After a few silent beats, he says, “Please tell me we have a lot of stock in this company.”
“While the shell company, SurgOptix, will launch an IPO soon, BioNEX itself is not actually publicly traded. It’s not… public at all.”
Luca looks over to me. “What does that mean?”
“No one knows about it except the people who work there and the board and trustees. The labs are belowground, built into the side of a mountain behind a building.” This is the conversation I’ve been alternately hoping for and dreading since the day Luca and I met. I take a deep breath. “Everyone outside my job thinks I work as a project manager for a surgical laser company.”
He seems to hear the difficult admission in my words. “?‘Everyone’?”
Remorse stings through my sternum and I take a sip of coffee to wash it down. “Yes. Everyone.” Another breath, and I steel myself before meeting his eyes. “Before this, you didn’t know what my real job was.”
He frowns. “Ever?”
I shake my head. “I had to sign about a million NDAs when I began working there. I met you about ten years into my job at BioNEX.”
“Why are you telling me now?”
“I’d decided to tell you that night, but then the accident happened. Which was good, because I’m not sure how else I could have explained how you woke up in the lab, inside a futuristic pod, with no recollection of anything.” Shrugging, I admit, “Or maybe I could have lied.” Smiling sadly at him, I say, “I probably could have come up with something, but the truth is, I didn’t want to. I hated the lies, and I’m glad you know. It’s… yeah. It’s been hard to keep it from you.”
“I hope so.” Luca blows out a breath, turning to look out the front window. “I feel like I should be upset, and on some level, I guess I am, but…”
“There’s no context to make it feel real.”
“Yeah.”
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, Luca,” I tell him. “I never thought I’d be in a relationship long enough that the lies would matter, never mindmarried. Then you happened and… that was it. I couldn’t be without you.”
“The company didn’t make you sign something about getting married?”
I shake my head. “Just about spilling the beans to any current or future spouse.”
He’s quiet for a moment and I’m afraid to breathe, afraid of what he’s going to say. Finally, he lets out a small laugh. “You don’t have another husband somewhere, do you?”
I exhale. The resurfacing of another Luca trait: easing the tension with a joke. I give him a grateful smile and shake my head. I know I’m not necessarily forgiven—that would be impossible right now given the circumstances—but it’s more than I deserve. “Definitely not.”
“Good,” he says with a nod. The silence stretches, broken only by Honey’s snores.
“I should also tell you that I had to go into the office today.”
“You did?”
“I didn’t want to—believe me—but I had to. It’s complicated, but the lab has all kinds of systems to monitor who comes in and out.”
“Oh…”
“Yeah. I needed to delete any video footage before someone realizes you were there. I swear I wasn’t gone long, though, and I had Annie come over to watch you.”
His back straightens slightly. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“I know that, but you weren’t fully awake yet, and you do need to be medically monitored, at least for now.”
He nods, pacified but clearly not happy about it. “Were you able to clear everything?”
“I think so.” I lean forward then, hoping he really feels the weight of this. “And, Luca, I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you to promise that you won’t tell anyone about this.”
“Who am I going to tell?” He smiles, but his eyes look sad. “I don’t know anyone.”
16LUCA
