Chapter Two

I see the jet plane coming in to land, and I imagine him sitting there. He may not be showing it, but I know his heart is broken.

His grandmother was everything to him, and he was everything to her. I just know her death is going to leave a massive hole in his life.

But Luca Baldini was never the type of guy to show his emotions. He was always trying too hard to be seen as tough and capable, to gain respect from his older brother, Enzo.

That's one of the reasons I thought it would be best to come and fetch him, so that he knows there's someone to help him through this. His siblings will be going through the same thing, but I've been around this family long enough to know that competition often supersedes compassion.

As the plane comes to a stop and I see Luca step out, I make my way over to him. He looks like he didn"t get any sleep last night. But that doesn"t change the fact that he looks like a goddamn vision. He might as well be in a painting with the way the sun is casting light on him.

I know that Enzo was on the phone with him late. I stayed over at the main house to help with preparations and was sitting in the kitchen when I heard the conversation. It didn't sound like it went as bad as it could have, but we all know Luca and how important his grandmother was to him.

Luca has always been the wild card of the family, never showing his hand and often making rash decisions that led to Enzo reprimanding him, which would usually just make the situation worse.

This massive shift in the family is something that has everyone on edge. They"re all left wondering if this will slow Luca down or cause him to do something completely stupid.

I'm not worried, though.

I know that with a little bit of guidance, he can reach every goal he's put in place for himself and exceed what his family expects from him.

"Luca!" I call out his name, he looks up and squints to make out my face in the sun that is shining directly behind me.

I walk up to him and throw my arms around his neck, standing right up on my tiptoes. "I'm so sorry." My voice cracks and tears fall down my face.

I don't have the same problem with my emotions that he does, and at the moment I'm carrying my own sadness.

Virginia, or Ginny as she kept telling me to call her, became an important woman in my life, especially over the last few months. We shared tender moments, private moments. I feel her loss, it"s different from his loss, but it"s a heartbreak all the same.

Luca puts his arm around my back, pulling me in, he"s only the slightest bit awkward with me. He's comforted me before, when my pet rabbit was killed by my neighbor, when my mother and I got into a huge fight on my eighteenth birthday, and even once after a break-up.

He might seem cold and emotionless, but his strong muscled arms know how to hold a crying girl. I try to compose myself, but it takes a few more sobs into his chest. His scent is intoxicating — deep and earthy — I steal a deep breath and look up.

He looks confused at seeing me, and stares behind me as if expecting someone else to appear. I saw him just a few months ago, before he left, so it's not like he doesn't recognize me. But it"s obvious, he did not expect his sister"s best friend to fetch him, since it's not something that I've ever done before.

These are different circumstances, though, and I wasn't going to lose my chance to be there for him when he needs it the most.

"Emelia, where is my brother?" His voice is hoarse, and I can imagine him crying when he thought no one else could hear or see.

I plan to show him that he can cry in front of me, that I won't think him weak for it. I pull out a tissue from my bag, dapping at my eyes, sniffing and barely holding in the sobs.

"I offered to come and meet you. They're all at the main house, gathering the family and making phone calls." His family actually has no idea that I'm here, and if Grazia, Luca's younger sister, had any idea I decided to pick Luca up, she'd probably be pissed.

Grazia and I have been friends since we started school together, and I"ve had my eye on her brother ever since our first playdate at her house.

He's just a couple of years older than me, and he never once chased us little girls away from him. Instead, he protected us from the mean kids, and taught us how to do all of the things the bigger kids could do.

Once we became teenagers, Grazia started to notice my interest in Luca. Especially as his height began to tower over ours and his features became more and more chiselled.

All of the girls in school tried to be his girl. He still had more than enough time for his sister and I, though, always making sure that we were okay, even if it meant ignoring his girlfriends.

Grazia had made me swear I would never go after him, claiming it would be weird and ruin our friendship. I did pinky-promise her then, but we're adults now, and Luca needs a strong woman by his side. One day, Grazia will realize that too, I'm sure. Plus, we'd be sisters, which is a major upgrade from best friend.

Another person who will benefit and be very glad about a union between Luca Baldini and myself is Daddy. He's never asked me outright, but we both know what a marriage with a Baldini would mean for our family.

"I have a driver." Luca says as he lets go of me and walks towards the car. Of course he has a driver, that's who drove me. His driver isn't going to be the one to hold him at night while he releases his grief and looks for comfort.

I follow him to car, my heels clicking with the quick steps I need to take to keep up with his long strides.

"I know, I just think it's important for us to be there for each other right now."

The car cruises through the familiar streets, the engine humming, and inside, we"re wrapped in a thick silence.

Luca has his head buried in his phone, which is pretty typical for him, but I can't imagine how he's managing to get work done at a time like this. I"m here, drowning in the weight of both our grief, itching to crack through the wall he"s put up.

