Chapter 14 - THE CONFESSION
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I spun around, my breath catching in my throat.
Luca stood in the doorway, his broad frame filling the entrance.
He had discarded his jacket, wearing a crisp white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms.
His dark eyes were locked entirely onto me, blazing with an intensity that made the room feel suddenly smaller.
Antonio smiled knowingly, grabbed his silver cane, and stood up from the chess table.
“I believe this is my cue to inspect the wine cellar,” Antonio remarked with a chuckle.
He patted my arm as he passed by.
“Don't let him bully you, Emma. He gets that stubbornness from his mother.”
The heavy oak door clicked shut behind Antonio, leaving Luca and me alone in the vast study.
Luca walked toward the table, his footsteps slow and deliberate.
He picked up the white envelope containing my resignation, looked at it for half a second, and tore it in half.
He tossed the pieces into the wastebasket.
“Luca!” I gasped.
“You can’t just tear up my resignation!”
“I can,” Luca replied, stopping inches away from me.
“Because I am the head of this house, and I reject it.”
“Why are you doing this?” I demanded, frustration and heartache overflowing.
“I am trying to protect your reputation!”
“Look at who you are!”
“You are Luca Moretti!”
“You need an heiress, a woman who understands politics, a woman who comes from money!”
“I come from an apartment with leaky pipes and a broken front door!”
Luca didn't flinch.
Instead, he reached out and gently framed my face with his large, warm hands.
His thumbs brushed softly across my cheekbones, wiping away the stray tears I hadn't realized were falling.
The touch was so tender, so completely at odds with his ruthless reputation, that my breath hitched.
“Do you know what an heiress gave me, Emma?” Luca whispered, his voice thick with raw emotion.
“An heiress gave me poison.”
“An heiress brought deceit into my home, tried to destroy my father’s mind, and almost handed my mother’s legacy to murderers.”
He leaned closer, his forehead resting gently against mine.
“For ten years, everyone in this city has looked at me and seen money, territory, or power.”
“Nobody ever looked at my father and saw an old man who just wanted to hear his family’s voices.”
“Except you.”
My heart was pounding so hard I felt dizzy.
“You got on your hands and knees in front of thirty people to protect his dignity,” Luca said, his gaze searching mine.
“You risked everything you owned to tell the truth when every coward in that room stayed silent.”
“That isn't something money can buy, Emma.”
“That is honor.”
“That is courage.”
“And that is the only kind of woman I will ever love.”
The word hung in the air between us like golden electricity.
“You... you love me?” I whispered, trembling.
“From the exact second you stood up from beneath that table and defied Vanessa Bellini,” Luca confessed, his eyes fierce with unmasked devotion.
“I will not let you walk away from me, Emma Hayes.”
“Not today.”
“Not ever.”
May you like
Before I could answer, Luca closed the remaining distance and pressed his lips against mine.
The kiss was possessive yet impossibly gentle, sealing a promise that no army in Chicago could ever break.
