Arranged love

“Say something,” I prompt, hating sitting here in silence.

She blinks. “I … uh …” Clearing her throat, she shifts in her seat. “What’s the problem here?”

“Jasmine,” I growl.

“What? Haven.” She reaches across the table and grabs my hand. “I honestly don’t see the issue. You love Luca. You’ve always loved him. Now he’s all yours.”

I remove my hand from hers. “Only on paper.”

“You don’t know that. Have you given him a chance? Sat down and really spoken to him?”

My mouth falls open. “Unbelievable.”

“Haven …”

“You’re supposed to be on my side. He slept with another woman.”

“Made you think he slept with another woman,” she corrects me. “This is all you’ve ever wanted. Why are you fighting it so much?”

“Because he didn’t want me,” I say softly. “It’s all about money. Power.”

“I don’t believe that for a second.” She shakes her head. “I think you’re just afraid.”

“Am not.”

“You’re afraid that for once in your life, it’s not falling apart.”

I roll my eyes.

“Look at you.” She gestures to me. “You’ve been a total mess since he left for Italy. You spent most of your time in a bottle of wine or drowning in a tub of ice cream. Your life is a mess …”

“Thank you.” I snort. “We both know that yours is just perfect.”

She tilts her head to the side. “I’m not about to say I have my shit together. But we both know this isn’t about me.” She looks down at her hands knotted on the table. “I have my own issues when it comes to love, and I know that if I was offered the same opportunity as you, I’d jump on it without thought. Even if it came with a contract and a payment.”

She’s referring to Trenton. After all these years, she’s still hung up on him. Even though the guy is now married.

Her eyes meet mine. “Just give him a chance. Maybe it’ll turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to you.”

“Or the worst,” I add.

I feel a set of eyes on me. I look up, and Luca is standing beside Nite. His eyes on mine as he speaks to him. And I know my time with my friend is over.

LUCA

An hour later, we’re boarding my private jet. Nite sits down across from me, and Haven sits to my right. Two men by the name of Max and Gabe sits on either side of Nite.

Titan gave them to me. He said that they are the best he has, and he trusts them with everything. So I told them to pack their shit they were going on a trip. This is their training. Maybe I’ll bring them back alive, maybe I won’t. That depends on them.

Haven pulls her shade down and cuddles up with her pillow. Closing her eyes, I watch her breathing even out as she falls into a deep sleep.

Nite gets my attention when he runs a hand through his hair. He looks nervous.

“So when are we going to be informed of where we’re going?” Max asks.

I’m not all that fond of them, but as long as they take orders, I won’t slit their necks.

“Italy,” I answer.

“For how long?” the other asks.

“We’ll only be going for a couple of days.” I look at Nite, and he swallows. He’ll be staying behind.

HAVEN

THIRTEEN HOURS AND three naps later, our plane touches down in Sicily, Italy, where two cars await us outside of an airplane hangar. Luca ushers me into the back seat of the first one along with one of the guys I know to be named Max. Nite and the other guy climb into the second car. I stay silent, looking out the window of the car. I’ve been to Italy before. When I was nine, my parents brought me to the largest Mediterranean island for vacation. We stayed for a week, and I would move here in a heartbeat.

We pull up to a gate, but it opens before the car even rolls to a stop. I sit up straighter, watching as the grand Italian Palazzo-style mansion comes into view. The sun is starting to set in the background, making the illuminated structure look picture perfect. The car comes to a stop on the red brick driveway. The driver gets out, opening my door, and I exit, looking up at it in awe.

“Is this your place?” I ask Luca, not bothering to look over at him.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“No,” he answers, taking my hand and leading me up the stone stairs past the concrete columns.

Two wooden doors open, and we step inside. I look around, amazed at the expensive artwork hanging from the walls. And the detail work in the ceiling and floors.

“Where is she?” Luca asks a man who walks up to us.

I tense. She? In the past thirteen hours, I never once asked why we were coming here. My head whips to look over at him.

The man answers in Italian, and my lips thin.

Luca nods and then begins to drag me through the house until we’re walking out an open glass door. And a woman stands in front of the Olympic-size infinity pool. The house sits on the side of a cliff, giving an ocean view. But all I can look at is the woman who has her back to us. She’s got long lean legs. She wears a one-piece black bathing suit that is cut high on her narrow hips, showing off her bubble ass. Her long, thick dark hair tapers down to a V of her lower back. She wears a massive white hat that you would see at the Kentucky Derby. A black ribbon wrapped around the base is tied into a big bow on the side, and the ribbon hangs off the edge.

Luca says something in Italian, and again, I kick myself for not knowing the language.

The woman spins around, and her pouty red painted lips part on a gasp. She runs to him, throwing her arms around his neck.

He hugs her tightly. I’m instantly jealous. If he brought me here to meet his summer fling, I’m gonna be pissed. Placing her down on her black wedges, she turns to face me. A pair of black Gucci glasses sits on her flawless Barbie face. My eyes roam over her small chest and tiny frame. She looks like a model who deserves to be on the cover of Vogue. I never look this good sitting by the pool. I never look this good at all actually.

“You must be Haven.” She reaches her right hand out to me. Her English just as perfect as her Italian sounded. Just like her.

“I’m his fiancée,” I correct her, lifting my chin. I instantly want to crawl under the table that sits to the right of me. I shouldn’t show any kind of jealousy toward her because it just proves Luca right.

She giggles, and Luca gives a small cough.

“Congratulations.” She gives me a big smile, showing off her dazzling smile. Teeth as white as fresh snow. They’re also as straight as an arrow.

Fuck, is there anything wrong with this girl? She doesn’t seem to have a single flaw. As if she’s been groomed to bring any man to his knees.

“Haven …” He throws his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into his side. “This is Mia Bianchi. My sister.”

Uh … “Your what?” His sister?

I was six when another girl came along. My mother instantly started bawling. She knew the child’s fate would be the same as her first daughter. But she begged my father not to kill her. He had never said anything beyond that. I figured his dad had killed her as well. “But …?”

She hugs me, pushing me back a little at her force. Giggling like a teenager, she whispers in my ear, “I’ve always wanted a sister.”

I pat her back awkwardly as I try to wrap my head around this new information.

I look at him wide-eyed. Years together and he never once mentioned he had a sister. “Why would you keep this from me?”

“It’s complicated,” he answers tightly.

I snort, now pissed off for a different reason. “Complicated? Nothing about having a sister is complicated, Luca.”

Mia smiles. “I like her.”

Luca ignores her and steps into me. His jaw set in a hard line. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“Try me,” I challenge, looking back at his … sister. She’s smiling at me. His fucking sister! My eyes go back to his.

He opens his mouth, but one of my new bodyguards interrupts him. “Luca?”