Artie steepled her hands against her nose and mouth, trying to control her breathing. Her heart was doing cartwheels and star jumps and back flips and her pulse was off the charts. ‘It’s not that I don’t want to go…’
‘Then what is it?’
She lowered her hands from her face and pressed her lips together to stop them from trembling. She clasped her hands in front of her body, her fingers tightly interlaced to the point of discomfort. She couldn’t bring her gaze up to meet his, so instead aimed it at the carpet near his feet. ‘There’s something I haven’t told you…something important.’
Luca crossed the room until he was standing in front of her. He lifted her chin with the end of his finger and meshed his gaze with hers. His frown was still in place but was more concerned now than angry. ‘What?’ His tone was disarmingly gentle and his touch on her chin light but strangely soothing. ‘Tell me what’s going on. I want the truth, cara.’
Artie bit the inside of her mouth, trying to find the words to describe her condition. Her weakness. Her shame. ‘I… I haven’t been outside the castello grounds since I was fifteen years old. It’s not that I don’t want to leave it—I can’t.’
His hand fell away from her face, his forehead creased in lines of puzzlement. ‘Why can’t you? What’s stopping you?’
She gave a hollow, self-deprecating laugh and pointed a finger at her chest. ‘I’m stopping me.’ She stepped back from him and wrapped her arms around her body. ‘I have crippling social anxiety. I can’t cope with crowds and busy, bustling places. I literally freeze or have a meltdown—a full-blown panic attack.’
He opened and closed his mouth as if trying to think of something to say.
‘I’m sorry,’ Artie said. ‘I should have told you before now but I was too embarrassed and—’
‘Please. Don’t apologise.’ His voice was husky, his expression etched with concern. He shook his head like he was trying to get his muddled thoughts in some sort of order. ‘Why didn’t your father say something to me? He led me to believe you were—’
‘Normal?’ She raised her brows in an arch manner. ‘Is that the word you were looking for? I’m hardly that, am I?’
Luca made a rough sound at the back of his throat. ‘Cara, please don’t run yourself down like that. Have you seen a health professional about it?’
‘Four.’
‘And?’
Artie spread her hands outwards. ‘And nothing. I couldn’t cope with the side effects of medication. Meditation and mindfulness helped initially but not enough to get me outside the castello grounds. Talk therapy helped too at first but it was expensive and I didn’t have the time with my caring responsibilities with Papa to keep going with it.’ She gave a sigh and added, ‘I found it exhausting, to be honest. Talking about stuff I didn’t really want to talk about.’
‘The accident?’
Artie nodded, her gaze slipping out of reach of his. ‘So, there you have it. My life in a nutshell—no pun intended.’
Luca brushed a finger down her cheek. ‘Look at me, cara.’ It was a command but so gently delivered it made something move inside her chest like the slow flow of warm honey.
Artie raised her eyes back to his, the tip of her tongue sneaking out to sweep over her lips. ‘I’m sorry for misleading you. You probably wouldn’t have married me if you’d known. But I was so desperate to keep the castello. I don’t know what I’d do without it. It’s the only home I’ve ever known and if I’m forced to leave…’ She bit her lip until she winced. ‘I can’t leave. I just can’t.’
He touched her lip with the pad of his thumb. ‘Stop doing that. You’ll make it bleed.’ His tone was gruff and gently reproving, his gaze surprisingly tender. ‘We’ll find a way to manage this.’
‘How? If your grandfather is too ill to travel, then how will I ever get to meet him?’
‘Technology to the rescue.’ He gave a quick smile and patted his jeans pocket, where his phone was housed. ‘We can set up a video call. Nonno’s eyesight isn’t great and he’s not keen on mobile phones but it will be better than nothing.’
Artie moved a step or two away, her arms crossing over her body, her hands rubbing up and down her upper arms as if warding off a chill. ‘You’re being very understanding about this… I wouldn’t blame you if you tore up the agreement and took full possession of the castello.’
Please God, don’t let him do that. Please. Please. Please.
Luca came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. ‘That’s not going to happen.’ She suppressed a shiver as the movement of air when he spoke disturbed the loose strands of her hair around her neck. ‘We’ll work together to solve this.’
Artie turned to face him with a frown. ‘Why are you being so generous? You said earlier today you’re a selfish man, but I’m not seeing it.’
His smile was lopsided and his hands gently squeezed the tops of her shoulders. ‘I can be extremely selfish when it comes to getting what I want.’ His gaze drifted to her mouth and her heart skipped a beat. After a moment, his eyes came back to hers. Dark. Lustrous. Intense. The air suddenly vibrating with crackling energy as if all the oxygen particles had been disturbed.
‘Luca?’ Her voice was barely audible, whisper-soft. Her hand crept up to touch his lean jaw, her fingers trailing over the light prickle of his stubble. She sent her index finger around the firm contours of his mouth, the top lip and then the slightly fuller lower one. He drew in a sharp breath as if her touch excited him, thrilled him, tempted him.
His hand came up and his fingers wrapped around her
