Luca Hale happened to hold influence on both sides of the deal.
As the owner of San Fierro Kanda Hospital and a major shareholder of Octaveo Pharmaceutical, he had already intended to restore cooperation between the two companies the mont he realized the contract cancellation had been politically motivated rather than business-related.
Even so, Miss Brooks was still surprised by how quickly he made the decision.
There had been no endless etings, no bureaucratic delays, and no weeks of negotiations. With a few words from Luca, the partnership that had lasted more than a decade was back on track.
The problem wasn’t completely solved. Vivienne still had enemies on the board, and Benjamin Caldwell’s faction remained a serious threat. But securing Kanda Hospital’s business removed one of the biggest pressures weighing on her ahead of the upcoming vote.
After lunch, Luca and Miss Brooks exchanged farewells outside the hotel entrance before heading their separate ways.
Checking the ti on his dashboard, Luca smiled faintly.
Originally, he and Naomi had agreed to take her new Porsche out for a drive tomorrow. But since he was already heading to inspect the apartnt building he had recently acquired, he figured there was no reason to wait another day.
A quick ssage was all it took.
The mont Naomi received his invitation, she imdiately agreed.
By the ti Luca arrived outside her apartnt complex, she was already waiting near the curb.
The afternoon sunlight fell softly across her shoulders, catching the dark-blue strands of her hair. She had clearly spent ti getting ready.
The mont she spotted his vehicle, her eyes lit up.
"Well?" Naomi asked with a bright smile as she walked over. "How do I look today?"
Luca stepped out and looked her over.
"You look beautiful."
The smile on Naomi’s face widened instantly.
Unable to resist, Luca wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his embrace.
Naomi let out a small sound of surprise as her body pressed flush against his. The warmth of his chest, the familiar scent of his cologne, and the steady strength of his arms quickly dissolved her initial embarrassnt. His hand rested possessively at the small of her back, fingers gently tracing the curve of her waist through the thin fabric of her top, sending a subtle shiver up her spine.
Still, she glanced around at the pedestrians passing nearby.
"Luca..." she whispered. "Doing this in public isn’t exactly a good idea."
"Oh?" Luca raised an eyebrow. "And why not?"
A faint blush spread across her cheeks.
"We’re not officially together yet. Couples are supposed to do things like this."
Despite her words, her arms remained comfortably around his neck, her fingers lightly playing with the hair at his nape.
Luca fought back a smile.
"So you’re saying you want to beco your official boyfriend?"
He deliberately sounded shocked.
Naomi froze.
The smile she had been wearing faded slightly.
Her lips pressed together, and a trace of disappointnt flashed across her face before she could hide it.
’Luca... that’s not funny.’
She wasn’t angry.
Just visibly deflated.
The change was so obvious that Luca imdiately regretted teasing her.
Before she could say anything, he reached up and gently ruffled her hair.
"You already called my mother ’Mom’ during our last video call," he said with a chuckle. "How are you still trying to classify yourself as just a girlfriend?"
For a second, Naomi stared at him.
Then her eyes narrowed.
"Hmph."
The corners of her lips betrayed her almost imdiately.
"You are seriously annoying."
Her smile returned.
A genuine one this ti.
Looking at her, Luca couldn’t help thinking that if he had to describe soone’s first love in human form, Naomi would probably be the closest example.
Her innocence felt effortless.
Before he could stop himself, his gaze drifted toward her lips.
Naomi imdiately sensed sothing dangerous.
"Luca, don’t you da..."
The rest of the sentence disappeared.
Luca leaned forward and captured her lips in a slow, deep kiss. His hand slid up her back, drawing her closer as his mouth moved against hers with unhurried hunger. Naomi lted into him, a soft, breathy "Mmm..." escaping her as one hand tightened around the back of his neck. The kiss lingered, growing warr and more intimate, his tongue gently teasing the seam of her lips until she parted them with a quiet sigh. Heat blood between them, her body pressing instinctively closer to his solid fra.
Several monts later, they finally separated, both breathing unevenly.
Naomi’s face was completely red, her lips slightly swollen and glistening.
Yet the first thing she saw was Luca standing there with an infuriatingly satisfied smile.
"And you’re still laughing!"
She lightly smacked his shoulder.
"This is entirely your fault."
Luca laughed softly.
"You should learn to breathe through your nose."
Naomi rolled her eyes.
"Not everyone is as experienced as you."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Luca imdiately fell silent.
That reaction alone told her everything she needed to know.
A tiny flicker of jealousy surfaced.
Only for a mont.
Then it faded.
Naomi had long accepted that soone like Luca wasn’t going to arrive at adulthood with a completely blank romantic history.
Dwelling on it would only make herself miserable.
"So," she said, changing the subject, "where exactly are we going today? You only told to get ready."
Luca looked at her with exaggerated surprise.
"You’re saying you’re ready to skip straight to that stage already?"
Naomi blinked.
Then her face turned bright red.
"You big dummy!"
She punched his shoulder again.
Sotis she genuinely wanted to look inside Luca’s brain just to understand how he managed to interpret everything in the worst possible way.
Luca laughed loudly.
"I’m joking."
He grabbed her hand before she could hit him a third ti.
"I recently acquired a residential building and need to sort out the leasing arrangents. I figured I’d bring you along."
Naomi nodded.
Then her eyes suddenly brightened.
"Wait."
She pointed toward the parking garage.
"What about the Porsche?"
"The Porsche?"
"The one you bought for ."
A small smile appeared on her face.
"We were supposed to take it for a drive tomorrow."
She hesitated for a mont.
"Honestly... I wanted the first drive to be with you."
Luca paused.
Looking at the hopeful expression in her eyes, refusing wasn’t really an option.
"Alright."
Naomi imdiately cheered.
A few minutes later, the G-Wagon remained parked while a sleek Porsche 911 rolled out of the apartnt complex instead.
Naomi looked far happier sitting behind the wheel.
As they drove through the city, she suddenly asked, "So how many apartnts are in this building?"
Luca glanced at her.
"Why?"
"Because I’ve been thinking about moving recently. Maybe I can rent one from you."
Luca instantly realized she had misunderstood.
"If you like the place, you can just choose a unit and move in."
Naomi frowned.
"What do you an choose a unit?"
Luca smiled.
"When I said property, I wasn’t talking about one apartnt."
Naomi looked over.
"What are you talking about then?"
"The entire building."
Silence.
The Porsche continued rolling forward.
Naomi blinked once.
Twice.
Then she slowly turned her head.
"The entire building?"
"Every apartnt in it."
Naomi stared at him.
For several seconds, she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
Luca, anwhile, remained completely calm.
"When we get there, just pick whichever unit you like."
Only then did Naomi finally recover.
A grin spread across her face.
"Well then, let’s hurry up and go see my future apartnt."
Laughing, Luca gave her directions as the Porsche headed toward the school district.
Reviews
All reviews (0)