Page 84 of Promised to the Don of Naples
"Bella mia," I whispered, low, to her as she slept. "I'm not going to lose you."
Her hand tightened a little against my chest, and I turned off the lamp.
And for the second time in twenty years, I slept with a woman on top of me.
CHAPTER 26
"There are weddings made with flowers. There are others made with the flower the enemy sends first."
VALENTINA ROSSI
I woke up in his lap.
Not in the bed, but in the armchair in the study, where we'd fallen asleep after my mother's letter.
The first thing I saw was the yellow morning light hitting the mahogany paneling. The second was Luca's jaw, still unshaven, rough against my forehead. The third was his hand. Open, still on my back, as if it had spent the whole night there without moving a millimeter.
"Bella mia."
His voice came out rough, low. It wasn't a question or a greeting. It was a statement of fact.
I took a deep breath. The smell of him rushed through me.
"What time is it?"
"Six twenty."
"Madonna," I murmured. "I slept the whole night in an armchair."
"You slept the whole night on me."
I felt the heat rise from my neck to my face.
Five weeks, I thought. Five weeks until I'm his wife on paper. And I'm already becoming it a little more every day.
He held my left foot under the hem of the robe. Big hand, small foot, and that silence of his that didn't ask for an answer.
"Five weeks," I said, out loud, to hear how it sounded.
"Five," he confirmed.
"Is it a long time?"
"It's short." His jaw locked a little, the way it locked when he was thinking about something. "But it's what we have."
Donna Beatrice served breakfast on the small terrace, the one that looked out over the lemon grove. Steel bun, black apron, eyes that missed nothing.
"Buongiorno, signora Moretti."
She'd already called me signora twice since the attack. The first time I froze. The second time I still froze, but less. This third time, I only tipped my head.
"Buongiorno, Beatrice."
She poured the cappuccino, cut the bread in front of me, spread fresh ricotta with honey on a single piece, and pushed the little plate close to my hand.
"Signorina Lina has arrived. She's in the blue room, with the dress."
"Already?"
