Luca’s POV I headed towards the balcony with Sofia still hoisted up in my arms, and she chatted my head off along the way. She was so bubbly and bright, completely oblivious to how conflicted and guilty I was currently feeling.As I sank into one of the seats here in the balcony with her atop me, straddling my thighs. She cupped my face in her palms right after while searching my eyes intently, teeth clamped on her bottom lip.“Luca?” She called out.I already knew she had been about to prod further into if I was doing alright or not, which was why I spoke almost immediately.“Tell me about your day, Bunny.”That did the trick. She launched into a long and veer detailed explanation about how her day had went, proving how far we’ve come and how much she was now comfortable around me.“Isn’t that cool?” She gushed out and I hummed in response even though I hadn’t known what she had been referring to because I hadn’t been paying attention to what she was saying.“I hung out with
Sofia’s pov If there was another word apart from excitement which I could use to perfectly describe how I was currently feeling right now, I’d gladly switch my name for that word at this very moment, due to how I was currently feeling.Luca had said I could expand my painting.He had finally agreed and given me the permission to do that.And because of that, I was almost bursting with excitement.I had barely been able to properly sleep last night due to how happy I had been feeling over Luca’s sudden change of heart.He had been a little bit odd last night, but it had probably been because of a new problem in his mafia which I really do not want to hear anything detailed about.When I had brought up the topic to him at dinner, I had been prepared to whine and try to get my way at all cost like Kayla had advised me to, but I had barely begun to talk about it before he had agreed to it.I had asked him if I was sure about it when we got into bed last night and he had hummed ab
Sofia’s pov I facetimed Kayla later during the day and we talked about a lot of random things while I added the finishing touches to the painting I had begun to work on today.After the call with her, I finally exited the art room and made my way into the kitchen, then to the walk-in freezer in order to get a drink.That’s where I come across Armani.I jolted when I came across him, having not been expecting to come across anyone, and also because I had almost forgotten about Armani’s existence here in the house.He grinned at me apologetically on realizing that he had startled me but I brushed his apology off and retrieved the drink I had come in here to talk.And after that, Armani fell into steps beside me and we began to make our way out of the walk-in freezer, talking about the weather and some other random things.I broke the news about me expanding my arts to him, and as expected, he was very impressed and excited for me, congratulating me earnestly and smiling warmly a
Luca’s POV In all honesty, I had began to regret agreeing to the art expansion right as soon as the words had slipped out of my mouth.Do I regret giving permission? Hell yes.I was a hundred percent sure Sofia didn’t understand ten percent of the danger she was going to be putting herself in by taking this step. It was going to be extremely dangerous, and the fact that I’d be too busy with work to always be around her in order to ensure that she doesn’t get hurt wasnt sitting right with me.If I hadn’t been drowning in guilt last night, there was no way I’d have agreed. It wasn’t even about me wanting to make her happy, because I really do want to make her happy, so far it was in my power– but then I also have to look at the pros and cons, and I definitely have to ensure that it was completely okay and safe for her own good.An image of her throwing her arms around my shoulders and thanking me over and over again last night flashed through my head for the hundredth time since
Luca’s POV A scowl formed on my face as I watched the phone finslly stopped ringing.Why the fuck was she calling me?Why the fuck gave her my number? Or how did she get it?The entire memory of last night back at persona flooded my mind in that moment and I threw my head back to let out a small groan, as regret and so much guilt once again flooded my entire veins.The phone began to ring after about a minute and I swore loudly as I answered the call and pressed it against my ear on confirming that it was indeed Alexa again.“How did you get my number?” I demanded before she could speak, teeth clenched and head pounding.I heard a scoff at the other side of the phone before she let out a small chuckle, I was sure she was also rolling her eyes, right before she spoke.“Relax, Luca.” She murmured, voice soft like she was trying to be persuasive.She had just failed woefully at that, apparently. “Alexa.” I said after that. It was a clear warning, one she didn’t miss.“Well, I’ve
Sofia’s pov “Can you draw a painting of me?” Armani asked with a lazy smile around his lips. He was sitting on one of the stools here in my arts room and keeping me company. We’ve been here for over thirty minutes since he arrived here, and he was a really lively company to have around.I glanced away from the drawing I was carefully shading to shoot him a look. His grin widened once he had my attention. “And make me look way better than I currently do?”“Are you fishing for compliments once again?” I demanded with a huff and Armani let out a little crackle.“Maybe I am.” He responded and I rolled my eyes playfully before returning back to my shading. “I was serious about you painting me though. You paint so well and I’ve imagined how I’d turn out being painted by you. “Really?” I asked while carefully working on the drawing and making sure to keep my hand firm and steady.“Yeah, of course.”“Hm,” I murmured after that.“I can pay for it, you just name your price.”I whirled
Sofia’s pov I’ve always been curious about Luca’s childhood.I knew he didn’t have a beautiful childhood, because come to think of it; majority of kids who grew up in mafia homes didn’t grow up in a healthy environment, so it wasn’t much of a surprise that he didn’t have a nice childhood.But, I wanted to know about it. I’ve spoken to him about my childhood before, and even though I had been curious about Luca’s own back then, I hadn’t been able to bring myself to ask him about it, because we haven’t been all that close back then.When we had grown closer to one another, the few times I had tried to bring the topic up, he hadn’t really responded well, so I came to the conclusion myself that he probably doesn’t like to talk about his childhood or think about it.Now that Armani was here with us in the house, and today had brought the perfect opportunity forward for me to bring forth this topic. And, surprisingly, he agreed to it.“That’s great then.” I murmured and then I shif
Sofia’s pov “Are you sure?” He asked tentatively and I nodded my head instantly. I really am fine. I have no idea as to why I had began to tremble without even realizing it, but I really am fine.As expected, Armani didn’t seem like he believed me, telling by how his eyes lingered on me some more before he finally nodded his head at him.“As you must have figured out, I wasn’t the most confident kid, like Luca was since he was born. I was everything Luca wasn’t, and that angered our father so much.”I held my breath as he continued. “Our mother died shortly after having me. Our father believed in shaping kids into the right shapes for their future, and that was what he did to Luca, and Luca easily meet his expectations, unlike me.” He shot me a glance and I swallowed emptily, feeling a lump stuck in my throat.“I was what you’d term a disappointment.”A gasp flew past my mouth before I could stop it. “You’re not a disappointment.” Armani let out a wary chuckle as he reg