Luca's Dilemma (20 page)

Sheila gasped. Man, was he gorgeous. Four days and three thousand miles of loneliness promptly evaporated upon laying eyes on him. The sincerity in his gaze made her heart swell with all the love she felt for him.

Her memory of him had done little justice compared to the glory of the man now holding her so tenderly. The contemporary tuxedo with gold tie he wore was just icing on the cake. Beyond the fancy clothing and slicked–back hair, total devotion and love danced in those royal–blue orbs of his. His mere presence began to overwhelm her, and she could no longer deny the feelings consuming her.

“I guess that makes two of us. I’ll try to be more understanding and less temperamental,” she stated, placing her arms on his broad shoulders.

Luca’s forehead descended to rest on hers. At that moment, as she gazed into his handsome face, Sheila realized she’d rather shrivel up and die than not have this wonderful man in her life. Before she could say another word, he pulled her close and kissed her sensually, knocking the breath right out of her. After breaking the kiss, she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Now can I mention how damn sexy you look in that dress?” he growled low for her ears only.

Sheila chuckled. She couldn’t stop the grin from crossing her face as a result of his words. Luca seemed to always have a way of making her feel beautiful and sexy, no matter what she wore.

“I’m glad you’re willing to work with me, babe. It’ll make life easier for me… for us.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Sheila asked, confused by his statement. Her voice was barely above a whisper as her mind and body still struggled to regroup from the kiss and being so close to him. The task became a little easier when her ears detected the band’s diversion from the typical genre of Christmas music they had been playing.

“Shhh, babe. I think this song’s for us,” he cooed softly as he continued to sway.

At first, Sheila wasn’t sure what the song was. But then Luca started singing the words. He sang them so well and so intimately that tears stained her eyes. The song immediately ingrained itself within her heart. From that moment on, Babyface’s “Every Time I Close My Eyes” would forever define what they shared. She began to silently pray they could live this way forever.

“You know… your mom’s going to make them play this at our wedding,” he boldly stated as the song came to an end.

Sheila’s eyes widened at his declaration. “Wedding? I haven’t even confessed to being in love with you yet.”

A loud shriek drew Sheila’s attention. She spun around, finding the source to be her momma, who was not too far from them, fanning her eyes while leaning flaccidly against Sheila’s daddy. Before Sheila had the chance to inquire, her mom began frantically pointing in her direction. Whipping her head around, she found Luca on one knee before her with a large princess–cut diamond ring between his hefty fingers. That’s when it occurred to her the music had stopped and all eyes were on them.

Luca took her hand, continuing the conversation where they had left off. “You don’t have to tell me. I already know. And, trust me… I love you more than enough for the both of us. Just say you’ll be my wife, and I’ll do my part to make us both happy.”

The beautiful vision in front of her became a blur as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. She nodded frantically, unable to say the word “yes” because of the large lump of emotion clogging her throat. Thunderous applause erupted around them as Luca slipped the heavy ring on her finger. Before he completely came to his feet, Sheila grabbed his head with both hands and began applying kisses all over his face and neck, causing some in the crowd to double over with laughter. She didn’t care what people thought of her at that moment. She cared only that she felt as though she were soaring above the world with her handsome sovereign beside her.

“Well, son. It looks like you’ve made my little girl very happy,” Sheila’s father said from beside them. “Just remember our little discussion. Understand, young man?” The larger man was obviously trying to intimidate her brand new fiancé.

“Yes, sir,” Luca promptly responded. His voice quivered slightly as he quickly grabbed Sheila’s hands from behind his head and shuffled her into a tight embrace beside him. “You have nothing to worry about, sir. I promise to take good care of Sheila. Thank you very much for granting me permission to marry your daughter.”

Well, I’ll be darned! The great Luca Moriatti is afraid of my daddy.

Sheila’s lips curled up in amusement at the fine sheen of sweat that had broken out above her future husband’s top lip. Taking a moment to view her parents through Luca’s eyes, she realized why he might be a little apprehensive.

