Chapter 6 - The Healing Touch
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The private master suite of the Castellano estate was a sprawling sanctuary of dark wood, heavy velvet, and bulletproof glass overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Nora sat on the edge of the massive king-sized bed, watching as Luca retrieved a first-aid kit from the adjoining master bathroom.
Despite their agreement, they shared this room to maintain the illusion for the staff and the guards. Nora slept on the bed; Luca slept on the custom leather sofa by the window.
He walked over and sat down beside her on the mattress. The mattress dipped under his heavy frame.
“Give me your hand,” Luca commanded softly.
Nora extended her arm. Luca carefully unwrapped the bloody silk handkerchief he had tied around her palm earlier. The cut wasn't deep, but it was jagged, crossing the soft flesh of her palm.
He cleaned the wound with an antiseptic wipe. His hands, which she knew were capable of immense, terrifying violence, moved with an agonizingly slow, deliberate tenderness.
“You didn't have to call me your wife in front of them,” Nora whispered, watching his dark eyelashes flutter as he focused on the bandage. “You could have just thrown her out.”
“You are my wife, Nora,” Luca replied without looking up. “The paperwork is filed. The rings are on our fingers. What happens behind these closed doors is our business, but to the rest of the world, you are untouchable.”
“Vanessa is going to run straight to Gregory,” Nora noted, a knot forming in her stomach. “She’ll tell him I’m here. She’ll tell him I’m married to you.”
“Let her,” Luca said, wrapping a white gauze bandage tightly around her hand. “Gregory Whitmore is a coward who plays with other people's money. When he realizes that the woman he discarded is now protected by my family, he will panic. And panicked men make fatal mistakes.”
He finished tying the bandage and finally looked up, his face inches from hers.
Nora’s breath hitched. She had spent seven years being told she was undesirable, too curvy, too soft. But the way Luca Castellano looked at her made her feel like a goddess carved from marble. His eyes dropped to her lips, and for a terrifying, exhilarating second, she thought he was going to kiss her.
May you like
Instead, he lifted her bandaged hand and pressed his lips gently to her knuckles.
“Rest now, mia regina,” Luca murmured, standing up from the bed. “Tomorrow, we hack into Meridian Capital. And tomorrow night, we attend the Mayor’s gala. I believe your ex-husband is on the guest list.”
