Luca's Dilemma (26 page)

“Of course. I love you.” Placing the two items on one of the mirrored end tables flanking the bed, Sheila rose and moved to stand before him. “I know it’s going to be difficult. But remember, I’m with you for better or worse.” She smiled sweetly. “Even though we’re not married yet.”

Luca embraced her with all his might, his head swimming from the depth of the love she’d shown. For the first time in his adult life, he found himself holding back tears, not tears of happiness, but tears of fear from the thought of losing her. The time had come. He had to tell her the truth, all of it. The words lodged in his throat, spinning him into a coughing fit.

“Are you all right?” Sheila asked, pulling back to gaze at him while patting his back. Through his tears he could make out the concern etched on her blurry face.

“No… I’m not,” he managed to get out, the words making him feel more dismal than he’d anticipated. “Sit down.” With a gentle touch, he escorted her back to the bed, guiding her to a seated position on the edge. He then sat facing her profile with one leg bent at the knee. He focused on her lap, unable to meet her eyes. “I have some things to tell you. But you have to promise me you won’t freak out.”

“Luca, you’re scaring me.” Her voice trembled slightly as she turned to look at him.

Luca took her left hand in his and began playing with the ring he’d placed there. He prayed she’d still want to wear it after he finished talking. “This has to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“It’s okay, baby. Take your time and start from the beginning.” She gently squeezed his fingers.

The small gesture was all the encouragement he needed. “I’m not a drug addict, Sheila. That would probably be preferable.” He chanced a look at her. Seeing he had her full attention, he dropped his head and continued. “A few months ago, I received an assignment from Pops. Once I realized the person involved, I called him back and told him I couldn’t do it. After hearing me out, he agreed. Pops gave me a new set of orders to follow, but I had to make it look like I was doing things the way the client intended.”

“Luca, I’m sorry. But you’re not making any sense.”

Luca swallowed. His head bobbed back, and he stared at the ceiling. Slowly, he released a long breath as he tried to figure out the best way to convey this to her. He met her gaze again. “Sheila, I’m not a graphic designer. I’m an assassin.”

Sheila’s eyes grew large, but she made no move to get away from him or release his hand.

“I know it sounds crazy. But that’s all I’ve known until recently… Until you.”

“An assassin? Are you kidding me? How long? How many…” Sheila spewed out in a rushed tone. She appeared to be on the verge of an all–out panic attack. Then her features relaxed as comprehension appeared to dawn on her. “Oh, I understand. Someone’s after you because you decided you didn’t want to kill anymore and they’re not happy about it. I’m so sorry, Luca. Now I see why you’ve been so protective.”

She looked down and away from him. “I have to admit, it’s going to take some time for me to get over the fact that you used to kill people. But now that you’ve changed your ways, I can only say that I’m proud of you.” Her gaze met his again lovingly as she removed her hand from his grasp and started stroking his cheek. Suddenly, her features hardened. “If they harm one hair on your precious head, I’ll kill them. I swear to God, I will.”

Her grit was both endearing and amusing, but he resisted the urge to laugh or smile acknowledging that once again she had gotten the facts wrong in her blind effort to see the good in him. Slowly, he grasped her hand and removed it from his face. He stood before strolling over to the window and gazing out at the beautiful scenery, putting much–needed distance between them. Every bit of her support and belief in him made his task ten times harder.

“No, it’s not like that. No one’s after me. I’m retired, but I still do my job when required. My assignments aren’t always to kill. On rare occasions I’m called to protect.” He turned to face her, crossing his arms across his chest as she watched him intently. “You were, and
are,
my assignment. I’m your protector.”

Sheila gasped. Her hand flew to her chest, and she began to mindlessly pick at the hangy–thangys on her shirt. With eyebrows knitted together, her gaze fell to the comforter as she appeared to struggle with what she’d just heard. Finding out someone wanted her dead had to be a shock to her.

Luca desperately wanted to comfort her but forced himself to finish the dialog he’d started. “April’s death was no accident. For now, I must continue to let the rest of the world think it was, including Richard and Tina. They wanted to tell you about the car crash, but I convinced them you’d be too devastated if told so soon after your illness and promised them I’d tell you as soon as we got to Italy.”

