LUCA (You Will Be Mine) (The Sicilian Mafia Series Book 1) (30 page)

Once the door was closed, I turned to Belinda. “You see that? He always has to have the last word! My God, he frustrates the hell out of me.”

“As you do him I should imagine.” Belinda smiled. “Do you think he had a reason for coming in here?”

“He probably thought I wasn’t going to tell you, so thought he’d barge his way in and do it himself. Tosser.”

Belinda giggled. “You were made for each other. I’m so happy for you.”

Seeing her genuine delight, I couldn’t help but smile back. “I must admit—so am I. And I never thought I would say that.”

“You two are so adorable one minute and like
grrr
the next. It’s quite fascinating.”

Sitting down, I shook my head—although I still couldn’t help the smile. “So, getting back to you and Tony. How do you feel about him?”

She rubbed her hands over her face and sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t think I would have slept with him last night if I had been a bit more clear-headed. It just complicates matters, you know?”

“I know, but I did offer you the option of quitting your clients a while back. You’re getting paid for being Manager, so do you really need to do the other side of it anymore?”

She bit her lip and looked away for a moment. “No, but I enjoyed that part. I suppose a part of me thinks I should settle down a bit now, but the other part of me doesn’t want to be dictated to by a man.”

Smiling, I knew exactly how she felt. “I feel for you, hon. I really do. The problem we have here is that if Tony knows you’re going upstairs with a client, he might freak. The other problem we have is that I doubt very much that Luca would rein him in.”

She closed her eyes in frustration. “I see what you mean. They’re going to stick together, aren’t they? Like two peas in a bleedin’ pod!”

“Exactly.”

“Why do men have to complicate everything?”

Cracking up laughing, I walked around my desk to Belinda and squeezed her shoulder. “Look, don’t over-analyse it all. Take each day as it comes, and see how you feel. Take a breather from that side of work, so you can concentrate on what you really want. It will make Tony happy, and in turn, it gives you the time to see how you feel.”

Belinda smiled up from her chair and squeezed my hand. “Thank you. It’s probably what I should do; it’s for the best really. What should I tell the clients when they come in?”

“That’s up to you. You can tell them the truth, or if you think its best, tell them that you’re not well and that the doctor has told you to take it easy for the next few days. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

Standing up, Belinda took me in for a hug. “I actually have a new client coming in shortly. I suppose I had better go and find someone else to look after him.”

I was about to ask for more details, but a knock on the door interrupted us. “Come in!”

The door opened and behind it stood a timid-looking man of around seventy years old. “Miss Murphy?”

I looked at him in confusion. “Yes.”

Coming through the door, the gentleman quickly marched over to me with something in his hands. I didn’t know what it was until he held out his hand to me.

“Mr. Belatoni sent me to get your ring size. May I?”

Shaking my head towards Belinda, I reluctantly gave the guy my left hand. He tried three different ring sizes until we found what seemed to be the perfect fit.

“Very well,” was all he said before he marched back out the door.

“I can’t believe that man!” I was beyond exasperated already.

Belinda laughed and headed towards the door. “I’ll come speak to you in a bit.”

After a few minutes of shaking my head, I decided to get on with my work. For a couple of hours, I buried myself in emails and correspondence, which needed tending to. I dealt with a few bills and made a couple of calls.

I was just in the middle of needing a break when a knock at the door sounded. I knew for a fact it wasn’t Luca because he never knocked.

“Come in!”

It was Belinda. “I took care of that appointment. He’s actually here now with Melinda.”

“Okay, great. What’s this new guy like?”

Scratching her head, she looked away for a moment. “He looks to be in his early to mid fifties, dark blond, greying hair. That’s not the worst part, though. The worst part is that he’s a vicar.”

I shook my head. “Sometimes, they’re the worst.”

She started laughing. “Yeah, I know. And the weirdest part of all is he that has your surname.”

Stiffening, my head snapped up towards Belinda. “What’s his first name?”

Sensing my anguish, she started to look panicked. “Michael. Michael Murphy.”

I slinked back in the chair and closed my eyes. I couldn’t believe that of all the people in the entire world, my father had to be the one to come here.

“Does he know about me?” More sternly I asked, “Does he know?”

Shaking her head, she shut the door behind her. “No, I never said a thing. What’s the matter? Who is he?”

Slamming my fists into my desk, I shot up. “Fucking arsehole!”

I raced to the door and had a very panicked looking Belinda behind me. I was halfway up the stairs when I felt an arm wrap around my waist. I didn’t even realise I was crying until I turned to find a blurry looking Luca.

“Shh, baby. I got you. It’s all taken care of.”

Wiping my eyes, I glared at him. “Let me go, Luca. I’m not fucking around this time. I need to see. I need to see!”

Luca pulled me against his chest and held me tight. “Stop fighting me. Don’t do this to yourself.”

Wriggling and writhing underneath his grip, I screamed, “Let go of me!” Pure adrenaline-fuelled rage ripped me apart from the inside out. I had to go see for myself. I had to see what it was my father was doing now after all those years of beating me fucking senseless because I was the one who was the sinner. ME!

Spinning around to Luca, I glared one more time. “If you don’t let go of me, I will never forgive you.”

Seeing I meant business, Luca dropped his tightened grip. “Baby, please. Don’t do it. Don’t do this to yourself.”

I wasn’t listening. I was off running up the stairs towards Belinda’s room. I took the special key card I had, which opens all of the doors, and I placed it in the slot. Once the light turned green, I pushed the door open.

No daughter ever wants to see her father lying on a bed being fucked into oblivion. The fucker wasn’t even aware I was there at first. His moans and groans underneath Melinda made me feel sick. Melinda noticed straight away and mouthed the words, “What’s wrong?” as she was riding him.

