It still plays on my mind as I lay awake in bed. Lorenzo wakes and when sees my still naked form, he growls, kissing my neck gently.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
I blush. I’ve never had a morning like this before, lying naked with my lover and feeling like I belong. I cuddle closer to him.
“Hey, how do you feel today?”
His brow furrows. “How could I feel anything other than amazing when I’m waking up next to you.”
“I mean...I mean about the things we said last night. About running away together. About leaving all this behind...do you still mean it?”
“Of course I do,” he growls without hesitation. “Why would you ever believe that I’d change my mind?”
I sigh. “I just...I can’t help thinking about everything you’re leaving behind, your family, your livelihood, aren’t you sad about all that you’ll be leaving here?”
Lorenzo’s playfulness disappears now. He can see that I want to have a serious conversation. He props himself on his elbow.
“This life, I never really chose it. It chose me,” Lorenzo tells me. “I was born into it, my family has been in the mafia for generations. I grew up with the assumption that the world was mine for the taking because that’s what my father taught me. He trained me from a young age to be his successor in our line of work, when he died I was still so young. But I took over the family because it was my duty...and I always thought that was enough to make me believe that I wanted this.” He pauses. “But if I stop and think about it too much I question why I’m here. I wonder about the other paths life might have taken me on if I was from a normal family, and I crave that normality.”
“Is that what drew you to me?”
“Everything about you drew me to you,” he growls, cupping my cheeks. “Amore mio, you’re one of a kind. I knew I had to have you from the moment we met. I knew I wanted to fill you with my babies and make a life with you. You gave me a reason to stray from my chosen path. If you hadn’t come along. I think I’d have been stuck here until my dying day. But I don’t want that now. So you’re not stealing anything from me. You’re not robbing me of a future you’re giving me one worth living. Don’t ever doubt my reasons again, okay. You give me every reason to start afresh.”
I can feel tears stinging my eyes. He leans in to kiss me fiercely.
“No tears. I don’t want you to ever be unhappy again,” he growls. “I’m going to give you everything. We’ll take some money, we can go anywhere you want. And then when we’re ready we can settle down and make a life. I’ll get a job. I’ll support us in some way. But I’ll leave all of the bad behind. No more threats. No more violence. No more gangs and powerful families. It’ll just be me and you…” He presses his hand to my stomach. “And our baby.”
I nod nervously. The idea of having no plan ahead scares me a little. The whole reason I came here was for some stability and to earn some money. But I found something better than stability when I found Lorenzo. His life might be a little unpredictable, but even in the face of this, he’s solid as a rock. He’s going to keep me safe. I snuggle closer to him again.
“What will you do now?”
“I’ll tell Bianca that I’m going away for a while,” Lorenzo says. “I don’t have to tell her where I’m going. She’ll be all too happy to be left in charge. And when we go off the radar entirely, my empire will belong to her. Everyone will be happy, and she can clean up the mess with the Moretti family. I’m sure she’ll be all too pleased with that.”
“And where will we go?”
“Where do you want to go?”
I sigh as I dream of the Italian landscape outside. I want to see this beautiful country. Maybe we’re supposed to go further afield to avoid being found, but I’m not ready to leave here when I’ve only just arrived. The country where I found love.
“Rome,” I say dreamily. “I want to go to Rome.”
“Your wish is my command,” he says. I sink into his lips for a long kiss. I feel so at peace that it’s easy to forget that we might actually be in danger. It’s easy to forget Bianca’s disdain. It’s just me and him against the world.
“Shall we get ready to go?” I ask. Lorenzo nods.
“Yes. Pack your suitcase. I’ll sneak it out to the car later today. I want to show my face at least once today, so as not to arouse suspicion, we can just keep a low profile.”
We both get out of bed and dress quickly. My suitcase isn’t even fully unpacked and in no time at all, I’m ready to leave this place again. I thought I was going to be here for a long time, but I guess sometimes things just don’t go to plan.
“You ready?” Lorenzo asks, cupping my face in his hands. I nod, feeling nervous, but excited. His eyes are softer than usual as he looks into my eyes.
“Lydia, I can’t wait to start this adventure with you. I love you.”
My heart does a backflip. I’ve known all along that I love him, but it feels so good to know that he feels the same. I stand on my tiptoes so I’m closer to his lips.
“I love
