Chapter Four: The Doctor’s Gambit

By the second week, Sarah was going stir-crazy.

She was a surgeon. She was used to movement, to action, to twelve-hour shifts that left her exhausted and fulfilled.

Sitting in a mansion while Luca’s staff waited on her hand and foot was its own kind of torture.

“I need to go back to work,” she announced at breakfast.

Luca didn’t look up from his phone. “No.”

“My ribs are healing. I can consult. I can review charts. I can do something besides sit here and watch you brood.”

His head snapped up.

“I don’t brood.”

“You’ve been standing at that window for an hour. Staring at nothing. Frowning.”

“I’m thinking.”

“About?”

He set down his phone.

“About you. About us. About the fact that you haven’t let me touch you since you got here.”

Sarah’s breath caught.

“I’ve touched you.”

“I’ve held your hand. I’ve helped you walk to the bathroom. I haven’t touched you.”

His voice dropped.

“Not the way I want to.”

The air between them thickened.

She remembered his hands. The way they’d felt on her skin. The way he’d made her feel like the only woman in the world.

“I’m not ready,” she said.

“I know.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready.”

Luca stood. Crossed to her chair. Knelt in front of her so they were eye to eye.

“Then we wait,” he said. “A week. A month. A year. I’ll wait as long as it takes.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re worth waiting for.”

She wanted to believe him.

But she’d believed him before. Believed that he’d never leave, that they’d grow old together, that his love was stronger than his fear.

He’d proved her wrong.

“I’m scared,” she admitted.

“Of me?”

“Of us. Of what happens when I let you in again and you leave.”

Luca’s hand came up to her face.

His palm was warm. Calloused. Shaking.

“I’m not going to leave,” he said. “I spent five years running from that mistake. I won’t make it again.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“I can.” His eyes held hers. “And I will. Every day for the rest of my life if that’s what it takes.”

Sarah’s throat tightened.

She wanted to believe him.

God, she wanted to believe him.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Okay?”

“Okay. I’ll stay. I’ll try. But if you hurt me again—”

“I won’t.”

“If you do, I won’t survive it.”

Luca pulled her close.

His arms wrapped around her carefully, avoiding her ribs. His face pressed into her hair.

“You’ll survive,” he said. “You’re the strongest person I know. But you won’t have to. Because I’m never letting you go again.”

Sarah closed her eyes.

For the first time in five years, she let herself believe.

---

She came on a Tuesday.

Sarah was in the garden, watching the roses bloom, when a car pulled up the drive.

Not Luca’s car. Something smaller. Less expensive.

A woman got out.

Dark hair. Dark eyes. A scar on her wrist that caught the sunlight.

Olivia.

Luca’s sister.

Sarah stood quickly. Her ribs protested, but she ignored them.

“You must be Sarah,” Olivia said, walking toward her. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good things, I hope.”

“All honest things.” Olivia smiled. “Luca doesn’t know how to lie about the people he loves.”

Sarah’s heart clenched.

“I didn’t know you were coming.”

“Neither does he.” Olivia sat on the bench beside her. “I wanted to meet you without him hovering.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to tell you something. Something he won’t.”

Sarah’s stomach tightened.

“When Luca left you,” Olivia said carefully. “It wasn’t just because of the war.”

“What do you mean?”

“There was a threat. Against you specifically. Someone had put a price on your head.”

Sarah’s blood ran cold.

“The Russians. They knew about you. Knew that hurting you would destroy him.” Olivia’s voice was soft. “Luca didn’t leave to protect himself. He left to protect you.”

“But he never told me.”

“He couldn’t. If you’d known, you would have stayed. You would have fought. And he couldn’t risk it.”

Sarah’s hands were shaking.

Five years. Five years of believing he’d abandoned her because she wasn’t enough.

“He should have told me,” she whispered.

“He should have,” Olivia agreed. “But he was scared. He’d never loved anyone before. He didn’t know how to do it right.”

“So he just left?”

“He made a deal. Gave up half his territory. Paid millions to keep you safe. Right after he walked out of that hospital room, he went straight to the Russian boss and accepted every demand.” Olivia paused. “He never stopped protecting you, Sarah. Even when you hated him for it.”

Sarah stared at the roses.

She thought about the texts he’d sent over the years. The ones she’d ignored. Are you safe? Are you happy? Do you need anything?

She’d thought they were guilt.

Now she wondered if they were love.

“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

“Because someone needs to.” Olivia stood. “And because I think he’s waited long enough to be forgiven.”

She walked back toward her car.

Sarah sat alone in the garden.

The roses blurred through her tears.

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