I would have stopped her if Grace’s father hadn’t come over in that moment and I couldn’t risk a scene in public. Aria turned on her heel and stalked off, her head held high. I could have killed Matteo.

ARIA

I had trouble breathing as I made my way toward the restrooms. Luckily, nobody tried to stop me. I wasn’t sure I could have kept up my mask if they had. The moment I stepped inside the bathroom, I released a shuddering breath. I washed my hands because I couldn’t wash my face without ruining my makeup. Lifting my face, I regarded myself in the mirror. I wasn’t vain but I knew people found me beautiful. I had received praises for my beauty all my life, and yet the mention of Grace’s abilities made me realize that it might not be enough to hold Luca.

He loves you.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten until I felt the necessary strength to return to the party. Grace was the past.

I moved out of the bathroom and stiffened when I saw Grace waiting for me in the hallway. She smiled but it was all fake.

Resisting the urge to lower my eyes, I met her gaze straight on. She moved closer, encasing me with her overly sweet perfume. With her high heels, she was several inches taller than me, but I straightened my spine.

“I hoped I’d get another chance to talk to you. At your wedding, I didn’t have much time.”

He will fuck you bloody. That’s what she’d said and fueled my own terror. She wasn’t that much older than me, perhaps twenty, but she had a world of experience on me.

“Maybe you think Luca is satisfied with what you can give him,” she began in a low voice. “But I’ve known him for two years, and he’s never settled. I was the only woman he returned to over all that time, because I gave him what he needed.”

Two years? Even if he’d been with other women in that time, why had he kept her around?

Grace’s smile widened. “I’ve let him do every kinky thing you can’t even imagine, Aria. You don’t look like you are willing to take his cock up your stuck-up little frigid ass.”

It was enough. I took a step toward her, bringing us too close, and narrowed my eyes at her. I was raised in the mafia world. I had grown up among predators. I had rammed a knife into a Bratva member. If Grace thought I’d let her intimidate me again, she was thoroughly mistaken. “You will stay away from him,” I said quietly but firmly. “The only reason why he used your ass was because he didn’t want to see your face. You have always been and will always be replaceable. One among many. You are nothing to him. Cheaper than a whore, that’s for sure.” I hated that her ugliness brought out my own viciousness, but I couldn’t take anymore.

She raised her palm to slap me when a shadow fell over us, and Luca’s strong hand clamped around her wrist. He shoved her back from me so she collided with the wall but he didn’t release her. His grip on her wrist made her wince, and she cowered under the force of his gaze. He looked murderous.

“She’s not worth it,” I whispered imploringly.

His mouth pulled into the cruelest smile I’d ever seen on him as he released Grace’s wrist. “You won’t ever speak to Aria again. You won’t go anywhere near her, or you will see a side of me very few have survived.”

“Luca, please,” she begged, clutching his arm, and I stiffened. “I’d do anything for you. I love you.”

He shook her off in disgust. “Don’t touch me, whore. You just swallowed my brother’s cum; do you really think I want your dirty hands on me?”

He turned to me, and some of the anger slipped away, but Grace wasn’t done yet. Her face scrunched up as she leveled her hateful eyes on me. “I wish that guy in Luca’s club had raped you when I paid him for it. I bet with roofies in your blood that was the first time you could take all of Luca’s cock inside your pussy. It was probably the only time he enjoyed fucking you.”

I gasped, but my shock lasted only a second because Luca reached under his jacket for his knife. I wasn’t quick enough. He turned and lunged at Grace, thrusting her against the wall and pressing the blade against her throat. The fury on his face halted me only a second, then I rushed toward him and gripped his arm, trying to pull it down but he resisted, and he was too strong for me. His hateful eyes never left Grace as he held the knife against her skin. I didn’t much care for Grace, but if Luca killed her here, Senator Parker would call the police, and not all of them were on the Famiglia’s payroll.

“Luca, please,” I murmured.

“You listen to me, Grace. You will leave New York again and you won’t come back. I will say this only once: you will never threaten my wife again, or you will be the first woman I will skin alive. That’s a fucking promise.” He hit his chest with the hilt of the knife, right where his Famiglia tattoo was. His gaze made me shudder, and Grace finally realized he was being serious. Color drained from her face as she nodded. “And now you will go to your fucking room, and you won’t emerge until this fucking party is over.” He released her and she ran down the corridor where her room must have been.

Luca turned to face me, sheathing his knife, the remnants of the monster still in his expression.

I exhaled. “God, even I was scared of you. You can be terrifying.”

Another chunk of the monster fell off, his expression softening as he regarded me. “So I have been told.”

I stepped up to him and put my hands up against his chest. There was no sense in punishing Luca for something Grace had said or done. I’d forgiven him for his slipup long ago. With my touch, the last of Luca’s darkness fell off and the warmth reached his eyes. “Don’t listen to a word she says, Aria. She thrives on spite and lies.”

“Two years?” I asked quietly.

Luca shook his head. “She was one of many, Aria. I only returned to her because…” He stopped himself.

“Because of her missing gag reflex,” I muttered.

“Aria,” Luca said almost angrily, reaching for my hand and pressing it against his chest, over his heart. “I’ve never wanted anyone more than I want you, and not because I have to imagine my aunts naked to stop myself from shooting my cum the moment your perfect lips close around my cock, though that too, but because you make me laugh, because you are kind and because whenever I look at you, I feel something I’ve never felt before: peace.”

I swallowed.

Matteo chose that moment to barge into the corridor. “It’s close to midnight. You lovebirds should make a reappearance.” His eyes narrowed as he took in the way we were facing each other.

I gave Luca a small smile to show him we were okay, and he took my hand and led me back to the party. Shortly after midnight we left. Luca was on edge, and staying any longer would only increase the risk of him losing his temper.

Together we returned to our penthouse to toast the New Year again without dozens of curious eyes on us.

Matteo and I grabbed glasses and a bottle of champagne, and headed out onto the rooftop while Luca searched for snacks. Fireworks were still rising into the sky in the distance. Matteo opened the bottle and poured champagne into the three glasses before he handed one to me. His dark eyes were keen as he regarded me.

“Grace cornered you at the party.”