The Baldini"s private airstrip is only a few miles from the mansion, this limits my alone time with Luca. I"ve got ten minutes, at best, before we get there. I know his attention won't be on me once we're surrounded by his family, so I decide to break the quiet before it's too late.

My voice comes out shaky, "Your grandmother, she loved you so much." Ginny did keep talking about Luca and how much she loved her grandson, as well as the hopes she had for his future.

She also sometimes spoke about how much she worried about him due to his impulsive decisions and his desire to prove himself which sometimes clouded his judgement. She had mentioned how he needed a strong-willed girl to be by his side and keep him focused, and I had a feeling she was talking about me.

I put my hand on his knee, trying to bridge the gap that has always been there between us. Luca, still glued to his phone, looks up and glances between my hand—now resting on his knee—and my face, like he"s trying to decode some secret message.

His blue eyes are the kind that seem to pierce through to your soul, but today they look softer. They're slightly red and he's not opening them fully.

"What?" he asks, and I push on.

"Your Gran...Nonna…she kept talking about you while you were away. When she got sick, I spent a bunch of time with her, reading to her and hearing her stories. She had some incredible ones to tell." I can"t help but notice that I"ve captured his attention.

"Grazia was so busy with her studies, it just made sense for me to share the load of taking care of Ginny. I wanted to make sure the nurses were doing a good job." That's probably all news to Luca, who was only used to seeing me as Grazia's friend.

I did spend a lot of time at the Baldini's home in our childhood. But even now as an adult, I still do. They were more tightly knit than my own family, and Ginny had happily taken me in as more than just a friend for her granddaughter. Plus, the more I got to sneak a peek at Luca, the better.

My visits to the mansion had increased in the last couple of months, though, drawn in by the heavy reality of Ginny's fading health. Even so, her passing was a shock. She had seemed okay just the day before she died.

"You read to her? I know her eyesight had been getting worse lately…" His thoughts seem to trail off and so does his sentence.

"I did. She loved The Secret Garden, especially," I say.

"We got really close in the last few months. She became the gran I never had growing up." I check Luca"s face for some sign he"s catching on, but he stays quiet, lost in his thoughts.

Just as I"m hoping to break through to him, his phone pings again, cutting our interaction short, and the last few minutes of the ride slip away in a heavy silence.

I brace myself for whatever"s waiting for us at the family mansion.

***

I walk into the foyer behind Luca. It"s an overly dramatic entry, the reds and golds of this room have always made me feel like I"m stepping into a game of Clue.

The rest of his family is in the kitchen, the oversized black and white tiles on the floor serve to confirm my feelings of being in a classic board game.

Everyone looks up as we enter. Grazia frowns, seeing me walk in with Luca, but they're all busy discussing arrangements so there isn't much time to bring more attention to the situation —or ask any awkward questions, thankfully.

I go to pour myself some water. All the crying has dried out my throat. I hope that my eyes and face aren't too red. Everyone is welcoming Luca back and they're all softly offering words of comfort to each other.

It amazes me at times, how this tough, hard family can become so soft when life calls for it.

"Is there anything I can do to help with the arrangements?" I ask. The words hang in the air as I look around at the grim faces of the Baldini family. Grazia exchanges a glance with the other family members. There"s a subtle tension, a collective hesitation that lingers in the room.

Enzo speaks first, his tone guarded, "Emelia, we appreciate your offer, but these matters are usually handled within the family."

Undeterred, I persist, my voice carrying a mix of determination and vulnerability. "I understand, Enzo, but I was there for Ginny in her final weeks. I shared those moments with her, and I feel a connection to her. I want to help honor her memory in any way I can."

Luca, silent until now, finally speaks, his tone cold and distant, "This is a family affair, Emelia. Your presence here is appreciated, but we"ll take care of the arrangements."

"I was there for her," I argue. "She confided in me and shared stories that were deeply personal. I just want to ensure her farewell is as beautiful as the connection we had."

"Emelia, please understand," Grazia tries to soften the blow, her big brown eyes reflecting a mix of sympathy and firmness. "These traditions have been in place for generations. It"s not about your connection. It"s about upholding our family customs. We all love you dearly, but this is the time for the family to grieve. I will send you the details and you can perhaps help on the day of the funeral, but for now my brothers and I will handle this."

I can see Enzo's jaw clench in irritation, and I'm irritated, too.

Keeping my composure, I look at the Baldinis, head on. They"re all too gorgeous to be real, and there is no such thing as an even playing field when you"re up against them. They"ve achieved the trifecta—immense power, riches beyond your wildest dreams, and beauty that could be on the cover of GQ.

I twirl a piece of my honey brown hair between my fingers, trying one last time to show them that if Ginny could accept me into this family, they should too.

But when Luca speaks, the rejection I feel sends me out of the door and to my own home, "Emelia, we appreciate your offer, but we have it under control. Please respect our wishes."