Page 49 of My Sunfall

Lorenzo gnashes his teeth, eyes blazing with anger. “Tell Santaluccia he’ll hear from me. Soon.” He whirls around and is gone in a blink. Seconds later, the sound of the front door slamming shut echoes like a gunshot.

I let out the breath I wasn’t aware I was holding.

Lucas’ hand creeps up my back to wrap around my neck in a possessive grip.

I shrug him off and whirl around. “What…what was that?” I demand, fear and fury making my voice crack.

He watches me for a beat, eyes blazing darkly with something I can’t decipher. “That, cara mia”—he takes a step toward me, and I involuntarily retreat a step—“that is me preventing a war.”

I shake my head. “You’re not preventing it, you’re causing it! When he finds out we are not married, what do you think he’ll do?”

He is on me with a stride, crowding me against the desk. “Oh, but we are married, and you will see that there is no other option.”

My mind blanks. “Wh-what do you mean? We-we’re not…”

His fingers weave into my bun to angle my head back, then his lips crash on mine, cruel and imperious. When he pulls his face back, his eyes are blazing. “Let me show you.”

With these cryptic words, he grabs my upper arm and drags me out of the office toward the front door. Outside, he pulls out his phone and dials a number, his other hand still clasped around my arm.

“It’s me. You still got everything? We do it now. And I need it to happen last month.”

He hangs up and nearly tosses me into the passenger seat of his car, then he leans over to fasten my seatbelt. In less than thirty seconds, we are moving at a breakneck speed toward the center. Lucas effortlessly weaves through traffic, assured and in control, while I hang on the door handle, trying not to be jostled around.

When he finally slows, I instantly recognize the buildings, and my stomach drops to my feet—we are heading to the district court hall. Lucas maneuvers the car into a side street toward a private entrance, and I am baffled to see the barrier lift and the metal gate open despite the “No access for unauthorized vehicles” sign.

Once the car is parked and he has pulled me out, he drags me after him toward the elevator and pushes a button. We ride in silence, him intense and focused, me a mental and emotional mess.

When we step out of the elevator, a receptionist greets us with a professional smile.

“Good morning, Mr. Romano, Judge Calloway is expecting you in his office.”

Lucas nods and drags me after him along the hallway, clearly knowing the way. He all but shoves me through a door left ajar, and I find myself in a large office with dark wooden furniture and large windows overlooking the harbor.

“Romano, what a pleasure,” a voice drawls from my left and I whirl around to take in the man standing casually by a row of floor to ceiling bookshelves. He looks to be the same age as Lucas. His suit is impeccably tailored and compliments his tall frame.

“Calloway,” Lucas replies curtly behind me, and he steps forward to shake hands with the man.

The man’s eyes wander to me and the smile he gives me is warm and genuine. “You must be Chiara?”

I nod dumbly.

“It’s a pleasure finally meeting you, I’ve heard so many things about you.”

“What?” I turn to Lucas with a confused frown. I don’t know this man, how can he have heard about me?

“Shut up, Call.” Lucas growls and the other man just smirks while he extends a hand to me.

I shake it, mind spinning.

“I’m Dominic Calloway, you can call me anything and anytime, sweetheart.” He winks at me with a flirty grin and Lucas goes off like a bomb.

“Shut it, asshole, or I’ll make you eat your fucking teeth for lunch.”

Judge Calloway, because that’s him I surmised, just laughs, unfazed by the outburst.

“Forgive me,” he tells me with a crooked smile that makes him look like he’s just out of college. “I’m not usually this callous, but Romano has never been this…cranky before, especially over a woman, and I couldn’t resist poking him a bit.”

I give him a faint smile despite myself. He seems nice in an eccentric way, even though inside I wonder which one of them is the most unbalanced. What I can see, though, is that they seem close like longtime friends.