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I give my car to valet and walk into the gleaming lobby with the roses, taking care to keep my face partway behind my scarf. I tell the check-in desk I’ve got a delivery, and the client has requested that I hand it off in person. I lay on the charm, and the woman—a pretty thirty-something in a white shirt and a black vest—lets me up.
After an elevator ride and a short walk down a short hall that leads to only one door—Dani’s—I knock, my pulse thrumming as I hear footsteps. After a long moment, the door cracks open, revealing a slice of Dani’s face. She looks familiar. Also, shocked to see me.
“Luca,” she whispers.
“E’s dad said she was here.”
She opens the door slightly more, blinking a few times as she looks me over. “This is too strange. Oh my God. But yes, she’s here. What were you hoping for…in dropping by?” she asks me in an almost-whisper.
I waggle my brows, and she smiles softly. She looks nice. Like someone who’s on TV a lot—and I know she is, for her job.
“You look just the same,” she says, as if she read my mind. She touches her face. “With a light beard.”
“I was thinking the same thing about you. Sans beard, of course.”
I hear something behind her, and she looks over her shoulder. When she looks back at me through the cracked door, her face is tense. “Elise is…in need of a little space right now. If what she thinks of you is true, then you should go now, Luca. Respect her feelings.”
“What does she think?”
Dani presses her lips together, looking anguished. “I don’t even think that I can say it.”
“Whatever it is, she’s wrong. I can explain it.”
“Can you?” Her dark brows notch.
“Yes, I swear.”
Dani leans in closer, so she’s almost got her mouth through the door’s crack, and her lips purse as she holds my gaze. “Luca—do not hurt her. She’s been through a lot this past year.”
“I know.”
She sighs, closing her eyes for a moment before she turns partly away from me. “Let me talk to her.”
Dani disappears—leaving the chain on the door—and I rub rose petals with my thumb and then look at my shoes because peering into the space on the other side of the door presents too much suspense.
Elise appears moments later. She’s wearing a pale pink button-up and a pants-suit kind of navy blue skirt. I can see the swell of her belly. Her hair is piled atop her head, and I can tell she’s been crying.
She bites her lip, looking into my eyes for a second before planting her gaze on the door jamb between us. “You can step inside,” she offers quietly.
She unfastens the chain, steps back, and I step into Dani’s foyer, still holding three bouquets of roses. Elise eyes them without remark. “Who told you where I was?” she asks the floor.
“I called your dad.”
She closes her eyes.
“Rosa, what do you think I did?”
Her gaze flies to mine. “I don’t know. I think you’re—well, I hope—you’re not a human trafficker! But what do I know? I didn’t notice that apartment we met at had a lock that locked you inside.”
My heart pounds. “It doesn’t. Why do you think it does?”
“I heard it from an FBI agent.”
I give her a puzzled look, and she looks maybe abashed.
“What do you think, rosa? Let’s get the air cleared. Why don’t you tell me what you heard and who you heard it from. Let’s talk it out.”* * *EliseI blow a breath out, looking at the gleaming floor of Dani’s foyer. “If you’re such a good guy, like you are with me, why don’t you walk away from all of this kind of stuff?” My heart’s pounding, and my eyes are on the verge of welling over. “Now I found you again, and I can’t have you. Tell me why, so I can understand. Why can’t you just leave the mob now, Luca?”
His face twists in anguish. “Because…there’s a contract.”
“You signed a contract?” My voice sounds thin and shrill.
“It’s not a physical thing. It’s built on promises and offers. Plans…and obligations. And relationships.”
Relationships with other people—not with me. Tears spill down my cheeks as something in my chest twists. I wipe my eyes. “I know that. I’m not being fair. I just feel like you’ll never pick me.”
His mouth tugs downward as I start to lose hold of myself.
“Rosa…fuck. You’re being just fine.”
“I just hate that I can’t be with you! And I was so upset…seeing this video. I saw a video. And you were on it.” More tears fall. I breathe deeply. “You were at the place where you and I went—where I told you.” I’m holding my baby bump, feeling like my life is crashing down around me—for so many reasons. “The FBI had it, and I was so scared and upset. For me and for…” I shake my head, unable to say “the baby” without sobbing.