“Italy?” she asked. Her hand stilled, and a dumbfounded look took over her features.

“Yeah. I couldn’t risk anyone knowing where I was taking you. Your cell phone didn’t break. I destroyed it and anything else that could lead to your whereabouts. I’ve touched base with your family and friends to make sure they know you’re okay, but I discouraged them from contacting you.”

Sheila’s breathing deepened, and the light color of her eyes intensified to a darker brown. The pulse in her neck became visible to his keen observation. To the untrained eye she might have appeared calm. However, Luca was familiar with these subtle changes. Many a target had demonstrated such changes just before meeting death by his hand. The one person he loved and cherished most in the world was afraid of him.

Uncrossing his arms, he stepped toward her, only to have her recoil and scamper back against the headboard on the side of the bed farthest away from him. She drew herself into a tight ball, knees to chest with her arms wrapped around them. Her usually tranquil eyes grew wide and wild as her body began to quiver.

Her reaction cut into him like a dagger. “Sheila, no… please,” he implored, barely above a whisper. Holding one hand out, he slowly and methodically made his way toward her. “I’d never hurt you, baby. I meant it when I said I’d die for you. I’d rather die without you. Please believe me.”

Luca kneeled on the bed in front of her. Slowly, he got on all fours and began crawling to her. When he was close enough to touch her, he didn’t. Instead, he sat with his back against the headboard, his elbows resting on his bended knees and his fingers entwined. He lowered his head, allowing his gaze to rest on the busy, tropical pattern of the comforter. This was a modified position of submission, one he’d never taken with anyone, not even his
sensei
, for fear of losing his head. As he’d hoped, the position seemed to work in relaxing Sheila.

“Why would you want to kill me?”

“I don’t,” Luca answered, still baring his neck.

“So, if that vial isn’t full of drugs, what’s in it?”

The vial? Ah shit!
How was he going to explain that one? “It’s poison.”

“Poison? But it looks just like the one that fell out of your poc…” The shift in tone from fearful to confrontational was instant. “Luca, why the hell would you have poison in your pocket at my house?”

No visual stimulation necessary, he could feel the heat of her glare, and it was making his face grow hotter by the second. “Because I put it in that wine I brought over.” He turned his head to meet her shocked gaze. “It was a weaker strain of it. Just enough to make you feel like you were dying, maybe even land you in the hospital. But you threw the glasses, so I—”

His words were cut off by the sight of bright stars and a sudden sharp pain in his left eye. Instinctively, his arms moved to block her next blow, and the next. Sheila was swinging wildly. It took some effort, but he managed to grab her by the forearms and pin her face down under his weight.

“Ever… con…sider boxing?” Luca asked, his dialog choppy as he struggled to restrain the strong woman.

“Ever consider kissing my black ass! How dare you sit there and admit you tried to poison me and expect me to take it lightly.”

“Stop fighting me so I can explain.”

Eventually, Sheila settled down. Moments passed as they both fought to regulate their breathing. Lots of heavy breathing had been on the agenda for this trip, but not like this.

“At the time taking you out of commission seemed the best thing to do. Yes, you would have gotten sick, but you would’ve been safe in the hospital. Everyone involved would’ve assumed I’d done my job and you were on your way out. Sheila, I needed that time to figure out who was after you and why.” He paused, giving her a chance to respond. When she didn’t he continued. “But after you threw the wine, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it again. I knew I didn’t want to be away from you or watch you go through that kind of agony. That’s why I flipped out when you got sick. Even though you didn’t drink it, I couldn’t help but feel guilty and worried some of it had somehow gotten into your system.”

“I drank the wine, dumbass!” was the last thing Luca heard before tremendous pain radiated through his skull, followed by darkness.

Chapter 22

The last week of February was bone–chilling cold in Maine. The journey from Cancun had been arduous, and Sheila was now weary, cold, and hungry, yet thankful to be in familiar territory.

