“You’re quiet,” Luca says, his hand running soothingly up and down my arm, his gaze intent on me, but I’m lost in my own thoughts and Nova’s pain keeps washing over me like a tidal wave.
“Just looking forward to going home, seeing Zeke,” I whisper and force a smile.
“Are we going to talk about what happened in there?” Luca asks, his gaze intent on me, but I can’t meet his stare. I don’t want him to feel pity for what occurred. I’d rather not think about that doctor or the intrusive exam.
Grimacing, I pull my arm away from his touch, folding my arms across my chest.
Luca glances down, his brow tightening as he unbuckles his seatbelt and notices the crimson on the floor of the plane. “You’re bleeding.”
“It’s nothing.”
He slowly lifts my ankle, taking a long look at the bottoms of my feet. Luca curses and shakes his head. “You should have told me. I wouldn’t have let you walk at all if I’d known you were injured.”
Luca heads toward the back of the plane, and a few minutes later, he returns with a first-aid kit. He unzips the container, retrieving a handful of items, sorting through them until he’s satisfied with what he’s found.
“Everything okay?” Liam asks, unbuckling his seatbelt and coming to stand with Luca. He squats down to look at the bottoms of my feet and grimaces. “Ouch.”
I snort at his response. “I don’t think it’s hurting you any,” I say and force a smile. I appreciate both of their concern, but it’s unwarranted. I’ll be fine.
Unlike Rhys.
I cast my glance up at Nova. Her eyes are red, puffy, and she avoids my stare. Her gaze is trained on the ground. Ashton’s strong arms embrace her, and he’s whispering something into her ear, holding her against him.
It’s obvious how much Ashton still cares for Nova, even though they’re broken up.
Unless something changed between them. It’s hard to tell from just glancing in their direction. They look so close, tight-knit, but Nova told me how she didn’t want that life after college.
How she wanted someone who wouldn’t become her father.
Luca rests my ankle on his knee while he’s bent down in front of me, inspecting my foot, making sure there isn’t any glass or crystal imbedded.
Liam hands him a set of tweezers, and my eyes widen. “What do you plan on doing with those?” I ask, already knowing the answer. But I want to be wrong.
My feet are sore, but they don’t hurt terribly with my feet up while seated on the airplane.
“You have slivers of glass that need to be removed.”
“Since when are you a doctor?” I scoff and yank my foot away from him.
Liam grabs the seat next to me where Luca was sitting. “We’ve sterilized the tweezers. We need to get the glass out and then disinfect the wound, so it doesn’t get infected.”
“And it can’t wait until we get back?” I huff.
“It can, but are you going to let me carry you off the airplane?” Luca asks.
Twenty-Six
Luca
Of course, Harper won’t let me carry her off the airplane or inside the compound when we arrive back at my parents’ house.
Her feet are thoroughly bandaged, and she tries to hide the limping, but the bottoms of her feet are ravaged.
I’d like her to see a doctor or get checked out at the hospital after what she’s been through, but that’s a fight I’m not ready to have with her and there would be a lot of questions.
“Luca!” my father’s voice bellows through the hall and there’s a breath of relief that I recognize when I see him. “Harper,” he says and nods, pleased to see her as well.
Harper brushes past him, heading straight for the playroom. “Where’s Zeke?”
