Page 33 of Urgent Vows
"Our home comprises the top two floors of the building as well as exclusive access to the rooftop. The floor below is made up of apartments for our staff."
Remembering how large the building had looked when we arrived, I now understand what my sister was talking about. The De Luca home is more than twice the size of my father's house. The central part of the building is about the same size and it has both a left and right wing that are easily fifty feet long. If you add the floor with their staff apartments, It's over three times the square footage of my family's mansion.
Are all the family bedrooms in the same wing, or even on the same floor? I wish my sister had paid closer attention and shared what she saw.
Severu carries me into the elevator. We are accompanied by half of his bodyguards. The other half cut away from us.
"Where are they going?" I ask, wanting to confirm we will have fewer bodyguards when we are in his home.
"They will take the freight elevator. Taking all our security in one elevator puts us at too high of a risk. The whole family never travels in the main elevator together either."
"That's a pretty cautious protocol. Don't you have security in the building already?"
"Yes." He doesn't elaborate.
I decide not to ask him to because we're almost to our floor. When the doors slide open to a massive foyer, my eyes try to take in everything at once. There is a life size statue of a woman wearing an evening gown done in the same art deco style of the building in the center of the foyer. This era of art, architecture, and style is one of my favorites.
"That is a sculpture of my 2ndgreat-grandmother." Severu's chest rumbles against me as he speaks. "The De Luca's have lived here for the past hundred years."
I look at the carved marble more closely. "She was beautiful."
"Yes, she was. She was sent over from Sicily to marry my great-grandfather when she was 18. He was 38."
"That is quite the age gap."
"Not so uncommon in those days."
I am glad Severu is only ten years older than me instead of having an entire generation separate us. Our perspectives on life are different enough.
Yes, we were both raised as part of the mafia family, but him being a male and future don meant he had an entirely different upbringing than mine. He was trained to fight and handle weapons. He became a made man by killing someone before he was legally an adult.
While I attended an all-girls boarding school in my teen years and the only violence that touched my life was my father's temper. Severu went to Harvard University and everything I have learned since high school has been via online courses and lectures, documentaries, and reading.
Not wanting to focus on our differences, which will only increase my nerves, I take in the living room, visible through an open archway. It is decorated with a mix of modern furnishings and 1920s art deco pieces. It's amazing. Even the gorgeous room cannot keep my attention when I am in Severu's arms though.
I look up at him only to find him staring back at me, like he was waiting for me. "Welcome to our home, Catalina."
The words roll through me in an inexorable wave, breaking down walls I've built up over decades. How does this man get to me so quickly? So easily?
He's not perfect. He messed up making me dance with my father. He's arrogant and bossy. But he's careful with me too. He gave me amazing pleasure to dull my pain. He carries me around like he likes it, not because he has to.
"You confuse me," I say to him.
"Do I?" he asks.
I nod. "You can put me down now." I can walk barefoot now that we are in his…our home.
"I don't think I will. There is still one threshold to carry you over."
He's talking about the bedroom. The idea of going directly to our bedroom fills me with excitement. I want more of his touch. I want to touch him too. I want to see him naked. It's only fair. He's already seen my body.
He carries me across the foyer to the right and then down a hallway. When we reach a set of double doors, he leans down and opens one without jostling me.
His strength makes me feel safe.
Severu kicks the door shut behind him and then carries me through a private sitting room to the bedroom, once again shutting the door behind us with his foot. Only then does he lower me to my feet.
I look around. The room is massive, with a huge bed in the center of one wall. I suppose a man as tall as him needs a large bed, but this one is like an island. All the furniture is in dark wood tones, the rich paneling on the walls a lighter shade that adds warmth to the room. Floor to ceiling drapes cover massive windows on one wall. Is there a terrace outside them?
