Luca blinked and the memory snapped back into place, filed away in the past where it belonged.
“You going to tell me your name?”Mara asked quietly.
He glanced at her.Really looked this time.
“Luca.”
She nodded once, as if committing it to memory.“You always talk like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve already decided how things are going to go.”
He smirked.“Only when I’m right.”
She snorted despite herself.It was small.Brief.But it was real.
The car turned again, heading somewhere darker, quieter.
“Get some rest,” he said.“We’ll deal with everything else when you’re somewhere safe.”
Mateo leaned back, arms crossed.“Doc’s already on standby.She took a couple of shots to the ribs.”
Mara’s eyes snapped open.“I’m fine.”
Mateo looked at her.Really looked.“Sure you are.Doesn’t mean you’re not hurt.”
Mara held his gaze in the mirror, and that strength had Luca’s body heating in the most primal way.“I know the difference between bruised ribs and broken.Trust me, mine are bruised.”
“Fuck,” Matteo growled, a sentiment Luca shared.
Kol added, dry as dust, “Arguing won’t make it heal faster.”
A beat.
Mara huffed out a breath despite herself.
Luca glanced back at both men.“Enough.”
Mateo grinned.“See?He likes you.”
Kol didn’t look up from the road.“Don’t encourage him.”
“And if I decide to leave?”she asked.
Luca didn’t hesitate.“Then we won’t stop you.”
That surprised her.
“But,” he added, voice dropping, “I’d be a shitty bastard if I didn’t tell you they’ll come for you.And next time, they won’t bother with throwing hands.They’ll use something a lot more permanent.”
Her jaw tightened.
“Yeah,” she said.“That’s what I thought.”
She leaned her head back against the seat, eyes closing despite herself.Exhaustion finally clawing its way in.
Luca watched her for another second.
