Chapter 89

Luca’s POV

I narrowed my eyes at her, as I took the bite from the fork. Mara sighed before she began, “I don’t remember a whole lot, probably because of the adrenaline, but I was eight or nine years old”, she said, holding the fork up for me with food on it. I took the bite and placed my hand on Mara’s thigh for contact. “I was walking home from the market one evening. I had saved like $2 in change from cleaning around the house, and had bought a bunch of twenty-five cent packs of ramen noodles. I did that once a week, save what I could during the week and then go buy whatever I could afford that would last about a week”, she explained, breaking my heart.

Fucking nine-years old and having to find a way to fucking eat. What the hell has she actually been through? “So, on my way home, I would take a shortcut through a park. I remember seeing a couple, maybe in their forties, on the swing set. I didn’t think much of it, maybe because there was a woman there. I passed them up and after getting a little ways away from them, one of them ran up behind me and put a rag over my face,” she said. She fed me the last bite, and sat my plate on the table.

“When I woke up, I was in a run-down house. Honestly, worse than the house I lived in. It was dirty, like disgusting, and it stunk, like death”, her nose scrunched up in disgust, as she looked off to the side, remembering the day. “They talked abundantly about bringing me to a meeting spot, and how much they would get for me. That’s when things started getting blotchy, their faces or conversations. I was trying to figure out how to escape. But, I remember it was a man and a woman”, she said softly.

I reached up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear, allowing my fingers to glide down the length of her hair. “How did you escape?”, I asked gingerly. Some sentences are incomplete if you are not reading this novel on *. Visit *. to read the complete chapters for free. She looked up at me and tilted her head. “I escaped during transport. When they took me to the meeting spot, I attacked my captors and ran for miles”, she explained.

“Did they catch the people who took you?”, I asked, concerned. She shook her head, “No, no one ever looked. It was never reported”, she shrugged. Fury coursed through me. I reached over and grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her to me. “Why the fuck not?”, I hissed, through gritted teeth.

I knew I fucked up and lost my temper when the tears welled up in Marabella’s eyes. I loosened my hold on her neck, but still held her close to me. “I’m sorry, bambina. Please tell me why it wasn’t reported”, I said, softening my tone. A few tears fell from her eyes. I immediately caught them with my thumbs. I held her face in both of my hands. “Bambina, I’m so sorry”, I whispered.

Mara shook her head slightly. “No one believed me. My mom didn’t believe me. She thought I had run away and just couldn’t make it on my own and came back, so she beat me”, Mara choked out. My insides burned with rage. How could a mother do that? How could she not believe her daughter when she told her about being abducted?

“I believe you, baby girl”, I uttered. Mara’s lip pouted more, as a few more tears fell from her beautiful hazel eyes. “Thank you”, she uttered, her voice cracking. I smiled softly, “Come here”, I muttered, pulling her into my lap. Mara snuggled down into my chest and arms. She rested her head on my collar bone and her hand on my torso, over my heart.

She took a few deep calming breaths, as I combed my fingers through her hair. “Thank you, my love”, I whispered into her hair. She looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows. “For what?”, she asked, confused. I smiled down at her. “For opening up more with me. I want you to feel like you can talk to me, because you can”, I said, kissing her nose.

“I don’t really like to think too much about it. It helps to forget”, she mumbled. “It helps to talk about it, bambina”, I whispered. Her lips thinned. “I know”, she said, pouting. I chuckled and kissed her forehead. “How about I call the school and ask them to send the assignments. They will be understanding”, I suggested, trying to reassure her.

Mara kissed my thumb gently, before reaching up and grabbing the back of my neck and pulling me in for a kiss. My fingers immediately entwined into her hair. My lips moved against hers rhythmically, as our tongues danced with one another. Mara pulled back and nuzzled my neck. “Thank you, Luca”, she whispered. She placed a deep kiss on my neck. I gripped her tightly, as I groaned from the tingles traveling from my head to my toes.

Mara rested her head on my shoulder and ran her fingers lightly over my chest. I closed my eyes and rested my head on hers, as I ran my fingers through her hair. We sat there for a while, quiet and focused on how our fingers felt skimming each other’s skin. It was perfect, a silent memory to store in the data bank. I’m so grateful I have found this woman. “Your hair is so soft, amore mia”, I whispered softly. Mara hummed and snuggled further into my chest. A knock at the door pulled us from our moment. I grabbed the throw blanket and draped it over us, covering Mara’s bare legs.

“Come in”, I called out. The maid re-entered the room. “I just came to clean up, sir”, she said, trying to sound sweet. Her voice only sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me. “Then do so. It doesn’t require you to speak”, I snapped coldly, with furrowed eyebrows.

The maid’s face contorted into anger as she cast her eyes down. She quickly approached and picked up the plates from the coffee table. Then she bowed slightly, before leaving the room.