Beneath Her Bastard Boss

Chapter 132

Chapter 132

The restaurant Luca chose wasn’t dramatic or flashy. It wasn’t the tower–high, jacket–required kind of place that would attract the media outside laying vi wait to snap photos of the rich and famous. Instead, it was tucked behind a narrow street off the main drag. The tables were decorated with candles in mason jars, rough wooden booths, and soft Italian music that played gently in the background. Sutton appreciated it.

She appreciated even more that Luca didn’t try to play the part of the seducer. He didn’t touch her hand across the table, didn’t lean in too close. He just sat across from her, one hand resting beside his wineglass and the other occasionally touching his lipa

as he watched her.

She pushed spaghetti around her plate, not sure why she couldn’t make herself eat more. She wasn’t nauseous. She was just… anxious.

“Do you not like it?” Luca asked gently.

She looked up. “No–I mean, it’s good. I think I’m just… my mind. Call it pregnancy brain.”

He nodded but didn’t press. Just sat back a little, his expression unreadable in that maddening way only Luca could pull off. Calm on the surface, she knew better. There was always something churning underneath. He wanted to say something; he was holding back… just. She wondered if he was thinking about asking her to marry him again.

She wasn’t sure she was ready to say yes. There were three little words neither of them had said. She wasn’t even sure he loved her. Was it just the baby? She knew he was attracted to her, but that wasn’t love; that was lust. She didn’t want to marry just for the baby.

She picked up her water, fingers wrapping around the cool glass. “Thank you for coming today.”

“I’m glad you were ok with it. I didn’t make you feel uncomfortable?”

“No. Just… unsure.” Sutton looked down at her plate.

“In what way, Sutton?”

When she said nothing and kept her eyes on her plate. Luca reached across the table, putting two fingers under her chin and lifting her head until their eyes met. “This is how we move forward: we talk and we communicate. We are not always going to like what the other has to say, but we need to talk. Express how we are feeling.” His hand dropped away.

“About what this is. What you want.” She said at last.

Luca didn’t answer right away. Instead, he reached for his napkin, wiped his mouth, and then leaned forward slightly.

“I’m not here because of obligation,” he said. “I wanted dinner with you. Not as the mother of my son, or the head of cybersecurity, if you ever take the job, or the woman I hurt months ago. I wanted to sit across from you and just… see you and be with you.”

Her chest tightened.

simple as that

someone could want her just for being her. But old wounds cast long shadows. She was scared

to be someone you like and are with just because of the baby. What if you finally figured out how to love but with someone

out how to love the moment I realized might have lost you,” he said, voice low and even. “This baby didn’t make me

Sutton’s throat went tight.

true? Did he love her? She so wanted to believe him. She didn’t know what he needed to do to stop the doubt. But she

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Chapter 132

anything back.

the quiet street to where David waited with the car. The ride back to Sutton’s apartment was done mostly in silence. David had picked up Luca before

over, just once, and placed a hand on her belly, and she let him. It wasn’t sexual at all. When the baby

him when he wasn’t looking, his profile lit by the passing city lights, eyes closed against the moment. He had been so interested today, asking a heap

about sex, which had made Sutton blush. It wasn’t a

before.

stopped in front of her building. “Goodnight, Luca,”

leaned in, kissed her lightly. She

the lines of not being able to control himself. Now he was trying to woo her into marrying

“I will.”

Halfway up, she already knew

soon as Sutton opened the door, Keira was standing in the hallway, arms

“Well?” Keira asked.

kicked off her shoes without looking her

“I didn’t say anything.”

“You’re vibrating with judgment.”

love you, but the man has already broken your heart once. How am I not

flatly, turning around to face her.

that this is my

feel her own voice shaking,

to protect me. I get it. I know what he did back then. You think I forgot? I didn’t. But I also didn’t forget how I felt when I was with him. How I feel now. And