Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Twenty Three

Charlotte

"I've got donuts!" Luca's voice floated in from the hallway. Soon he appeared at the door of our bedroom, holding a giant box in his hands with only a pair of sweatpants on. He was doing this on purpose now—prancing around shirtless, keeping an obnoxious amount of distance between the two of us, trying to show me what I was missing. He was leaving the ball in my court, but he was putting the full court press on, that was for sure.

"Yay!" Layla squealed, throwing the covers off of herself and launching toward him. She gripped onto his legs as he tried to waddle to towards the bed, and I couldn't help but laugh.

The past few nights, Layla had woken up scared in the middle of the night and come into my bedroom. She would climb into the bed and nestle herself next to me. I had to admit, the company was nice. I didn't like sleeping in this great big bed on my own, but I wasn't sure I was ready to welcome Luca back in with open arms.

This morning, Layla and I slept in a bit and apparently Luca was bringing us breakfast in bed.

My resolve around him was slowly fading. This friends thing was nice for a while, but now, I wasn't so sure. I wanted him in the worst of ways, but I wasn't sure if that was good enough. The physical attraction was never an issue for the two of us; our issues were much more mental. I wanted to be sure before I made that move.

Luca lifted his leg, Layla still attached to it, and set her on the bed. She flopped back onto the comforter, dissolving into giggles.

"For you..." He said, handing the box of donuts to her. "And for you..." He handed me a rose that he had been holding behind his back.

Sure to keep his distance, he slid underneath the covers, and Layla snuggled between us.

"Sprinkles for momma!" She exclaimed, handing me a donut covered in red and green sprinkles.

"Thank you, baby." I said, propping myself up against the headboard.

"Here, daddy." She handed one with white frosting to him. He leaned forward, kissing her cheek.

"So, what do you girls have planned for today?" He asked, biting into the donut.

"Auntie Jenni and Uncle Seth are taking me shopping!" Layla grinned. I'd never get over how much her smile looked like his.

"They are, are they?" Luca raised his eyebrows at me.

I let out a sharp laugh, shrugging.

I had no idea what was going on between Seth and Jenni. They had been acting very suspiciously, sneaking any free moment they could together but refusing to admit they were dating.

"They're taking her to pick out some Christmas presents."

"And what do you have planned for today?" He asked.

"Well, I was thinking we could do some Christmas shopping of our own." It was less than two weeks away and we hadn't come up with anything for Layla yet.

Luca frowned. "I can't today, Char. I have something I want to finish so my girls can have all my attention for the holidays."

A pang of fear jolted through my body. Was he talking about Grant? He had to be.

I cringed, knowing exactly what he meant by finishing it. I hadn't been able to convince him to let me see Grant yet, but I still desperately wanted to. I wanted to know why he had done all of this. I needed some kind of closure. Luca got his by torturing Grant the last few weeks, but it wasn't so easy for me.

"Luca, I want to see—"

"Don't start this today, especially in front of her." He cut me off sharply, holding his hand up.