Chapter 22

Marabella’s POV

The elevator doors opened to reveal a tall, lean, blonde woman. “Mr. Barello, I was beginning to get worried that you had got stuck”, her voice reminded me of Zera’s, high pitched and nasally. Luca released me and stood at the side, revealing me to the woman. “Nope. Everything is perfect”, Luca said cheerfully, as he took my hand.

“Sir, I don’t think you should bring a woman to your office. You have a potential business client waiting in there for you”, the blonde said, staying one step behind us, following closely. Luca stopped dead in his tracks. I thought for a moment that he was about to agree with her, but then he turned toward her with a scowl.

“First, this is my wife. Second, who the hell is in my office?”, Luca asked, irritated now. “Uh, a Mr. Bentley Graves, sir”, the blonde answered. Luca pinched the bridge of his nose. “How many times do I have to tell you not to just let anyone into my office?”, he asked, fuming.

The blonde stood before us with her mouth open and stuttering. “Come, bambina”, Luca said, softly pulling on my hand. I followed beside him quietly. Afraid to upset him anymore. “What do you want to eat, piccola?”, Luca asked, as we walked. “It doesn’t matter. Whatever you order”, I muttered. “Sabdra, get two of my favorite dishes from Fresco’s”, Luca said, over his shoulder. “Yes sir”, Sandra answered.

“You’ll love it, trust me”, Luca said, with a wink, as he opened his office door for me. Luca’s hand was on my back as we stepped across the threshold. The gentleman in his office quickly spun around from where he stood, at one of the book shelves. Luca quickly pulled me behind him. “Are you going through my things, Mr.Graves?”, Luca questioned, his voice was so deep and carried such authority that my knees wanted to buckle.

“Oh, no sir. I was only admiring your book collection. My apologies for intruding”, Mr. Graves said. “Why don’t you have a seat then? I’ll be with you in a moment”, Luca commanded. Bentley Graves nodded as he did what was told of him. Luca faced towards me and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Have a seat on the sofa, principessa”, he uttered, placing a soft kiss on my lips. “Yes sir”, I nodded, heading toward the sofa.

Luca watched me with a burning fire in his eyes, as I sat down. He walked to his desk and sat down behind it. I watched him for a few moments, mesmerized by how downright sexy he looked in a suit, sitting at a desk. Luca’s eyes swept up and caught mine as he listened to Mr. Graves talk. I blushed and looked down to grab my books from my bag. I started my assignments, as he conducted his business meeting. Many times we caught each other staring. I would give him a shy smile, or he’d give me a knowing smirk.

After almost thirty minutes, Sandra walked in with the food that Luca had ordered. She sauntered over to Luca’s desk, and charmingly set the bags on the edge of his desk. “Give it to Mara”, Luca ordered gruffly, not taking his eyes off of his work and client.

I watched as she frowned at Luca’s lack of attention, then she locked eyes with me and snatched the bags back up, sulking toward me. She plopped the greasy bags down right on top of my blueprint that I had been working on. “Oi” I grumbled, snatching the bags off of my work.

I sighed shakily when I saw the large grease stain in the middle of my blueprint. “Sandra! Leave!”, Luca’s voice was vexed, as he tried to control himself. “Mr. Graves, as you can tell, my wife and I’s lunch has just arrived. Why don’t we reschedule for another day? You have given me plenty to consider”, Luca said, standing from his chair.

“Oh, yes, okay, Mr. Barello”, Mr. Graves said, reaching for Luca’s hand. “See Sandra on your way out”, Luca informed him, as he took his hand. Mr. Graves nodded as he exited the office. I could immediately feel Luca’s eyes on me. I had set the food down by my feet and had been staring at the stain with teary eyes. I’m way too overwhelmed for this.

“Bambina?”, Luca said softly. I turned my head slightly toward him, but kept my eyes on the blueprint. A silent acknowledgment that I knew he was talking to me and he could continue saying whatever it was that he wanted to. “Piccola, I’ll help you redo it”, Luca whispered gently. I shook my head, as I started to gather all of the work up from the coffee table in front of us. “Mara”, he whispered.

“It’s fine, I’m fine, Luca”, I uttered. “Bambina”, Luca murmured. “Why are people so vindictive? I never would have done something like that to her. Even if she does want to fuck my husband”, I muttered. “I know you wouldn’t”, Luca said, wrapping his arms around me. Giving me no choice but to seek solace in him. I grabbed onto his arm tightly, and closed my eyes, allowing a few silent tears to fall.

Luca sat silently and just held me. I focused on trying to match Luca’s breathing pattern. It seemed to be Luca’s objective as well, because he made sure to make each breath loud and clear. His hand stroked my back in rhythm to his breath. When my breathing and heart rate finally evened out, I sniffed and tried to wipe my tears, but Luca stopped me.

He gently wiped his palms against my cheek, wiping them dry. “You are a beautiful soul in an ugly world. People can see that and they want to stain you, like they are. But you are too good for that. That’s why you have me”, Luca murmured. “I’ll be the ugly for you, and you can be the beautiful for me. We will balance one another out, piccola”, Luca said, pulling my face towards him to kiss me.