The Italian Vow (Croesus #1)

Chapter 18

Laura Conti's POV

I was packing up my stuff when Talia came into the bedroom. She sat on the bed while I was packing up my clothes, even though I don't have much in the suitcase that was provided by Lucca. We shared the luggage now.

"I'm going to miss you, Laura," Talia said as she was sitting on the bed while looking at me walking from the closet to the suitcase.

"Aw, I'm gonna miss you too, Talia," I said as I finished packing up my stuff. I went to sit by her side and took her hands into mine.

"You can come to Milan if you want. Spend some time with me because you have nothing going on. I can show you Verona, my town," I said as she was looking down at our intertwined hands.

"You know what, maybe I should ask Brother to come with you," she said.

"No, you may not," a voice came from the door. We looked at the door and it was Lucca. Figures.

"But, why? I just want to visit for a couple of days," Talia begged as Lucca shook his head.

"A no means no, Talia. Besides, you need to prepare for your new semester. Help dad or something," he said as he went into the closet to get something.

"But I hate to be trapped in a cubicle," Talia said as she crossed her hands.

"Welcome to my world," Lucca said as he put on his jacket.

"You're done?" He said as he looked at me and my suitcase. I nodded.

"Okay, let's roll," Lucca said as he went to pick up the suitcase and went downstairs. We followed behind.

Everyone was waiting downstairs in the foyer, including Lucia. She was talking with Aunt Amara before looking at me and Talia when we were descending the stairs. Matteo and Lucca were loading the suitcases in the trunk. Everyone was waiting for Lucca. As Lucca finished, Lucia was the first one to hug him.

"I'll miss you. You should come to visit my place next," she said as she was caressing his chest.

"We'll see," Lucca said before going out of her touch. He went to his mother and kissed her goodbye. His mother was crying a little bit when Lucca promised to come by often afterward.

"You better, mio figlio or I burn down your house," she said before letting Lucca go. I went to hug her when Aunt Amara suddenly went inside the house with Lucia glaring at me murderously.

"It's fine, Laura. Let her be," Uncle Lorenzo said as he went to hug me.

"Come again, okay? And bring Lucca out of his office, he has been quite the workaholic," he said as he was hugging me. More, like a bear crushing me.

"I heard that dad," Lucca said as Uncle Lorenzo released me from the deadly hug and hugged his son. Talia hugged me as she said to visit her in France if we had a chance later.

"We'll see. Your brother isn't exactly the traveling type," I teased.

"That's what I thought. Finally, someone saw the way I did," Talia said as Lucca was messing with her hair. She hissed at him as he laughed before hugging her for the last time.

"Bye, see you soon!" we said as we were in the car and waved at them. Lucca started the engine and drove out of the courtyard.

It was not a long drive as the sun was setting in on the Amalfi Coast. It was Monday evening when we hit the airport to go back from our short weekend. Lucca parked the car at the plane hangar and went to open my door. He gave me his hand and I took it to get out of the car.

We were walking through the same procedure and later we were on the plane. It will be departing at 7:30 PM and I was too tired to think about anything. I went to the seat and immediately my eyes feel heavy.