Filed to story: Bound by Honor (Aria & Luca) Drama Story
ARIA
I rolled over onto Luca’s side of the bed. It still smelled of him, and my heart swelled. Luca had left before sunrise to drive to Washington DC to see if the current Underboss was in control of the situation after Gottardo’s death, but he’d be back tonight. I forced myself to get out of bed because I was actually hungry. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been hungry in the morning.
When I came down into the kitchen, Demetrio was already sitting at the bar counter, reading something on his mobile, but he rose the moment he saw me.
“I’m not the queen,” I said with a laugh. “You don’t have to get up.”
He eyed me a moment, then sat back down. He was different from Romero. He wasn’t as approachable. I took a tea and a banana, and leaned against the counter across from him. I could see that he wasn’t sure how to handle me. I could only imagine what Luca had told him.
“How long have you been a Made Man?” I asked him, cradling my cup and blowing on it to cool it down.
“Five, no six years now. Got inducted on my fourteenth birthday.”
“And now you are stuck being my bodyguard,” I said curiously. “I bet you wouldn’t have chosen the job.”
He shrugged, but I could tell that I’d hit a nerve. Of course, he’d never say it. “I do what Luca asks me to do. And that he allows me to guard his wife is an honor. It shows me that he puts great trust in me.”
“That’s true,” I said. Especially since Demetrio wasn’t only protecting me, but also our baby. “And you won’t be my bodyguard forever. I hear you are going to become Underboss.”
Demetrio shook his head. “That’s not determined yet. Only if I prove myself. And even then…” He grimaced.
I tilted my head. “Luca doesn’t care that your father wasn’t married to your mother.”
“Others do. She was his affair,” he said with a bitter twist of his mouth.
I’d heard she’d killed herself because of the affair, but I couldn’t ask him for details. I had no right to pry.
I nodded. “Many won’t like to see you rising in ranks. They are the ones you shouldn’t care about.”
Demetrio’s eyes flickered with acknowledgement as if he was starting to see me as a human being, not only a thing he had to protect.
LUCA
Aria was stretched out on the lounge chair on the roof terrace enjoying the first warm days of spring. Her belly protruded unmistakably now, and she was confined to the penthouse most days because of it. So far hardly anyone knew about her pregnancy except for the closest family and a few loyal soldiers.
I had absolutely no intention of changing that. Dante and his family had disappeared completely from the public eye since Valentina had given birth to their son six months ago. Except for a few minor attacks on Pittsburgh and the photo fiasco, Dante had lain low, perhaps because of his children or because he was planning something big.
“What’s wrong?” Aria asked quietly, watching me standing in the doorway to the roof terrace.
I shook my head and moved toward her. “Nothing.”
She frowned but didn’t push the matter. I sank down beside her and she shifted a bit to give me space. “You don’t have to carry your worries alone, Luca. Being pregnant doesn’t make me breakable.”
I smiled darkly. She was breakable, vulnerable. She was where my enemies would aim if I gave them a chance, and I had so many enemies, not in the Famiglia anymore, not since my last few cleanings, but there were still enough enemies left. Matteo and I, along with my men, had gone on so many killing sprees in the last few months, I could hardly get rid of the pink tinge on my skin anymore. But for every enemy I killed, a new one seemed to surface.
Aria tensed and I did the same in turn. Her hand shot out, grabbing mine and pressing my palm against her belly, and that’s when I felt it – a kick.
I closed my eyes because it still seemed impossible that I would become a father, that Aria was carrying our baby.
“Have you thought about names?” Aria whispered, and I opened my eyes, still dry, always dry.
It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. “My grandmother was called Marcella.”
Aria’s blonde eyebrows rose. “The female version of Mars, the god of war?”
I leaned down and kissed Aria’s stomach, then her lips. “Our daughter will be strong. She won’t bow down to a husband. She won’t ever have to fear a man, that I swear.”
“Marcella,” Aria said thickly, and that look in her eyes got me every time, still after almost five years. It would always get me.
My cell ruined the moment and I groaned. Couldn’t my soldiers deal with one fucking thing without me? But when I glanced down at the screen and saw Orazio’s name, I picked up at once and stood. “What’s the matter?” It wasn’t time for his monthly report, and if he felt the need to call that was a fucking bad sign.
“Dante was contacted by Benedetto Falcone.”
“What?” I growled.
Aria sat up, eyes wide, and I turned my back to her. “When?”
“A couple of days ago. Falcone seems to be looking for support. He’s growing weaker. Many of his men are starting to resent his sadistic and unpredictable ways. He wants to forge a truce with the Outfit.”
If that happened, this war would reach New York and not just the outer borders.
“What did Cavallaro say?”