Luca." The mere thought made me shudder. My parents did extravagant. I wanted simple, but meaningful.

Luca's jaw firmed stubbornly. "We'll talk about it when we get home."

When Luca started to lead me out of the hotel suite, I remembered something. "Wait, my bowtie." I'd forgotten to grab it.

Luca smirked as he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to me.

I chuckled as I was escorted to the elevator. I didn't really want to wear it right now so I stuck it in my pocket. While Luca was in a suit, he wasn't wearing a tie. If we were going to be married right now, I wanted my outfit to match a little more than a fancy tuxedo would allow.

When we reached the lobby, Luca led me to the sitting area in front of the reception desk. I felt kind of useless as I sat there and watched him go up and talk to the people at reception. It didn't seem like a heated conversation, but it was taking a long time.

Growing bored, I started looking around the lobby. It was a nice place, several warm sitting areas, plants, and even a fountain. I wasn't a fan of the music they were playing. Sounded a lot like elevator music, but whatever.

My eyes were drawn to the entrance when the doors swung open and five massive men in dark suits strode in like they owned the place. The way they walked and surveyed every inch of the lobby sent shivers down my spine.

I jumped up and hurried over to Luca, where I knew I'd be safe.

Luca started to smile to me until he saw my face. "Nico, what's wrong?"

I pointed.

Luca spun around, but whatever tension had been in him faded away. "Its okay, Nico. They work for me."

Still didn't mean I wasn't scared. I didn't have a stellar relationship with guards. Faced with these five, my discomfort level was rising fast.

"Stefano."

One of the massive men stepped forward. "Sir."

"This is Nico," Luca said, a hard glint entering his brown eyes, darkening them. "In about ten minutes, he will be my husband. I'm assigning you to be his bodyguard. His safety is your only duty. If anything happens to him, you'll suffer the same. Understood?"

Stefano nodded once. "Yes, sir. I'll protect him with my life."

"See that you do."

When Luca turned toward me, the hard glint was gone from his eyes and he was smiling. "Nico, this is Stefano. He is one of my best trained men. He's going to be your bodyguard now, okay?"

"He can't touch me," I said quickly. "I won't allow him to touch me."

"The only time he would ever touch you is to move you out of danger." Luca shot Stefano a glare. "He will never touch you inappropriately. He knows what will happen if he does."

"I would never, sir," Stefano stated. "My girlfriend is Italian. She is much scarier than you and she would skin me alive if I touched anyone inappropriately, but only after dipping me in hot oil."

That actually brought a smile to my face. "Do you have pictures of her?"

Stefano shot Luca a look. When Luca nodded, he pulled out his cell phone and flipped through it before turning the screen toward me. I saw a picture of Stefano and a short, dark haired woman wrapped in each other's arms as they smiled at the camera.

What I really liked in the picture beyond the affection that seemed to shine from them was that Stefano's girlfriend was not some string bean woman. She had some serious curves on her.

"She's beautiful," I told him. "You're a lucky man."

"Yeah." Stefano grinned as he glanced down at the picture. "We've been dating for almost a year now. I've been saving up for a ring. I want to propose to her on our anniversary."

"Make sure you tell us what day that is so we can let you have some time off," Luca said. "And if you need any help with the ring or the wedding, let me know. She should have the ring and wedding of her dreams."

I wasn't sure if Luca was doing that for Stefano's sake or to impress me, but it was working. I was impressed. From the looks the other guards gave Luca, I didn't think they were feeling the same. They all looked a little stunned by Luca's offer.

Had they never seen his golden heart? I imagined being a mafia boss, he had to have a hard edge, so probably not. I was glad he had shared it with me.

I moved closer when a woman I didn't know hurried up to us. Luca simply wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close to his side. Stefano walked over to stand behind me and slightly off to the side, guarding me. The other guards stood behind all of us like a wall, preventing anyone from coming up behind us.

"Mr. Sabatino, I'm Mindy. I'll be helping you with your ceremony today."

"Nice to meet you, Mindy," Luca said politely "This is my fiancé Nico."

"Sir." She shot me a smile before returning her attention to Luca. She obviously knew who was in charge here. "If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the wedding chapel."

As we walked, the woman continued to talk about wedding arrangements, which was okay because I was a little overwhelmed by everything. Marrying Luca was something I wanted more than I wanted to breathe. This was a dream come true for me, my ultimate fantasy come to life.

I was just scared that something would happen before we could get married. I was terrified it would be my parents.

"Luca?" I tugged on his sleeve to get his attention.

"What is it, cara mia ?"

"Can we just get married?" I asked. "Didn't Vinnie call and say we needed to get married and then get on the plane? We don't need all of this stuff she is talking about. Besides, you promised me a real wedding when we get to Italy, right?"

Luca's brow furrowed. "What's wrong?"

"I just wanted to get married before someone tries to stop us."

Luca stared at me for a moment before leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead. "Okay, cuore mio. We'll get married."

That's all I wanted.