Luca woke to Jack's voice over the intercom informing of their safe landing and arrival. A smile tugged at his lips. He was home.

He looked at Nadia's sleeping face and traced her cheek with his finger. He didn't want to wake her. She was so exhausted after they'd finally got out of the shower and ate some food. He took her to bed and gave her a massage and she'd been knocked out ever since. He chuckled softly. He'd just wake her enough to get in the car.

He kissed her forehead and dragged his lips to her ear. "Wake up, baby," he whispered as he kissed and trailed his lips across her jaw to settle on her lips.

She stirred awake and smiled against his lips, "are we there, yet?" she mumbled.

"Mm-hm, we just have to get in the car and you can go back to sleep," he murmured and kissed her again.

"Okay," she sighed as she pushed away from him and sat up, "don't let me trip down the stairs."

He smiled as he sat up next to her and tucked a curl back into her braid, "I won't let you fall. I'll barely let your little feet touch the ground."

"Does that mean I don't have to put my shoes on?" She sighed and fell back on the bed. She closed her eyes and snuggled into the blankets again.

Luca looked at her and shook his head.

Well, I tried.

He got out of the bed and shrugged a sweatshirt over his head before he slid the door open and slipped out of the room. He padded down the dimly lit hall and sat on one of the leather sofas in the cabin to put on his shoes.

"Good morning, Mr. Shola. The Cali team is waiting on the runway for us," Gordon greeted as he stepped out of the cockpit, "is Miss Nadia still sleeping?"

"Yeah," he chuckled. "I don't know why I tried to wake her up. It was a long day and she's only had a few hours of sleep."

"Guess you'll be carrying her to the car," he laughed. "Did...did she like her gift from us?"

A grin tugged at his lips at the memory of her reaction. She'd said it meant so much to her...

And I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her.

"Yeah, she loved it," he laughed softly. "I left the security protocols for you to explain."

Gordon shook his head, "you didn't have to do that, sir."

Luca stood from the sofa and slapped a hand to Gordon's shoulder, "yes I did. It's your gift too and I know you and Jack love explaining that stuff."

"Thank you," he grinned. "I won't bore her with it this week."

"I know you won't," he smiled and looked toward the hall, "I should go get the sleeping Queen."

"Yeah, I'm ready to crash myself," Gordon yawned, "Jack's already in the car and probably knocked out. He's getting old, Mr. Shola."

"Yeah I know," he chuckled. "But he'll never retire. He doesn't like it when I bring it up."

"Oh, we know. We've all talked to him about it," he laughed, "We just worry about him being in the field. He thinks we want him to leave, but we know we're the only family he has. He should stay in Cali and run security from here with Mariposa."

Luca burst out laughing, "Mari would love that. I'll have her talk to him about it. She's the only one who can talk any sense to him."

Mariposa Perez was in charge of his Cali estate and chief exec of his winery. She used to be his nanny when he was a child and when he bought the property and started the vineyard, she was the only person he trusted to take care of everything in his absence.

Jack and Mari were good friends and they were like his second parents. They were both orphans with no families of their own so they've always shared a deep connection and love for each other, but they always put his family first before their feelings and Luca always felt bad about that.

Luca settled into the car and cuddled Nadia against him. He smiled and kissed her head. She didn't even stir when he'd carried her off the plane.

"Welcome home, Mr. Shola. I hope you had a good flight."

"I did. Thank you, Amara. It's good to be home," he sighed as she drove away from the airstrip towards a tree lined drive.

"I have to warn you, everyone is pretty excited to meet Miss Coleman. Especially Mari, it's the only thing she's talked about all week."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"You've never brought anyone home with you like this. She must be pretty special," Amara smiled at him from the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, she is," he grinned into Nadia's hair.

I wouldn't share my home with just anyone.

Luca padded downstairs after he put Nadia back to bed. He walked into the kitchen and grinned. Mariposa was sitting on a stool at the island with two cups of coffee in front of her.

"I waited up all night for you to come home," she smiled and held out her hands to him.

"You always do, Mari," he chuckled and hugged her tight.

She slid her hands over his cheeks, "tell me all about her."

"You'll meet her in the morning," he laughed and sat on the stool next to her.

"No, I want to hear it from you," she poked her finger to his chest.

He took a sip of coffee. "Well, her name is Nadia Coleman. She's the Global Marketing Director at Shola -"

"No, pendejo. I know that," she tutted, "stop being silly and tell me how you feel about her."

"Alright, alright," he laughed and stared into his mug. He sighed and looked into Mari's deep brown eyes. "Nadia...she's smart and funny. She's an amazing dancer and she can drive the hell out of a supercar," a smile tugged at his lips, "she loves plants and she's so kindhearted. She just...she makes me feel good when I'm with her."

"You love her, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Have you told her?"

He shook his head, "no, not yet."

A smile spread across Mari's lips, "and you brought her here to tell her. Goodness, I never thought I'd see the day when you'd finally let someone in your life. Does she know anything about this place?"

"No, she just knows I grew up in Cali."

"Nothing about your rebel past, Zacchaeus?"

He let out a bark of laughter, "I wasn't being a rebel, but no. She knows nothing about Zacchaeus."

"Well from what you've said about her and that you feel comfortable enough to bring her here, I think she'll love this place as much as you do," she placed her hand over his, "I'm happy for you. I thought that pinche chocha ruined you," she shook her head and squeezed his hand, "you deserve someone who makes you feel this way, mi hijo."

"Thank you," he grinned, "I hope you like her too."

"I'm sure I will. Your mother seems to like her a lot."

"Did she talk to you?"

"Mm-hm, you know your mother and I have our little catch ups on the phone. Are you keeping this a secret? She was talking like you were just friends."

He chuckled, "yeah she doesn't know. We're pretty private about our relationship."

"I thought that was the case. I'm glad I didn't say anything about Nadia was coming with you, but I think you should tell her. She's so worried you're not pursuing her because of that mess with your stalker."

"I know and I'll tell her when Nadia and I are ready."

"Alright," she patted his hand, "you should get some sleep and I need to check on Jack. The poor thing barely made it to bed. You need to stop running that man ragged, Luca. He's not as young as he used to be."

"I've told him that, Mari. Maybe you can talk to him. He won't listen to me or any of the guards."

"Mm, I'll talk to him," she nodded and slid off the stool.

"Do you want me to walk you home?" He said as he stood up with her.

"No, cariño, I can manage. I walk this estate at night all the time. Amara's on the night shift, I'm sure she's waiting for me to leave," she rolled her eyes.

"Alright," he chuckled, "I'll see you in the morning."

She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tonight, "I'm so glad you're home. This is where you should always be."

He laughed and hugged her back. "One day I'll move back here."

She grinned up at him, "with a certain someone?"

A blushed burned over his cheeks, "maybe, but she might not like it here."

"You wouldn't have brought her here if you didn't think she would," she squeezed his arms and stepped toward the door to the kitchen, "good night, Luca."

"Good night," he waved and put their cups in the sink. He turned off the lights and went upstairs to his bedroom. He crawled into bed and wrapped his arms around Nadia.

"Mm, are we home yet?" she mumbled in her sleep.

A grin tugged at his lips as he kissed her head. He didn't know what she was dreaming about but her words couldn't have been more true. "Yes, we are, baby."

Maybe one day this could be our home...

A/N:  There's so much love in these next chapters I hope your heart is ready!  As always, thank you so so much for reading 🥰❤