I just stood there, as still as a statue. I couldn’t think, couldn’t move. All I could do was stand there and watch as my father got his jolly’s off.

It was only when his breathing got faster and more erratic, that he grabbed Melinda’s hips, moaned out loud and shot his eyes open to find his one and only daughter had just witnessed her father come inside someone other than her mother.

Eyes still wide with shock, I gave my father a disgusted look and turned and walked out the door.

I raced down the stairs with Belinda and Luca following me. They looked concerned for me, but I couldn’t utter a single word. I was numb. Suddenly, I was so numb that I didn’t feel whole anymore. It was like my inner core was missing.

Shutting my office door behind me, I slunk back in my chair and buried my head in my hands. It wasn’t long before I felt his arms around me.

We stayed like that for a couple of seconds before I managed to calm, and my senses came back. I pushed Luca away and stared into his eyes.

“You knew about this, didn’t you?”

Luca looked down to the floor, and I knew then I had my answer. “Why, Luca? Why?”

He sat himself down on the edge of the desk, sighed and took my hand. “I didn’t do anything; it was your father that enquired about the place. I was going to keep it a secret from you, so you didn’t have to get hurt in all of this. Once he started making enquiries, I started one of my own. He’s been doing this sort of thing for years, Clara. I don’t know how he found out about The Castle, but the minute he made the enquiries, I saw it as an opportunity.”

I glared at him for more answers. “What, Luca?”

“I thought if he came here then I could get evidence on him. You wouldn’t let me kill him, but I’d be damned if I let him get away with what he’s done to you.”

Seeing Luca’s anger and worry for me didn’t quell my own anger. I was fuming at Luca for keeping this from me. I was fuming at everything that had happened since Belinda told me who he was, and I was absolutely livid with my father.

I was about to tell him he had no right when Melinda barged through the door with a dressing gown on. “What was that all about? This guy’s having a full-on meltdown—whoever he is.”

I shook my head and chuckled. I actually chuckled! I just couldn’t believe this was really happening.

“Clara!” a voice shouted from the door.

Luca stood to attention and was about to lunge for my father when I put my hand out to stop him. “Luca, no. Let him in. I want to talk to him.”

“Oh, no. I’m not leaving you alone with him!”

I threw daggers at Luca to let him know I meant business. “Luca, go. I’ll be fine. I need to speak with my father alone.”

Belinda—and now Melinda—both had their eyes wide open in shock. Their mouths were practically on the floor in astonishment.

Walking towards the door, Luca had his back to me, but now faced my father. “Okay, I’ll be right outside, but if I hear even a tiny bit of distress from my fiancée, I’m coming in, and it won’t be pretty. Capisce?”

My father nodded his head, but then returned his eyes back to me. Once the door was shut, I stood still. Waiting.

“So, you’re getting married?”

I laughed. Is this man for real? “Yes, I’m getting married.”

“So, this is what you’ve been doing since you left home. Whoring yourself.”

Yes, I think he was for real. “Quite frankly, what I do here is none of your fucking business.”

My father had the cheek to get angry. “Don’t blaspheme, young lady!”

“Or what, Daddy? You’re going to get your belt and beat me like you used to?”

Stepping closer, the rage on his face brought back unwanted memories. I almost recoiled, but I stood strong. I wasn’t going to let him get to me.

“Your mother and I always said you had the devil in you. You were always going against the Bible—always going against us.”

I shut my eyes and breathed deeply, so I wouldn’t completely lose it. “And you’re saying this after fucking one of my workers. How did you rate the experience, Dad? Did you like her better than all of the other women you’ve been screwing behind mum’s back?”

Pointing his finger at me, he shouted, “This is not about me!”

I threw my hands in the air in frustration. “Oh, no. Of course it isn’t! I can’t believe you have the gall. How dare you have the nerve to come in here and be righteous with me after what you’ve done? What does it say in the Bible, Dad, about screwing women who aren’t your wife? What does it say about paying to sleep with other women, ha?” Stepping closer to him and pointing, I said, “What does the Bible say about beating your daughter so badly that she had to crawl on her hands and knees for two days because the pain was so unbearable that she couldn’t stand up?”

Seeing the rage in his eyes, I knew he was going to lunge. He was halfway towards me when the door flew open and Luca came in with rage and fire in his eyes. Pulling him away from me, Luca grabbed his neck and hurled him out the door before closing it behind him.

I felt the numbness come again as I flopped back on my chair. I knew Luca was going to do something bad now, but I didn’t care what.

Timidly, Belinda and Melinda came through the door and sat down on my desk in front of my chair. They took one hand each, and we just sat there in silence—not one of us saying a word. I felt grateful to them for that. They could have been asking twenty questions and giving their two cents worth, but they knew that wasn’t what I needed right then.

Around twenty minutes later, Luca came in, and the girls quickly ran out the door to leave us in peace.

Pulling me from my chair, Luca took my seat and placed me on his lap. He didn’t say anything; he just held me.

I played with the button on his shirt and just took time out, trying to calm myself after everything that had happened. “You’ve done something, haven’t you?”

Stilling, Luca tightened his grip on me. “Do you trust me?”

Realising in that moment that I did utterly love and trust this man with all my heart, I gripped his shirt in my fists and nodded my head.

Luca didn’t say a word after that, and neither did I. His actions have and would speak louder than words.

Two days later, I woke in my bed with a hunk of an Italian man entwined next to me. I raised my head to look at him, and was greeted with the biggest smile I had ever seen on Luca’s face.

“What’s that smile for? Do you want to play?” I bit his chest and rubbed my leg against his hardness.

“No, not yet.”

Wondering what was wrong with him, I stretched with a big yawn, and it was then I felt it. This alien feeling on my finger. Something was there that wasn’t there before.