Standing at six–foot seven, Calvin Leigh Sr. was built like a linebacker, a wide wall of solid golden brown muscle. The traits of his size, build, and magnificence had been passed on to his only son. The white of his close–cropped hair did little to soften the piercing amber eyes he’d passed on to his two children. When in serious negotiations or disciplining his children, he had a way of making his pupils constrict to the point that he appeared to be gazing into your very soul. Spankings had been rare in their family because quite often all it had taken to set her and her brother straight was one long look from those penetrating eyes.

Momma’s soft drawl and words were her weapons of choice. At five–foot ten, the dark chocolate woman was a force to be reckoned with whenever life happened to rub her the wrong way. Right now, all seemed well as her mom stood with a huge smile on her beautiful face.

“Wait a minute,” Sheila said as the familiarity between the three people in front of her dawned on her. “You planned all this behind my back.” She rotated her gaze between the three of them. “But how? You don’t know one another.”

“Your fiancé called Thursday night to inform your daddy and me of his intentions,” Thelma Leigh stated in her charming southern–belle accent. “He even thought to ask what color gown you would be wearing so he could coordinate a matching tie.”

Sheila’s gaze shifted to the gold bowtie hugging Luca’s neck. His newfound fashion sense surprised her, but what surprised her even more was her parents’ alacrity to so willingly accept this man whom they had never actually met.

“How is Miss Hilde?” her mother asked as though reading her mind. “It’s been a while since I last spoke with her. According to my recollection, it was over three years ago at that New Year’s fundraiser ball I held in Atlanta. Too bad you didn’t come. You might have met Sheila sooner.”

“Oh, that would have been interesting,” he responded, appearing to substitute some of his nervousness with interest. “My moms… I mean my mother is doing very well, Mrs. Leigh. Thank you for asking.”

“Please, Luca, call me Mother or Miss Thelma. You’re about to become my son, for goodness sake. And your grandmother’s ring is much lovelier up close than it appeared on Skype.”

And there it was. Sheila and Luca had never really discussed the magnitude of their families’ fortunes. But if the gleam in her mother’s dark cat eyes homing in on her new, what felt like four karat engagement ring was any indication, the Moriattis must have high status on the ever important socioeconomic ladder. Sheila understood that such things were very important to her momma. But did she really have to go there right now?

“On that note, we’ll give you two some time alone,” Mr. Leigh interjected as though sensing Sheila’s discomfort.

Luca relinquished his stronghold on Sheila, and they both stepped forward to receive hugs from her parents.

“Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered into her father’s ear while he embraced her and Luca was busy hugging her mom.

“No problem, baby girl. As long as you really love him, I’m on board. But if he so much as leaves the toilet seat up, he’s dead.”

Chapter 16

The first week of December was unusually cold and snowy, even for Maine. It was already dark out as Sheila crossed the snow–covered employee parking lot toward her place of work, noting that her footprints were the only ones marring the otherwise blank white slate. About an inch had fallen since the plow truck’s last pass.

Usually, she took a moment to enjoy the tranquility of the snow falling, especially when she was the only one around and she could hear the soft crunch of her boots as they depressed the semi–frozen substance. She often joked to herself that the lone footprints represented her abrupt escape to a better life and would catch herself humming Jennifer Hudson’s “Invisible” or rocking Sheryl Crow’s “A Change Would Do You Good”.

However, tonight there was no humming. The sudden change in weather was doing a number on her allergies, something she thought she’d already become accustomed to with her relocation from the South. But this time her throat was raw and her head stuffier than usual. The whole mess was sapping her energy. Even though her car did pretty well in the snow, the treacherous long ride to work had added a slight headache to the mix. Unfortunately, she’d have to suffer because there was no way she could take her meds and manage to stay awake all night. Hopefully, it wouldn’t last long. It usually didn’t.

