Opening night was amazing. The crowd had been on their feet most of the time, cheering, dancing and waving their arms. They were about half-way through their second-to-last song,I tuoi occhi, when Luca looked out into the crowd as they pressed close around the runway of the stage. He loved the looks of pure unadulterated excitement on the faces of the Dominicans, as they reached out there hands. When the song transitioned to the chorus a second time, Luca walked out onto the runway, singing loud as fans reached up with their hands, hoping to get even a brief grasp of his fingers. He smiled wide at many of the eager faces, but as his eyes drifted to the end of the runway, his gaze locked upon the face of a pretty, young woman. It was the same woman from the hotel; the one he'd 'nearly had a tumble with' as Dante had mentioned previously. She was dressed up a bit more and her hair was different – long luscious curls spilled freely down her back – but he'd recognize those dark, expressive eyes, anywhere; they stood out against the purple off-shoulder tunic blouse she wore and were set off by her amber-gold earrings. From what he could tell, she didn't appear to be with any particular group of people, so she must have come alone. His eyes were drawn irresistibly to this lovely stranger, who seemed a bit out of her element amidst the throng of excited, raving fans; Luca couldn't tear his eyes away from her and once her gaze finally locked with his, he held her eyes and cast her a brilliant smile, golden orbs warming with the expression.
Catching his deliberate attention surprised her, and her cheeks flamed which only caused the musician's smile to widen. Embarrassed, she ducked her head, brushing back strands of stray curls that fell into her eyes, and her cheeks burned even hotter when she caught one final look of his steady gaze, before tearing her eyes away. After a few moments, she became lost in the music and her dark eyes slipped closed as her body unconsciously began to sway to the beat.
Something in Luca's heart dislodged. He felt a magnetic pull towards her, and before he knew it, his feet had carried him to the end of the runway, just paces from her. She was—unearthly beautiful. He could feel his heartbeat catching repeatedly and his breathing grew suddenly ragged, yet he managed to stay focused enough to continue singing as he and Dante transitioned into their final song, Amore perso. As he sang through the first verse, his eyes held fast to her visage and slowly, he moved closer and closer to the edge of the runway. The thought briefly occurred to him that being this close to ragging fans, could be potentially detrimental to his safety; he could end up being pulled right off stage – but he pushed the thought aside as he came within just a pace of her and crouched down, continuing to sing. Once they came to the chorus, he couldn't restrain himself and slowly reached out his hand towards her raised one; she had cast all caution to the wind and was now dancing, rocking and shimmying to the beat of the music. She was lost in the hypnotizing rhythm—immersed in a world all her own—and had not noticed Luca's nearness. His hand was scarce centimeters from hers now—he drew in a breath, and grasped her fingertips, grinning widely when her eyes suddenly flew open and stared up at him in amazement. At the unveiled shock written across her face, he beamed at her and she blushed clear up to her hairline as he laced his fingers with hers, officially drawing her into the magic of the music, right along with him.
Isabella was shocked frozen. She couldn't believe it. Never in all her life, would she have dared to dream that such a soul-quaking moment would befall her. Yet, here she was standing in the very midst of it, glorious music pulsating in the fibers of her body, and seemingly-endless ribbons of starlight coiling at the edges of her vision, before exploding outwards in radiant arcs, like an endless firework.
She couldn't contain the wild current of emotions that churned within her heart like a raging tempest, and her free hand came up to smother a gasp of inexplicable surprise.
As for Luca, he loved how she couldn't keep the sheer amazement from radiating through her eyes and at last, the expression seemed to settle into a form of final acceptance when her lips curved into a radiant smile, still heavily-tinged with shock and awe.
Dante looked on, and merely shook his head, grinning. He knew his brother, alright, and the man was positively smitten.
As the song ended, Luca raised Isabella's hand to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers softly as the last notes of the song faded. She was breathless and delirious from the moment; the light-headed haze was nearly overwhelming. Dazed, she watched Luca make his way back to the main stage, his hand raised and waving at the whole stadium full of his fans. She still couldn't fathom what had happened between them and she knew…if she didn't get to an exit and fast, she was going to faint.