The Italian Vow (Croesus #1)

Chapter 35

Laura Conti's POV

Albania was hot and sunny and dry. I sweated profusely as I was digging up some castle remains that were being found in Tirana, Albania. It was gorgeous in the city until you came to the archeological site.

It was massive of dust, and soil, and fortunately, enthusiastic like myself for searching the ancient ruins. It has been forever since I came back to Albania for my research and job. Being here for 3 years relaxed me from the pressure back in Italy.

"I found something," I said as the other archeologists came to take a look at my discovery.

"What do you think?" I asked Madame Rossi as she was my supervisor after all. She looked at the artifact that I found and looked at me with seriousness.

"I think we just found a relic from the Ottoman Empire. It was one of the greatest empires in the world during the 15th century. This could be a discovery to relate the Albanian empire was once under the Ottoman Empire," she said excitedly as I was smiling ear to ear.

"You think so?" I asked. She nodded.

"It's also from a castle that was being burned or destroyed after Albania went out from the Ottoman Empire. We can make a connection to your research," she said as she patted my shoulder. I was grinning.

"Okay, everyone, take precautions, we don't want the other artifact or relics to go missing," Aubrey said as everyone laughed at her jokes.

The last 3 weeks have been very exciting and challenging. There was some puzzling question that made me think twice and thrice to get the answer but all the same, it was just dirt and ancient artifact which made me happy after all those time spent in the dirt.

It was Friday night and we thought that we should spend some time in the gorgeous city of Tirana after 3 weeks of nonstop digging for an answer and discovery, not having much time to spend with the locals.

Everyone agreed that we would meet at Oda, a traditional Albanian cuisine. I was always excited to try local food and chat. I was getting a dress and doing my makeup when someone knocked on my door.

"Just a minute," as I thought it was my colleague to go together to the restaurant. I was happy to open the door before someone I was unexpected to see in Albania.

"Lucca?" I asked before Lucca went inside the room and claimed my mouth. Not that I was complaining but I missed his kisses and demanding attitude. It was a nice gesture that he came to Albania to see me.

"How...what are you doing here?" I asked as we still each other arms.

"I missed you," was the answer that I get before he kissed me again. I broke the kiss and looked squarely at him in the face.

"No seriously, Lucca, what are you doing here?" I said as I looked at him murderously. He just laughed before he tried to kiss me. I moved my mouth out of the way and his kiss landed on my cheeks. He chuckled before getting out of our embrace.

"What? You don't like my surprise?" He said as he was walking around the hotel. It was cheap but it accommodated me more than enough. For the last 3 years, I have been camping out at the archeological site. The horror was nothing compared to this.

"Why don't you move to a nice hotel?" He asked as he sat on the bed. I crossed my hands in front of my chest and his eyes suddenly fueled with desire.

"It was university-funded so we make do with everything they gave to us," I said as a matter of fact. Lucca nodded before gesturing for me to sit beside him.

"Oh, no, you won't mister. I have Friday night fun tonight and I don't want to spend it on the bed. I mean, it's not a bad idea but please can we explore the city?" I whined as I went to hold his hands. He chuckled at me before standing up.