Page 60 of One Step After Another

He sounded like he was telling the truth. His expression gave nothing away to say he was lying or overthinking.

Penny flicked a strand of white-blonde hair away from her face, muttering, “Considering I’ve had suicidal ideations since I was too young to even understand what I was thinking, that’s just a part of my brain. I’m wired like that, you know? Wired wro—”

“Not wrong, Penny.”

She laughed sharply. “You sound like Cree. Wanna shrink my head, too? They’ve all taken a shot at it, but I can’t promise it will get you anywhere.”

Luca’s expression didn’t change to say anything she said interested him. No doubt, the man was soaking it all in, though. Planning how he might be able to use it in the future when he found himself chasing after her again.

“And no,” she added quieter. “All those attempts were brought on by circumstance and situations at the time. Waking up every day and thinking what would it be like if I died today isn’t quite the same as making an active plan and trying to see it through, Luca.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“How many times?”

That had Penny frowning. “Why?”

“Curious.”

“About my suicide attempts?”

Luca cleared his throat. “About everything. Anything.”

“You shouldn’t ask—”

“Why, because you actually want to answer? Because you like to talk to me as much as you like fucking me?”

Penny dragged in a hard breath, hating how fast he had hit the nail right on the head. “Luca ...”

“It’s only fair. You threw some baggage at my feet to unpack. I’m just handing some back, Penny.”

Right, well—

Before she could finish her thought, let alone reply to Luca, a knock echoed on the door of their room. In the many days that they had spent in the underground haven, not once had someone came to their room. Not even Freddie.

Luca passed Penny a look, asking, “Do you want me to get it?”

“I think I can handle it.”

“Just saying. The offer is there.”

Mmhmm.

If there was anything this man should know about her by now, it was that she could certainly take care of herself when the situation called for it. Penny was far from helpless. She would never be the damsel in need of saving.

Wasn’t her style.

She lived that life once.

It was enough.

Pushing out of the bed when the knock echoed again, she grabbed Luca’s shirt from the floor and pulled it over her head. Punching her arms through the sleeves, she gave him a look over her shoulder, pointedly.

With a roll of his eyes, he covered his nakedness with the blanket. Although it did nothing to hide his sexiness, or the way he stared at her like he wanted her back in the bed as soon as possible. Damn. She felt the same.

“Better?” he asked.