I chuckled. Trust Aria to make me feel better. Light in the dark, indeed. My fingers trailed down her spine over her ass and then between her legs, finding her wet. “Maybe we can start our second year with mind-blowing sex to set the mood for the future.”

Aria smiled then moaned as my fingers brushed up against her clit. “That sounds perfect.”

ARIA

Things between Luca and me were back to how they used to be. Sometimes when Matteo sent him an update of his hunt, Luca got tense around me, but it only ever lasted a couple of hours. I wasn’t sure if he knew that I could follow Gianna’s progress through the travel blog she’d established. Perhaps he suspected I knew something, but he’d stopped pressing for information.

I breathed in deeply, loving the crisp morning air. Central Park was quiet this early on a Sunday, except for joggers that made their rounds despite December’s cold. In summer Luca and I had been among them, but in winter I preferred to do my run on the treadmill, though we still got up early to enjoy a morning walk.

Luca squeezed my gloved hand, and my eyes found his. “Dollar for your thoughts,” he murmured.

I smiled and drew to a stop. “Just thinking how much I love that we’re both morning people and that we get to have Central Park almost to ourselves.” Luca was almost always working these days. Without Matteo at his side, he had to take care of business on his own. I only had him during the early morning hours and late at night, but only in the morning did we really find time to talk. The nights were reserved for lovemaking, as Luca was too stressed from the day’s events to give me more than physical closeness. It was my fault, of course. Matteo was still gone because I didn’t tell them where Gianna was.

Luca chuckled, the low sound making me want to find a place where we could be alone. “To think that I used to party until the early morning hours, and now I’m up that early.”

My smile faltered. “Do you mind? You used to be the most sought-after bachelor in the city, and now…” I trailed off.

Luca pulled me close, and bent low so his warm breath ghosted over my face. “I was out all night, always hunting, always moving because there was nothing at home calling me back. Now there’s you and no matter where I am or what I’m doing, the thought of you waiting for me is the best.”

My body filled with warmth at his words, but a slight worry gnawed at me. “What about other women?” I whispered. “You had a new girl in your bed every weekend, and now there’s only me.” I’d seen how some of the female joggers had looked at Luca. I noticed how many of the younger and even older women at social events eyed him, how they undressed him with their eyes. His predator charms lured them in. He was all muscle, all man, all power.

Luca shook his head. “Why would I want anyone else, Aria? There’s no one else I want.”

I curled my fingers over his neck and pulled him to me, my lips brushing his. “I love you, Luca.” His gray eyes softened, and that sight always got me. That look, that side of him, nobody got to see it but me. Perhaps Luca had been the first and only man to claim my body, but I was the first and only person who had that part of him, his soft side, his gentle side. That was all mine.

A buzzing noise drew us apart.

Luca let out a sigh. “Who’s it now?”

Luca reached for his cell in his coat, then glanced down at the screen, and from the look on his face I knew at once it was important.

I froze. “Luca?”

He looked up. “Matteo texted.”

My heart clenched. I swallowed. “And?”

“He got her.”

My breath left my mouth in a puff of fog. “Gianna?” As if there could be someone else.

Luca nodded. I could tell he was relieved, but didn’t show it openly because of me. Relieved because Matteo would finally return to New York after six months of being on the hunt for my sister. Six months. That’s how long Gianna had lived her dream.

I had risked a lot for Gianna: Luca’s trust, my marriage.

But it had been in vain. Matteo had captured her. I should have been miserable but I wasn’t. I was relieved, like Luca, because Gianna would be coming to New York. I’d finally see her. It was a selfish thought because I knew she didn’t want to. She wanted to live a life away from the mob. She and I had always been very different when it came to dealing with the darkness of mob life. She’d wanted out, and I had wanted to find a place inside that life where I felt safe and comfortable. I had found it, and I hoped Gianna would find her own place too. Then worry overcame my thoughts. “What happens to her now? Where are they? Is she all right?”

Luca brought his hand up against my cold cheek. His palm was warm, even in the freezing temperatures. “Aria, your sister will be fine. Let me give Matteo a call.”

I nodded. I would have loved to snatch the mobile from Luca and call Matteo myself, but since our last encounter I wasn’t sure if it would have been right to do it. I had been glad for the months he’d been gone, though at the same time I wished Luca didn’t have to handle everything on his own. I wasn’t sure if I could ever act normal around Matteo again, but I had to try or Luca would get suspicious.

Luca dialed Matteo’s number, then waited, but nothing happened, and a new wave of worry overcame me. “Why isn’t he picking up? He won’t hurt Gianna, right? She didn’t do anything wrong. She just wanted to be free. He will bring her to New York, won’t he? He can’t take her to my father. Luca, please—”

Luca wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against him, one of his hands cradling my neck. “For some inexplicable reason, Matteo wants your sister. He will bring her to New York, trust me.”

I trusted Luca. It was Matteo whom I didn’t trust. Even more so since he’d attacked me, but Luca didn’t know that, of course, and never would. “But will he hurt her?”

Luca didn’t say anything, and my heart plummeted. “Come on, let’s get back home. I have a feeling we’ll have to fly to Chicago soon to appease your fucking father.” He took my hand and led me toward the exit of the park. He hadn’t answered my question because he couldn’t.

I couldn’t stop fretting over what was happening with Gianna, and Luca sensed it. He tried calling Matteo several times during our ride home, but he didn’t pick up. When Luca’s phone rang, I could have cried from relief, but it turned out to be my father.

Luca’s face darkened as he listened to him. “We will come to Chicago to discuss matters with you. This isn’t only an Outfit matter. Gianna is Matteo’s fiancée.” Pause. “Yes, still, until he decides he doesn’t want her.”

The moment Luca hung up, I asked, “What did he say?”

“Apparently, Matteo found your sister with another guy. I don’t have to tell you how fucking bad that is.”

I turned toward the car window, trying to keep it together. Matteo would see it as cheating and worse, as an attack on his honor. I knew how men in our world dealt with that kind of thing. Trembling, I turned back to face Luca and touched his hand. “Please, Luca, you have to make sure Matteo doesn’t hurt Gianna.”

We pulled into the parking garage and Luca shook his head. “She is his fiancée. I can’t tell Matteo what to do with his woman.”