Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Admittedly, the change in the location of our date had made it possible for me to actually participate in it. I hadn't even considered the prospect of not being able to adapt to the fancy restaurant we’d first gone to. Yes, I'd been nervous, but I’d also been excited and very ready to get to know Luca in a different way. But as soon as I’d spied all that silverware and all the fancily dressed people, I'd known I was out of my league. And I'd been terrified of embarrassing Luca in any kind of way. It had also been a brutal reminder that he and I lived in very different worlds and while he could easily adjust to mine, there was no way I could learn to live in his. Even if I wore the right clothes and somehow managed to say some of the right things, I'd still always feel like a fraud. I’d expected Luca to take me home after he’d realized how badly I was freaking out. So his suggestion that we go to a different place to eat had been both a surprise and relief.
The little seafood place we'd ended up at had still been fancier than any restaurant I'd ever eaten at, but it had a more relaxed atmosphere and I'd actually recognized most of the food items on the menu. I hadn't known what to expect in terms of how a date between two men worked when they were among so many straight couples, but from the moment we'd sat down, Luca hadn't hesitated to hold my hand or speak to me in a way that made it clear to everyone around us that we were together.
Luca had spent the first few minutes telling me about his brothers and their complete and utter uselessness when it’d come to helping him get ready for our date. When he'd admitted to how nervous he was, it was like this calm had settled over me and all the things that were different about us had slipped away. From the outside, Luca was gorgeous, strong, and confident. But to know that he was plagued with some of the same insecurities I had reminded me that we weren't as different on the inside.
Much of our dinner conversation had revolved around little things like what kinds of movies we liked and what our favorite foods were. We talked about Violet and Gio too, but they hadn't dominated our conversation.
"What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?" Luca asked with a smile.
I supposed it should have been an easy-to-answer question, but not for me. I didn't want to bring the conversation down, so I merely shrugged and said, "Not sure yet."
Truth was, I was sure about my career in that I didn't really have one… My goal in life at that point was to just find a new job and figure out how to move forward after I said my goodbyes first to Violet, then Gio, and ultimately, Luca. As much as I would've liked to believe that this was the beginning of something with him, I couldn't trick my brain into accepting it. Luca had an entire life on the East Coast, and those things that made us different weren't things we could just overcome. He was still the wealthy, successful businessman and I was the former junkie whore just trying to get through one day at a time.
"I got a call from Ronan this morning. Dom Barretti wants to talk to you about returning to your job," Luca said.
I looked at him in surprise. "What?" It was the last thing I expected to hear, especially considering how I'd left Barretti Security Group so abruptly. Not to mention the fact that Dom himself, the head of the company along with his brother, had no reason to be reaching out to someone who was so much lower than him on the corporate ladder. Hell, I probably wasn't even on the actual ladder.
"He's pretty adamant about coming to see you," Luca added.
"I guess Dom just feels guilty because—" I began, but Luca cut me off.
"I spoke to Dom this afternoon. The man cares about you. Guilt has nothing to do with it. He threatened to rip off a certain part of my anatomy that I happen to be quite fond of if I hurt you in any kind of way."
Luca said the words so casually that I almost couldn't process the meaning. When I let them sink in, I couldn't help but laugh. And then my stomach dropped out as I realized he was being serious.
"He really said that?" The idea that someone like Dom would be protective of me even though he didn't know me that well was both scary and overwhelming. Probably because the idea of someone else in my corner just seemed too good to be true. Ronan had told me that I was part of his family, but I hadn't really believed it.