Avery's POV
His hand was still around my wrist, firm and for a moment, I couldn't move.
The noise of the ballroom behind us faded into a distant sound, the music, the laughter, the clinking glasses all sounded far away
Luca stood in front of me, his tall frame blocking the exit doors. The confidence I had seen earlier on the staircase was gone. That close, I could see the truth.
His expression tired, his jaw tight and the usual calm in his dark eyes had cracked.
"Avery," he said quietly.
My chest ached. Hearing my name in the same voice that had whispered to me that morning made everything feel worse.
I pulled my wrist out of his grip.
"You're engaged."
The words came out cold, not because I wasn't hurting but because if I let even a little emotion out, I was afraid I might break completely.
Luca inhaled slowly. "I can explain."
I let out a soft laugh.
Explain. The word felt insulting.
I gestured toward the ballroom behind him where applause erupted again as guests surrounded Gianna.
"Explain what exactly?" I asked. "That you forgot to mention the part where you were engaged to someone else?"
Luca ran a hand through his dark hair. It was a rare gesture for him, unlike his usual composed demeanor.
"Avery, please," he murmured. "Not here."
"Where else would you like to do this?" I asked quietly. "In front of your fiancée?"
His expression flinched at the word, fiancée.
For a moment neither of us spoke. I could feel the growing tension between us.
Then Luca reached for my hand again, this time more gently.
"Come with me."
I hesitated. Every instinct screamed at me to walk out of that palace and never look back but the confusion and the silent plea in his eyes stopped me.
He guided me through a side hallway away from the ballroom. The sounds of the party slowly faded behind us as we moved deeper into the palace. The hallway opened into a quiet terrace overlooking the dark Venetian canal.
The night air was cool. Water reflected the soft glow of lanterns along the stone bridge nearby.
It should have been beautiful but instead, it felt like the beginning of a nightmare.
Luca finally let go of my hand and we stood facing each other as silence stretched between us.
"You should start talking," I said softly.
Luca stared at the ground for a moment. When he finally looked back at me, his eyes were heavy with something I couldn't quite name.
"I didn't want you to find out like this."
"But you were planning to tell me?"
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation but that only made it hurt more.
"When?"
He hesitated and that hesitation told me everything.
I folded my arms around myself. "This morning," I said quietly. "When you kissed me goodbye?"
Luca closed his eyes briefly.
"Avery…"
"You were going to marry someone else and you were still seeing me. How was I supposed to find out? From the newspaper?"
My voice cracked despite my effort to stay calm.
"It's not like that."
"Then tell me what it's like."
For the first time since I met him, Luca looked… trapped. Not nervous or guilty, but trapped. He turned away from me slightly, resting his hands on the stone railing of the terrace.
"This marriage was arranged months ago," he said finally.
"Arranged?"
"Yes."
I blinked. "That still happens?"
"In my world," he said quietly, "it does."
I stared at his back, trying to process what he was saying.
"You agreed to it?"
He turned towards me again. "No."
"But it's still happening."
"It's… complicated."
"Everything seems complicated with you," I murmured.
He stepped closer, his voice lowered.
"My father arranged it."
That was it.
Even without knowing Don Vittorio well, I had seen enough earlier to understand that he was not the kind of man people easily refused.
"The Ramano and Moretti families are forming an alliance," Luca continued. "It strengthens both sides."
"So you're the bargaining chip."
A faint bitter smile touched his lips. "You could say that."
I studied the exhaustion in his eyes and the tension in his shoulders.
"You could say no."
"Avery." His tone was quiet but firm. "You don't understand what that would mean."
"Then help me understand."
He hesitated again, then shook his head.
"I can't."
Frustration burned inside me. "Why not?"
"Because the less you know about my family's business, the safer you are."
The word safer sent cold shivers slid down my spine.
That word again. First Nico, and now Luca.
I shook my head slowly.
"You're marrying another woman."
"Yes."
The answer was simple. It landed like a punch to my chest.
"And you expect me to just accept that?"
"No."
"Then what do you expect?"
He didn't answer immediately, instead he stepped closer. Too close. His dark eyes searched mine.
"I care about you," he said quietly.
"You have a strange way of showing it."
His hand lifted slightly as if he wanted to touch me again but he stopped himself.
"I never planned to get involved with anyone," he admitted.
"Yet here we are."
"Yes."
"You should hate me right now," he said softly.
"I'm trying."
"But you don't."
I looked away because he was right. Despite everything— the humiliation and betrayal— a part of me still cared and I hated that.
Footsteps suddenly echoed behind us. I watched Luca's posture change instantly. The softness vanished, his expression hardened and we both turned.
Gianna stood in the doorway leading to the terrace. She looked even more stunning up close. Her long black hair flowed over her shoulders and the elegant silver gown she wore shimmered softly under the terrace lights.
But it was her eyes that caught my attention. They were hazel-green, sharp and observant.
She walked toward us slowly.
"Well," she said lightly, her Italian accent rolling smoothly through the word. "This is awkward."
Neither Luca nor I spoke. Gianna stopped beside him, then slipped her arm through his. The gesture looked casual but it was deliberate.
"You must be Avery" she said to me. Her smile was perfectly polite but something about it made my skin prickle.
"Yes."
Her gaze swept over me slowly. Not rudely, no, but carefully.
"The American girl," she murmured.
"Yes."
"How interesting."
Her fingers tightened slightly around Luca's arm. "I've heard quite a bit about you."
"I'm sure you have," I replied.
"Luca does have a habit of collecting… distractions."
The insult was subtle. I felt Luca stiffen beside her.
"Gianna," he said quietly.
But she ignored him. Her attention remained fixed on me.
"I imagine tonight must have been a surprise for you."
"You could say that."
She tilted her head slightly. "You seem calmer than I expected."
"I'm good at hiding shock."
A faint laugh escaped her. "I admire that. Life in this world requires it."
Something about the way she said this world made it clear she didn't consider me part of it.
She leaned slightly closer to Luca. "You're needed inside," she said softly.
Guests were indeed beginning to notice our absence. Gianna looked back at me one last time. Her smile never faltered.
"It was lovely meeting you." Then she added quietly, "So I can finally see what all the fuss is about."
The words sounded harmless but the meaning underneath them was anything but. She turned gracefully and walked back toward the ballroom.
Still holding Luca's arm.
He gently pulled free from her grasp before following. For a moment he remained beside me on the terrace.
"Did you know she would come out here?" I asked.
"No."
"And she knows about me."
"Yes."
"That must make family dinners interesting."
Luca didn't smile, instead he looked towards the ballroom where Gianna had disappeared.
"She's more dangerous than she seems."
"I noticed."
His gaze returned to me. "You shouldn't have come tonight."
The words hit home. "So this is my fault?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean?"
He hesitated, then said quietly, "Now they know who you are."
The words echoed quietly and made a chill creep down my spine.
"They?" I repeat.
Luca looked back toward the ballroom, his family, powerful father, dangerous brother and the empire they controlled.
"My family," he said.
The weight of those two words settled heavily between us.
For the first time since arriving in Venice, a frightening thought crossed my mind. Maybe falling in love with Luca had been the most dangerous mistake of my life.