Praying For A Miracle (mxm)

Chapter Thirty Six

His eyes harden. "Then I'll send over the money for it to be paid."

"You can't." I close my eyes.

"Why?"

"First of all it's too much, it's way more than you paid last time. It wouldn't be fair. And second, I think they know we can't pay it so they're expecting someone to take over the mortgage and the ownership of the cafe to pay it instead. They don't trust us, at all." I explain and feel my head pound.

Declan frowns. "That doesn't sound legal," he says loudly.

I shrug. "I don't know what else we can do."

"I don't care how much money it is," his head shakes, hair falling over his forehead. "I will pay the rest of it."

"But to be able to do that, you'd have to take over the mortgage."

He extends his tongue and licks his lips. "I'll happily do that, pay it off. I don't care. You're not losing the cafe, I refuse to sit back and let it happen."

"It's too much Declan." My fingers press to his bare shoulder gently. "We couldn't ask that of you. That's why mum told me not to say anything, she thinks she's already taken advantage of your kindness. This is too big of an ask."

His hand slides over my cheek and he draws me closer, only now do I see the intensity in his eyes. "Nothing is too big of an ask when it comes to you, Luca. You must know that by now."

I attempt to swallow, despite the fact my mouth is incredibly dry. "Declan–"

"I don't care what you say," he exhales heavily. "I wish you'd lose your pride for a second to see that you could lose your family business. I can help, I want to help. I'll speak to Hazel by myself if I have to."

For a moment I'm silent and I enjoy the way his fingers caress the back of my head. "Knowing you've been going through this–" he cuts himself off. "I hate that you didn't tell me."

"I'm sorry," I crumble.

His arms engulf me, tugging my face into his neck as he breathes out slowly. I've been ignoring the entire situation, fearful of what might happen. In my mind, ignorance was bliss and I was in denial about the next few months of our business.

"I'm going to sort it," he kisses my hairline. "I promise everything will be alright."

A tear escapes my eyes and I hate myself for being weak in this moment. But I've been keeping my emotions at bay, trying to keep strong for my mother because the last thing she needs to see is me breaking down.

"You've been too kind to us," I whisper beneath my tears. "I always think I have no idea what we've done to deserve you."

He pulls back carefully and swipes a hand over my head, pushing back my hair. "I don't want anything to happen to the business. I care about you, I care about the cafe, I will always care about the things you care about. If I can do something about it, I will. End of story."

I glance up at him and lean forward, pressing my lips to his, my chest quivers. "You have always been our miracle," I whimper against him. "I was barely living before but you changed everything. Everything. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Mmm," he mumbles slowly. "Never lie to me again, Luca. I mean it."

The sincerity of his voice makes me shiver. "I won't. I'm sorry."

"And I'm sorry for last night," he says, eyes faltering for a moment. "I should never have used sex to get something out of you. Especially our first time. I was frustrated that you were lying to me and I never want you to feel like you can't confide in me about anything."