Artie rearranged her clothes and tried not to eavesdrop but it was impossible not to get the gist of the conversation. His grandfather had suffered a fall and was being taken to hospital with a suspected broken hip. Luca ended the call after reassuring his grandfather’s carer he would leave for the hospital straight away.
He slipped the phone back in his pocket and gave Artie a grave look. ‘You heard most of that?’
Artie placed her hand on his forearm. ‘I’m so sorry. Is he going to be okay?’
He shrugged one shoulder, the almost casual action at odds with the dark shadows in his eyes. ‘Who knows? Nonno is eighty-three. A broken hip is a big deal for someone of that age.’ He released a breath and continued. ‘I’m going to the hospital now. I want to speak to the orthopaedic surgeon. I want to make sure Nonno gets the very best of care.’ He held her gaze for a moment. ‘This might be your only chance to meet him.’ His voice was husky with carefully contained emotion but she could sense the effort it took. His jaw was locked tight, his nostrils flaring as he fought to control his breathing.
Artie’s throat tightened. ‘I wish I could go with you, Luca. I really do.’
He gave a movement of his lips that wasn’t quite a smile. He reached for her hand and gave it a gentle press. ‘I’ll be back as soon as I can.’
‘Please send my best wishes for a speedy recovery.’ Artie knew the words were little more than useless platitudes when all Luca wanted was her by his side. She was never more aware of letting down her side of the bargain. Letting him down. It pained her she was unable to harness her fear for his sake.
She watched as he drove away, her heart feeling as if it was torn in two. It felt wrong not to be with him—wrong in a way she hadn’t expected to feel. As if part of her was missing now he was gone. The castello had never been more of a prison, her fear never more of a burden. Why couldn’t she feel the fear and do it anyway? Was she to be imprisoned within these walls for the rest of her life? Luca needed her and she wasn’t able to be with him, and yet she wanted nothing more than to be by his side.
She wanted to be with him because she loved him.
Artie could no longer suppress or deny her feelings about him. She had fallen in love with him in spite of his rules, in spite of her own efforts to keep her heart out of their arrangement. But her heart had been in it from the moment Luca kissed her. He had awoken her out of a psychological coma, inspiring her to live life in a full and vibrant way. How could she let him down now when he needed her? How could she not fight through her fears for him?
Rosa came out to join her, shading her eyes from the blinding sunshine. ‘Do you know when he’ll be back?’
Artie gave a despondent sigh. ‘No. I feel so bad I wasn’t able to go with him. What sort of wife am I that I can’t even be by my husband’s side when he needs me most?’
Rosa gave her a thoughtful look. ‘I guess you have to measure up which thing is bigger—your fear of leaving here or your fear of not being there for him.’
Artie bit her lip, struggling to hold back a tumult of negative emotion. Her sense of failure, her lack of courage, her inability to overcome her phobia.
You’re hopeless. A failure. An embarrassment.
Her harsh internal critic rained down abuse until she wanted to curl up into a tiny ball and hide away. But hiding never solved anything, did it? She had hidden here for ten years and nothing had changed.
And yet…something had changed. Luca had changed her. Awakening her to feelings and sensations she hadn’t thought possible a few days ago. Feelings she could no longer hide from—feelings that were not part of Luca’s rules but she felt them anyway. How could she not? He was the light to her darkness, the healing salve to her psychological wound, the promise of a life outside these cold stone walls. He was her gateway to the outside world, the world that had frightened and terrified her so much because she didn’t trust it to keep her safe.
But she trusted Luca.
She had trusted him with her body, giving herself to him, responding to him with a powerful passion she could still feel in her most intimate flesh. Her love for him was bigger than her fear. Much bigger. That was what she would cling to as she stared down her demons. She had the will, she had the motivation, she had her love for him to empower her in a way nothing had been able to before. Luca was outside her prison walls, and the only way she could be with him in his hour of need was to leave the castello, propelled, empowered, galvanised by the love she felt for him.
Love was supposed to conquer all.
She would damn well prove it.
CHAPTER NINE
LUCA GOT TO the hospital in time to speak to his grandfather before he was taken for surgery. Nonno looked ashen and there was a large purple and black bruise on his face as well as his wrist and elbow where he had tried to break his fall. Luca took the old man’s papery hand and tried to reassure him. ‘I’ll be here when you come out of theatre. Try not to worry.’
Nonno grimaced in pain and his eyes watered. ‘When am I going to meet this new wife of yours? You’d better hurry up and bring her to me before I fall
