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Luca had been getting some writing in while I spent the morning out running errands. For several months, I’d been hibernating with her until I had to leave for the European leg of the tour.
The plan was that she would stay here in Vermont while I was gone. When I returned, we would venture out west together in the mansion on wheels I’d purchased. Then we’d divide our time among California, Vermont, and the open road.
I threw the magazine on the bed. Luca grabbed it and examined the cover. It was a photo of us where my arms were wrapped around Luca as we both smiled for the camera. The title was: Cole Archer: Meet the Real Luca.
“Oh my God. I look so Photoshopped.” She ran her hand over her face on the cover. “I kind of like it.” She laughed.
“You look beautiful, Photoshopped or not. I, on the other hand, look like Hortencia’s arsehole.”
“Do you think we did the right thing? I mean, there’s no going back now.”
“This was the only choice we had. If you want the press to leave you alone somewhat, you have to nip things in the bud, take control of the situation. You give them what they want on your terms so they have nothing left to chase after.”
She fanned through the pages. “Did you read it?”
“I did. I had to make sure there were no surprises before I let you see it. They did a good job on it. I suppose my threatening legal action if they so much as altered one word of our verbiage helped.”
We’d sold the rights to our entire love story, told from start to finish, to a reputable national magazine. The cover feature rendered us $3 million, which we donated in Isabella’s name to a hospital that treated burn victims.
If Luca was truly going to be in my day-to-day life, I knew I couldn’t hide her. People were going to find out who she was whether I liked it or not. If there was one thing I’d learned about the press over the years, it was not to run away from them. Run toward them. Give them what they wanted before they even knew they wanted it.
“You want to read it now?” I asked.
“Maybe in a bit. I have to gear myself up for it.”
“Okay, good, because I want to show you something first.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
I rolled up my sleeve to reveal the fresh ink I’d just gotten tattooed onto my inner forearm. I’d gone to the same artist who had tattooed the sun, moon, and stars design onto Luca’s arm and asked him to replicate it on mine.
She gasped and covered her mouth.
I examined her face. “I can’t tell if you love it or if you’re thoroughly freaked out.”
She laughed. “Oh my God. No, I love it. It’s perfect. It’s identical to mine. He really did a great job.”
“I truly feel like your Izzy has been instrumental in guiding us back together. I wanted to honor her. I know it was supposed to be her getting the matching tattoo with you, but I hope I can stand in her place . . . in her honor.”
“She would have loved you, Griff.”
“Yeah?”
“You know . . . I used to talk to her about you a lot. And she’d say, ‘I think that British boy is your soul mate.’ I didn’t see it so clearly then, never imagined I would ever even have a chance to meet you. I knew you and I had a connection for sure but never thought of you as being my soul mate. But now I know she was right. She had a sense about it that I didn’t.”
“Thank you for sharing that. I love her even more now.”
She ran her finger over the clear bandage, looking pensive.
“What are you thinking about?”
Her question threw me for a loop. “When we were apart . . . did you ever . . . ?”
She hesitated to finish her question. But I knew what she was asking.
“Did I ever fuck anyone else?”
She nodded.
I’d had opportunities to sleep with other women while Luca and I were apart. I couldn’t lie and say there weren’t times when I’d thought about getting it over with in an attempt to try to forget the pain of her breaking up with me. But in the end, I didn’t want anyone else, and my gut told me I’d regret it.
“A part of me just knew, Luca. I knew that somehow we’d end up back together. I didn’t want to have to look you in the eyes and tell you that I had slept with someone else. If you’d taken years to come around, I’m not sure I could have been alone for that amount of time, but I’m so glad you didn’t make me wait too long. It honestly never felt like you weren’t a part of me, even when we were separated. I never had the desire for anyone but you. And no, I wasn’t with anyone. I’m glad I was true to you.”
