“I will not apologize for my choices again,” Luke grumbled. “You can respect them, or you can leave.”
Cassio held up his hands. “I am not starting another argument with you. I am merely explaining to this fine lady that despite our long friendship, it has been many years since I have seen you.”
“By my design,” Luke stated, his brow furrowing.
His friend responded in Italian, and the two exploded into a passionate argument, their arms and hands waving about in wild gesticulation.
Attempting to stop the two of them, I called out both of their names. When that failed, I placed my thumb and middle finger to my lips and blew a shrill whistle I usually reserved to call Bobby into the big house.
The sharp noise succeeded in interrupting the incessant tirade. “Okay, boys, that’s enough.”
Luke clenched his hands into fists and sighed. “You’re right. This is getting us nowhere.”
Cassio stared at me in disbelief. He sniffed, and a haughty expression settled on his face. “I find it interesting that you of all people would obey so quickly. She must be special for you to place her first above all else.”
Annoyed and a little offended, I dropped my Southern manners like a hot potato. “Ahem, she is right here and wants to know exactly what the problem is between the two of you.”
Luke approached from behind and placed his hands on my shoulders. “It’s fine, Rue. Cas was just about to leave.”
“You know that I cannot until I have discharged my duty,” his friend replied. “You have been found, and unless you choose to run again, it is folly for you to put off your own obligations any longer.”
“Run?” Panic replaced my indignation, and I turned in my fiancé’s arms. “What’s he talking about, Luke? And before you utter one word, you’d better stop speaking in riddles and lay everything out on the table with me.”
Cassio smirked. “She does not even know who you really are, does she?” He shook his head in disgust. “Signorina, how can you agree to marry him if you don’t even know who he truly is?”
Luke looked from me to the visitor several times before his shoulders slumped and he let me go. “Fine, but I would like some privacy to explain myself.”
His friend shook his head. “You know I cannot leave. Not until I have your official response. And as everything unfolds, I believe the significance of the order may be too much for you to refuse. Plus, I want to make sure you tell her all of the truth.”
Defeated, Luke clicked on a side lamp and gestured for Cassio to enter the living room. Before I entered, my fiancé pulled me into him and hugged me close. He rocked me back and forth in the embrace, and despite my uncertainty in the situation I found us in, I hugged him back.
With a long sigh, he released me and held my hands in his. “I know you tend to get a little…fiery…when you don’t like what you hear. Please have patience and listen to it all before you cast judgment on me.” His fingers twisted the ring he’d used to propose. “And know that this symbolizes everything inside of me.”
He lifted my left hand and placed it over his still heart, the absence of a beat reminding me how very different we were. For a brief second, all of my doubts gathered into one knot and formed a lump in my throat. I nodded in agreement, unable to say anything.
Luke kept hold of my hand, entwining his fingers through mine, and led me into the room to sit together on the stiff couch. Cassio occupied a high back chair opposite us, his eyes examining where Luke and I were connected. A heavy silence filled the room, and I counted my rapid heartbeats until somebody talked. When both men refused to speak, I took charge.
“Fine, let’s start with a simple question.” I squeezed his hand and shifted so I could see his eyes. “Why does Cassio keep calling you Luca?”
“It is my given name,” my fiancé replied. “For years, I have used other monikers, but when I arrived here…I don’t know. I liked hearing you call me something close.”
“Luke Manson is a far cry from your true identity,” Cassio scoffed. “I will never understand why someone with everything you possessed would choose to walk away from a life full of privilege. And responsibility.”
His friend’s admonishment irritated Luke, and he sneered at Cassio, saying something in Italian that gave me chills even though I didn’t understand the words.
Cassio’s expression darkened. “You know how to aim your barbs to do maximum damage, don’t you? Yes, I loved your sister, but I loved you, too. We were all family, and you walked away from it all.”
I felt like a person who’d been dropped in the middle of a giant maze with no map and thorny bushes towering over me to block my way.
“I don’t understand what your family has to do with either of your names,” I said, losing my patience.
Luke watched me with care. “It’s not so much the name as what being a part of my family means.”
Cassio launched himself from his chair and paced. “You were always good with a sword, but you fence too much without getting to the point.” He turned to face me and gestured at Luke. “He is Luca Filippo de Rossi, firstborn son of the de Rossi line and heir to the seat of power he has denied for over a century by running away and hiding.”
I let the words sink in as deep as possible yet still didn’t have total comprehension. “It sounds like your family’s important where you’re from.”
Cassio stopped treading a path in the carpet and tapped his foot, waiting.
Luke touched the ruby amulet he wore on a leather cord around his neck. Only a few times he had shared with me the significance of
