Lucius lowered his gaze in sha. He had nothing to justify and with a sorry it wouldn’t change the aning of how he wished to leave her because in his eyes that was the only possible way.
"Would you have lived without , Lucius? How could you tell Father those words? I thought I loved the best man in this world, but when the ti ca, you acted like a coward. How could you distrust yourself?" Layla’s questions pierced his heart, but he didn’t dare to raise his head. He had failed her every expectation.
"Say sothing, Lucius," Layla said and hit her fist on his chest, letting the tears flow from her eyes. "Lucius De Salvo turned into a coward, the mont he ca to rescue . He lied to my face despite knowing that I would catch it eventually. I told you I would help you, but you felt I was weak," she pronounced with a disappointed look at him.
"Layla," he finally called her na and lifted his head. Even his cheeks were covered in tears. "Don’t ever forgive ," he said. "And I never considered you weak. It was my own insecurities and vulnerabilities that held back from involving you. For , leaving you was the only way to save you. I love you so much, Layla. When I t my real father and Tsar, I felt you shouldn’t be in my world. That was my way to protect you."
Layla hugged him tightly and shut her eyes tightly. "Promise you will never do this to , to us, Lucius," she urged him as more tears poured down her eyes. She felt arguing on this matter would break Lucius more, so she decided to handle it tenderly while showing her affection to him.
"Promise that you’ll co to first in any situation. Please, Lucius," Layla whispered. This ti her crying sound intensified, showing how heartbroken she was when Lucius hid the entire truth from her till the end. "It hurts when you lie to . I know what you underwent has left a trauma in you, but please trust our bond," she stated.
Lucius hugged her tightly as he began caressing her back. "Do you still want to trust ? I kept lying to you because I felt I was stuck," he murmured.
Layla sniffled and raised her head to et his gaze. "I want to. You are the one who turned into such a person, Lucius. There was a ti when I was scared of everyone around , but you taught everything. If not you, then whom should I trust?" Her eyes searched for an answer in his eyes.
"I’m sorry, Layla, for underestimating you," Lucius said and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "I made you cry again. I am such a bad husband, right?" A faint smile started forming on his lips.
"Yes, you are a bad husband. So, you better start pampering and this will be your last ti lying to . If you do that ever again, I will leave you. Then, you’ll never find . I will torture you with my d–"
Layla’s words didn’t finish as Lucius kissed her, thus startling her. She pulled away, placing a hand between their mouths. Shaking her head, "A kiss will not vanish my anger. You better not do that, Lucius."
"Fine," Lucius replied, resting his forehead against hers.
"Let’s go downstairs then. Everyone is waiting for us, including your father, Fiona and Roderick," Layla stated.
"Sure." Lucius held her hand and they walked out of the room.
Arriving at the living room, everyone left their seats to see them together.
"I want to apologize to all of you," Lucius said, looking at all of them.
"Uncle, you were going to regret your decision," Roderick said, glancing at him with a disappointed gaze.
"I know. I made a mistake," Lucius said.
"No one is going to say anything to Lucius. If we were in his shoes, we would have thought the sa," Layla prevented her husband from getting a lecture with the others. She understood the ntal state Lucius was in and didn’t wish him to bla himself more after this incident while overthinking.
"Layla is right. Everything is fine. That’s all that matters," Fiona said with a smile.
"Let’s sit then." Layla glanced at Lucius and took the seat on the couch while the others also occupied their seats.
"How did you catch Tsar?" he asked while she lowered her hand and let it rest on her side.
"With the help of my friend," Layla replied. "Each one present here has helped , but without him it would be impossible," she stated.
"Even we are curious to know who’s this friend of Layla, who caught Tsar with such precision," Demitri said.
"Luca D’Agostino. He is a secret agent, who has been working for the governnt for a long ti. I asked him to help catch Tsar. Luca was in the special forces and later beca a secret agent, who was in Russia for many years. Luckily, he was also looking for Tsar for a long ti and finally got the chance to catch him," Layla pronounced.
"How do you know a secret agent?" Lucius confusedly gazed at her.
"Well, I helped him once when I was a school-going girl. I think he was over eighteen," Layla said while thinking about that ti. "From there, I knew him and we beca friends."
"Are you talking about without my presence, Layla?" Luca’s voice reverberated in the hall and everyone gazed in his direction. He was in a black outfit, kind of giving military vibes.
"Luca!" Layla imdiately rose to her feet and ran to him. They have been seeing each other face-to-face after so many years. Even while executing the plan, they both talked on the phone.
Layla hugged Luca tightly and patted her back while smiling.
Lucius rose to his feet and widened his eyes.
"Boss, isn’t that strange? Also, Luca is cooler than you," Roger whispered in his ear.
"Stay quiet. They are just friends," Lucius told him.
Layla pulled away first from the hug and t Luca’s gaze. "You have beco much more handso than I saw you the last ti. Woah! Look at your biceps," she said while laughing as she pressed his arms.
"And you’ve turned into such a pretty lady. I didn’t expect that small girl to be this beautiful," Luca pronounced with a smile.
"I was always pretty, Luca. It was just you, who always teased for dressing like a boy when I used to go to the school," Layla glared at him. "Ask my husband how pretty I am and the others too," she crossed her arms across her chest.
"You got married without introducing the guy to !" Luca flicked her forehead and she winced in pain. Placing his big hand over her head, he looked at the entire family of Layla standing before him.
"So, who is my Layla’s husband?" Luca asked, scanning his eyes on the n present there.
Roger pointed his finger at Lucius. "Here. And don’t call Layla, ’your Layla’. My boss is pretty possessive of his wife," he said.
"Is Layla an object that your boss is possessive of her? Learn to use better words or I’m going to make you stand for an entire day under the sky," Luca said sternly.
Layla rolled her eyes. "It’s not your training center," she said and moved away from him.
Lucius had approached them and forwarded his hand for the handshake. "I am Lucius De Salvo, husband of Layla Rosenzweig De Salvo," he introduced himself with a polite tone.
Luca shook hands with him. "I’m Luca D’Agostino. Nice to et you, Lucius. I have brought Tsar Romanov. You should see him first before I hand him over to the headquarters," he asserted and they both pulled away their hands.
"Why?" Lucius asked him.
"Tsar killed many in the past and one prominent person in the list was Matteo Mancini. So, the headquarters have been searching for him for a long ti," Luca asserted.
"What if I don’t allow the Headquarters takeaway Tsar?" Lucius inquired.
"I can’t afford to lose my job," Luca replied. "I love being an agent," he added.
"I thought you would leave that job. Are you again returning to Russia, chasing so more dangerous criminals there?" Layla asked with a worried gaze.
"Sort of," Luca replied, placing his hand on his nape. "Is it okay to bring Tsar here? Or do you have another place where we can take him?" he glanced at Lucius.
"The base. Let’s go there," Lucius opined.
"Sure. You will drive the vehicle. I am tired," Luca pronounced, handing him the keys.
"I will co too," Layla said. Before Luca could refuse her, Lucius agreed to take her with him.
"You’ll stay here," Luca said, glaring at her. "I’m going to pull out Tsar’s eyes. You won’t be able to stand that," he scared her, hoping she would not co with them.
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