midwife » michael gray. [completed]

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE.

  → CHAPTER FORTY-ONE; LUCA.  

"It's lovely to meet you," Hannah said with a fake smile as she shook Luca's hand, cringing as he brought her hand up to his mouth to place a kiss there. She had to put up a fake act for Sister Margaret, Hannah couldn't let her visage slip. "Why are you here at the convent if you don't mind me asking? It's not every often that we get visitors such as yourself."

Sister Margaret piped up to explain. It was obvious that she had been taken in by Luca's charm. "Do you remember last year when you and Father Hughes were discussing fundraising events to help raise money for the convent? Well, we all know what happened there but luckily, Luca here heard about it and he is offering to help us. Isn't that wonderful news, Hannah?"

"Oh, is he? That is lovely of you. What a kind, sweet gentleman you are." Hannah smiled at Luca, who was grinning back at her, but Hannah's eyes said something different and Luca knew this. "Would you like to go and discuss some fundraising ideas in private? I think I still have some notes written down from my time with Father Hughes."

"It would be my pleasure, Miss Anderson. Goodbye, Sister Margaret, I hope to speak with you soon."

Sister Margaret nodded with enthusiasm. "I'm sure we will. You are more than welcome to come over to the convent whenever you want to discuss ideas."

Hannah directed Luca through to the kitchen before Sister Margaret could say anything else. Hannah's heart was racing in complete fear, terrified of what Luca was going to do or say. As soon as he had entered the room, Hannah slammed the door shut and her smile instantly dropped.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, voice shaking slightly as Luca reached his hand into his trousers pocket. "If you're going to kill me then just get it over and done with but I just want you to know that God will be watching." If anyone was there, they would have laughed at how pathetic Hannah was being.

"I'm not going to kill you, Hannah," he mumbled, his voice to calm for her liking. "I'm a religious man, I wouldn't kill a young woman in a holy-place."

"So why are you here then?" Hannah questioned as she moved around the kitchen so she was away from him. Just being in the same room as Luca was making her feel sick, she hated the affect that he had on her. It was hard to scare Hannah but this was a dangerous man on a completely different level to Tommy.

"I just wanted to come and talk to you, see how you was doing. I have a feeling that Christmas Day was very hard and traumatic for you, I can only offer my deepest apologises." Too cool, the man was too cool and calm. Nothing seemed to faze him, not even the fact that one of the Shelby's could easily walk into the convent if they truly wanted to and kill Luca there and then. He was in the middle of Small Heath, completely alone without any men, and he wasn't frightened in the slightest.

"I think that's an understatement, don't you? Your men are the reason that Michael is currently in the hospital, do you know how that feels? To have the man that you adore, laid on a hospital bed, blood pouring out of him because he nearly shot to death."

"Do you love him?" Luca asked, completely ignoring everything that Hannah had said. Of course, he knew how it felt, he had lost his dear brother and father but he wasn't going to show any weakness in front of Hannah. Luca would never lower his guard.

Hannah moved to the cupboards in hope of finding something alcoholic, failing miserably. Of course, she wasn't going to find anything downstairs, the sisters didn't permit it and Hannah didn't dare leave Luca alone in the kitchen. She was petrified that she would walk back in with a gun pointed straight at her head.