He must have seen the change in me too, because his expression softened, and his gaze rolled over my body.
I swallowed, my nipples tightening, my belly fluttering. Just one look from him, and I shuddered.
“Okay,” I said, clearing my throat. Then, without asking his permission, I opened the bedroom door and called out to Marco. “He’s too stubborn to use the wheelchair, and I can’t support his weight, so maybe you can walk with him.”
Marco gave Salvatore a look then glanced back at me. What he saw in my face must have trumped what he saw in Salvatore’s, because he put Salvatore’s arm over his shoulder and held on to his waist.
“Come on, boss.”
Salvatore shook his head. “You’ll answer for that later,” he told me.
“Is that another promise?” I gave him a dirty grin and walked ahead, taking my time, knowing he was watching my ass as I led the way out back.
Once Salvatore was settled, Marco left us. We sat quietly, watching the light dance along the surface of the swimming pool. Salvatore held my hand.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, then stopped.
I glanced at him, but he looked straight ahead.
“I’m going to hand it all over to Roman.”
“What?” I didn’t expect that.
Salvatore looked at me. “I only have one thing to do as boss, then I’m walking away.”
One thing. I knew what that was. It was what I had wanted.
“You’re free, Lucia. I’ll talk to Roman tomorrow, destroy the contract, and draw up a new one, so they can’t touch you or your family ever again. You’ll be free of me, of all of us.”
Free of him?
I watched his eyes. Soft again. Like they’d looked the day we’d been forced to sign that terrible piece of paper. Gentle. I’d been wrong when I’d thought he was like them. A monster. This was the real Salvatore. It had always been there, lying beneath the fear.
Only thing was, I didn’t know if I wanted to be free of him at all anymore.
I cleared my throat. “I can’t leave you alone while you’re not yet recovered.”
“I’ll be fine,” he said, then looked away from me again.
“Salvatore—”
We started to speak at once, but he won. “I’ll make sure you have enough money to set yourself up, buy a house, take some time—”
I pulled my hand free of his. “I told you before. I don’t need your money.” I turned the back of my head to him in case he saw me wipe away a stupid tear.
We were back to this.
He picked up my hand and squeezed, making me look at him. If he saw my eyes were wet, he didn’t mention it.
“I’m going to take care of you, whether you like it or not, so just accept it as a part of life.”
“Do you know what you’re going to do?” I asked, swallowing a lump in my throat, not sure what else to talk about, needing there not to be any silence between us because in that silence, I would fall apart.
“Sell this house. Move. Look for Dominic. I don’t know.”
“You’re worried about him.”
“Yeah. He needs someone now, after everything. Not sure he wants it to be me, but I’m going to try.”
“Can you walk away from it, though? Can you just up and leave?”
“I’m going to.” There was a long pause. “What about you? Where do you want to go?”
“My sister is putting the house up for sale. I think it’s a good idea to start fresh. She, Luke, and Effie are looking at Florida.” For a moment, I thought I would go too, but then the thought of being without him made me stop. Didn’t I want this? Didn’t I want my freedom?
Strange, how priorities shifted. I thought I’d always want revenge for what they had done to my family, but that had all slipped away. All the anger, the hate, it just wore me down to think about it, and now, it was gone.
“Salvatore,” I started, but again, we spoke at once, our voices and gazes colliding.
“If you don’t know…it will take some time to sell the house. Maybe you can stay…” He trailed off.
I nodded. “That would be good. Izzy and Luke need their space, and I can help you get the house ready and make sure you’re—”
He took my face in his hand and drew it to himself to kiss me, swallowing up the empty words.
“I want to make love to you.”
“The doctor said—”
“I need you, Lucia. I’ve needed you for so long.”
25
Salvatore
I kept my promise to Lucia. Roman came to the house the following morning and handed me the initial contract she and I had signed. I set it aside and had him draw up another one. This one forgave any and all debt any DeMarco owed any Benedetti, real or perceived, and the two families were no longer bound in any way. And it could not be overturned at any time in the future.