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My stomach growls.
Luca chuckles. “Hungry?”
I smile sheepishly. “Apparently.”
Luca reaches for the phone, ordering a decadent breakfast from room service. The simple gesture makes my heart swell with affection. He always takes such good care of me. Not that I need to be taken care of, but it’s nice to feel nurtured. I should probably do the same for him.
We kiss for long moments, but then Luca rises from bed, getting a robe from the closet. “If I don’t stop now, our breakfast will arrive and get cold.”
It would be worth it to me, but I get out of bed too, slipping on a second robe Luca holds up for me.
We move to the main area of the suite just as a knock comes on the door.
“They are fast,” Luca says as he goes to open it. He pulls the door open and immediately is shoved back. I gasp as I see a man with murderous eyes bearing down on Luca.
25
LUCA
I’m not usually taken off guard, but in this case, I am. I stumble back and am ready to kill the intruder.
“Niko!” Aria yells as she comes to my side.
Niko’s eyes take in me and Aria, both in robes. There’s no doubt that he knows what I’ve been doing with Aria. He might have pretended before that she was untouched since I put her in a guestroom when he visited. Now there is no such pretense, and I can see that he’s unhappy. Well, too fucking bad.
I pull myself together, remembering my father’s words of wisdom about control and respect being the key to power. I have to consider that he knew I'd be here, in which case his men are following me or Aria and reporting back. Men who are likely close by.
"Niko," I say, keeping my tone even. "This is a surprise."
“We need to talk.”
“Alright.” I make a gesture to let him in.
“No. My office.” He glances at my robe again. “Thirty minutes.”
“No.” Aria steps into his space. “I don’t know why you’re here, but you have no right to butt into my life. What Luca and I do is none of your business.”
“You’re my responsibility,” he snaps at her.
I put my arm around her. “Not anymore. She’s mine.”
In a surprise move, Aria knocks my arm off her shoulder and steps away, looking at both me and Niko as if she’d like to slap us.
“I’m not your property. I make my own decisions.”
Niko’s jaw tightens. “That’s not the world you live in, Aria. You know this.”
Her hands fist at her sides. I think she might actually take a swing at us. “You gave Elena a choice.” She turns to me. “You gave Lucia a choice. You even gave me a choice. I made it, Luca, but that doesn’t mean I’m your property.”
“It doesn’t have anything to do with property, Aria.” Niko’s tone is patronizing. Like he’s talking to a child. “As my sister, your life could be in danger. Same with Luca. Fucking hell, you know that. You’ve seen it. You experienced it. I know you think you’re in love, but I don’t approve, and like or not, I’m the head of the Family.”
What he’s saying is true. I hate that I’m in agreement with him.
She looks at both of us as if she doesn’t recognize us. She turns back to Niko. “I really don’t like you.”
Niko’s eyes flash with something I can’t quite define. Regret? But it quickly leaves as he looks at me. “Thirty minutes. My office. The basement one.”
I nod, knowing it's his office below a pizzeria. I’ve been there before when Niko and I were allies.
