‘Soon,’ Luca said, hoping it was true. ‘When you’re feeling better. You don’t want to scare her off with all those bruises, do you?’
A wry smile played with the corners of Nonno’s mouth. ‘It’s good that you’ve settled down, Luca. I’ve been worried about you since…well, for a long time now.’
‘I know you have.’ Luca patted his grandfather’s hand, his chest tightening as if it were in a vice. ‘I was waiting for the right one to come along. Just like you did with Nonna.’
The strange thing was, Artie did feel right. Right in so many ways. He couldn’t imagine making love to anyone else, which was kind of weird, given there was a time limit on their relationship. A six-month time limit he insisted on because no way was he interested in being in for the long haul. Not with his track record of destroying people’s lives.
‘Your grandmother was a wonderful woman,’ Nonno said, with a wistful look on his weathered features. ‘I miss her every day.’
‘I know you do, Nonno. I miss Nonna too.’
Another good reason not to love someone—the pain of losing them wrecked your life, leaving you alone and heartsore for years on end. If that wasn’t a form of torture, what was? None Luca wanted any part of, not if he could help it.
He was already missing Artie, and he’d only been away from her the couple of hours it took to drive to the hospital. He’d wanted her to come with him to meet his grandfather but that wasn’t the only reason. He genuinely enjoyed being with her, which was another new experience for him. The women he’d dated in the past were nice enough people, but no one had made him feel the way Artie did.
Making love with her had been like making love for the first time, discovering things about his body as well as hers. Being tuned in to his body in a totally different way, as if his response settings had been changed, ramped up, intensified, so he would want no one other than her. No one else could trigger the same need and drive. No one else would satisfy him the way she did. He ached for her now. What he would give to see her smile, to feel her hand slide into his and her body nestle against him.
His grandfather turned his head to lock gazes with Luca. ‘I’ve been hard on you, Luca, over the years. I see it now when it’s too late to do anything about it. I’ve expected a lot of you. You had to grow up too fast after your father and Angelo died.’ He sighed and continued. ‘You’ve worked hard, too hard really, but I know your father would be proud of your achievements. You’ve carried on his legacy and turned Ferrantelli Enterprises into a massive success.’ He gave a tired smile. ‘I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy. Success is good, but personal fulfilment is what life is really about.’
The hospital orderly arrived at that point to take Nonno down to the operating theatre.
Luca grasped his grandfather’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. ‘Try and get well again, Nonno. I’ll be waiting here for you when you come back.’
Once his grandfather had been wheeled out of the room, Luca leaned back in the visitors’ chair in his grandfather’s private room and stretched out his legs and closed his eyes. Hospitals stirred emotions in him he didn’t want to feel. It was a trigger response to tragedy. Being surrounded by death and disease and uncertainty caused an existential crisis in even the most level-headed of people. Being reminded of a loved one’s mortality and your own. It would be a long wait until Nonno came out of theatre and then recovery but he wanted to be here when his grandfather came back. His gut churned and his heart squeezed and his breath caught.
If he came back…
* * *
Artie put her small overnight case in the back of Rosa’s car and pressed the button to close the boot. She took a deep breath and mentally counted to three on releasing it. She came around to the passenger side and took another breath. ‘Okay. I can do this.’
I have to do this. For Luca. For myself. For his grandfather.
She got in the car and pulled the seatbelt into place, her heart pounding, her skin prickling with beads of perspiration.
Rosa started the engine and shifted the gearstick into ‘drive’. ‘Are you sure about this?’
Artie nodded with grim determination. ‘I’m sure. It won’t be easy but I want to be with Luca. I need to be with him.’
Rosa drove towards the bronze gates, which opened automatically because of the sensors set on either side of the crushed limestone driveway. Artie concentrated on her breathing, trying to ignore the fear that was like thousands of sticky-footed ants crawling over her skin. Her chest was tight, her heart hammering like some sort of malfunctioning construction machinery, but she was okay…well, a little bit okay.
Rosa flicked a worried glance her way. ‘How are you doing?’
Artie gripped the strap of the seatbelt that crossed her chest. Her stomach had ditched the butterflies and recruited bats instead. Frantically flapping bats. ‘So far, so good. Keep going. We’re nearly outside.’
They drove the rest of the way out of the gates and Artie held her breath, anticipating a crippling flood of panic. But instead of the silent screams of terror inside her head, she heard Luca’s calm, deep voice, coaching her through the waves of dread.
‘Breathe, cara. One. Two. Three.’
It wasn’t the first time someone had taught her breath control—two of the therapists had done so with minimal results. But for some reason Luca’s voice was the one she listened to now. It gave her the courage to go further than she had gone in over a decade. Out through the castello gates and into the outside world.
Artie looked at Rosa and laughed. ‘I did it! I’m out!’
Rosa blinked