Oddly enough, her concern for Luca had grown with every passing minute of her journey. She should have wanted him dead after what he’d revealed to her, but her thoughts were far from that line of thinking. It was all she could do not to call and see if he’d survived her attack. Her last words to him had served to immobilize him, giving her just enough time to grab the crystal lamp off the bedside table and whop him upside the head with it.

At first, she had panicked, thinking she’d killed him. But his steady breathing and strong pulse let her know he would live another day to run his game on some other unsuspecting sap. After grabbing a few essentials, she’d hightailed it out of there.

Luckily, she always kept a generous amount of cash hidden in her passport holder when traveling, granting her ample funding to hire one of the guards, who guided her to the border. From there, she was able to catch a train and a few buses back home. The accommodations had sucked, and it took her a while to reach her destination, but she figured this route would make it harder for the Moriattis, or anyone else for that matter, to track her.

With stealth, Sheila made her way across Luca’s land with the assistance of snowshoes. The strong northern wind whipped around her as she glided toward home with the intent of entering and exiting her rental home with a quickness. She was dressed in all white, the ski pants and sleek parka providing protection against the elements and helping her blend into the snow–covered landscape.

She’d need the deed to the house in Atlanta as well as the account information for her trust fund if she truly intended to disappear off the face of the earth. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have risked coming back. She’d briefly thought to have Tina ship the info to her or meet her somewhere. But she knew contacting Tina could potentially put her best friend in danger.

It was two o’clock in the morning, sleep tech hours. With the exception of the wind, all seemed quiet as she moved about the horse farm. The moon was high and full, its magnificent light bouncing off the frozen pond and whiteness surrounding her. If not for that, she would’ve virtually been in the dark, as no lights shone from either home.

Instinct told her that didn’t mean anything. However, the lack of footprints around her humble home provided reason to proceed up the porch step. She’d miss that step, her tiny home, and the paintings she’d done but couldn’t take with her. Albeit temporary, this place had strengthened her from the inside out while helping her achieve an independence she’d never thought conceivable. She’d never see it, her friends, or her family again; it was too dangerous. But she tried not to think about that. Wherever she ended up, she knew they would be okay.

Nevertheless, warm tears stained her frozen eyes as she forced open the ice–covered door. Despite Luca’s attempt to fix the weather stripping, air and water continued to seep in like a son–of–a–bitch under the right conditions. Sheila giggled because she’d had every intention of fixing it the right way before becoming distracted with him.

The frozen door was further proof that no one was there. She entered the home, closing the door behind her, and removed the bulky snowshoes. They would only make it harder to get away should someone sneak in on her. She headed straight for the safe hidden in her bedroom closet. As she removed the cover to the duct work, the memory of Luca complaining about how cold her house stayed made her simper. How would he have reacted if he’d known her safe had been impeding the flow of warm air and causing the furnace to shut off at inappropriate times? Good thing he wasn’t much of a handyman. She’d never had the heart to tell him how bad he was at it. He made up for it in so many other ways.

“Yay!”

Sheila nearly jumped out of her crisp white pants at the sound of her neighbor’s shriek. Her heart in her throat, she spun to find Janie standing behind her. Sheila started to ask the woman why she was there and how she’d gotten in without a sound, but became too distracted by Janie’s incessant babbling.

“I see you’re finally back from Italy,” she stated as though starting conversations in the middle of the night while standing in Sheila’s bedroom was oh so commonplace. “Where’s Luca? Did he drop you off and head home already?” Janie jerked her head around the room as though expecting him to materialize out of thin air.

“You wouldn’t believe how lonely it’s been around here without you two. Oh sure, Richard’s been by to feed the horses. But he does so and then heads right back out, usually before I can even get dressed to get over here good. No one’s around for me to share my goodies with anymore.”

Surely Richard being Richard had little patience for Janie’s chattiness and, no doubt, was intentionally avoiding the older woman. Sadness settled over Sheila as it occurred to her no one had been looking for her, not even her parents. First Ahmed had tricked them into believing he was the perfect man for her. Now Luca had them all fooled into believing she was out living the good life, and he possessed the riches and power to keep the charade going.