The entrance to the clinic had about a foot of snow in front of it. Sheila could only guess the maintenance crew hadn’t gotten around to shoveling it yet and hoped they would do so before the patients arrived. Cautiously, she stepped through the snow bank, thanking God she had worn her knee–high boots, and stomped into the massive foyer, ridding her boots of the heavy, wet slush. Continuing toward the lab, she busied herself undoing her long wool coat. Her footsteps slowed and her head cleared just enough to notice something was off. Not only did the building seem deserted, the hallway was much darker than usual.

“Damon!” she called, only to be met with the sound of her own voice bouncing off the concrete walls. Shrugging it off, she continued down the corridor leading to the lab, figuring maybe he had come in through the back and hadn’t gotten to the lights yet.

When she reached the lab door, she noticed it too, was dark and empty. This was unusual. Damon and April always arrived well before she did, and neither of them ever called out sick.

She stuck her key in the lock, trying to recall how Damon had shown her how to handle the fickle device and was giving the door a right good cursing when a shadow fell past her periphery. With a start, she spun around, grabbing her chest to slow her racing heart. Her eyes darted back and forth, taking in every nook and crevice of the empty hall. She swore someone had been behind her, but her eyes found nothing.

“These allergies got me losing my damn mind,” she muttered to herself while turning back to work the lock with shaky hands.

After a few more attempts, she succeeded in unlocking the stubborn door and for once was happy that it automatically locked behind her. By then her headache had progressed from a dull ache to a full–throttle pounding.

Perhaps she should have taken Luca up on his proposal to drive her to and from work instead of sticking to that “I am woman” mentality. During the plane ride home, he’d gotten downright pissy when she told him about the incident outside the ballroom. Slipping back into Neanderthal mode, he’d outright demanded she quit her job and move in with him. It wasn’t until she threatened to break off the engagement that he collected himself and apologized. They spent the rest of the trip with Luca brooding, his luscious lips drawn into a pout and Sheila barely resisting the urge to spank that fine ass of his.

To Sheila’s surprise, immediately upon entering her tiny home, they had sat down on her living room couch and discussed their difference of opinion like two adults. True to his word, he put effort into getting his wayward emotions under control, recanted his earlier outburst, and was willing to compromise. He agreed to stop hounding her about work under the stipulation that she call him upon arrival at work and before heading home in the morning. Originally, Sheila hadn’t been willing to concede to this, but she realized Luca was only doing it out of love and she needed to meet him halfway. It was a complete turnaround from the life she’d shared with the ever–selfish Ahmed.

Memories of their makeup sex put a smile on her face. She reached for her cell phone to call him. “Damn it,” she exclaimed on a sigh upon realizing she’d left her phone in the car. Times like this she hated the ability to preprogram her cell because she’d yet to memorize his number. Should she had, she could have used the office phone to call him and wouldn’t have to journey back out into the cold, dark night.

Chalking her earlier scare up to her vivid imagination, she courageously stepped back out into the dark hall. “Where the hell’s the light switch?” she whispered, feeling along the concrete wall. Her hand finally landed on a bank of switches, which she eagerly tried but only succeeded in lighting half the hall.

Suddenly, the air around her dropped ten degrees, and her teeth began to chatter as her unruly thoughts took on a life of their own. The first thing to come to mind as she progressed down the corridor was a scene out of one of those ’80s’ horror movies where the girl is being chased by the slow, but determined, killer. Hadn’t one of her patients once mentioned that this place would be the perfect setting for a slasher flick?

Sheila quickened her steps, trying desperately to brush off the irrational fear settling upon her. She rounded the corner, and a blood–curdling scream escaped from her. To her dismay, a headless figure stood in the middle on the hall just out of range of the lighting. She didn’t need to investigate any further. Heart pounding and all traces of lethargy forgotten, she turned and ran for her life. She made it back around the corner, only to collide with a cushiony, soft wall. Strong hands steadied her. Snapping into a defensive stance, she bravely looked into the face of her would–be killer, prepared to fight for her life.

“Whoa! Slow down there, Sheila.”

“Damon!” A small sigh of relief escaped her, but terror still coursed through her veins. “Did you see it?” she asked. Without much thought, she grabbed his thick arm and began pulling him toward the safety of the lab, determined to save them both from imminent danger.