Page 56 of One Breath After Another

“I’m working on that—the monster thing. One at a time, right?”

Luca made a noncommittal noise, but he knew what his friend meant. Hell, more than any of them, Naz made the greatest effort to do something about the people that hurt Penny. He created an entire program to crawl the dark web and hunt the predators down.

The only problem?

“You can’t get them all, man,” Luca told Naz. “You can’t kill every monster out there and certainly not hers. Not the ones in her mind, you know what I mean? She’s going to have to learn how to slay those on her own. Someday.”

Naz nodded. “Maybe, but that day doesn’t have to be today.”

“Fair enough.”

What else needed to be said?

Nothing, he thought.

“Well,” Naz said, running a hand through his dark, slicked-back hair as he turned back toward the house, “anything else you want to tell me?”

Luca considered that question.

Was there?

Yes.

He knew, without a doubt, that he should tell Naz about Penny’s feelings for him. Even if it was nothing more than a silly crush that she wasn’t acting on in any real way. Even if she had admitted herself that she didn’t know why it existed in the first place or what she planned to do about it. He should tell his friend.

Or ... the kiss to his cheek.

Any of it.

If anything, so then Naz and Roz could maybe talk to Penny about that sort of thing. Guys. Men. Him. Did she even have someone who could help her interpret those feelings? Or the better question, did she want to?

That’s what kept him quiet.

Penny’s wants.

Even if he didn’t know what they were, it didn’t matter to him. If anything was clear to Luca, it was the fact that so little about Penny’s life and mind was private. She had guardians making sure she did everything she needed to do. Teachers and counselors sticking their nose where it didn’t belong. A therapist shrinking her head three days a week. Even a fucking caseworker stirring the pot.

Nothing was really ... hers.

Not without someone else’s influence.

Except him.

And her crush.

He also felt like it might be something private for her. She did say she was dealing with it even if she didn’t know how. That was something, right?

And he was safe.

For her.

For this.

He drew a line in the sand, and Luca wouldn’t cross it. He wouldn’t do shit that proved otherwise, either.

So, did he have anything else to tell Naz?

Luca glanced his friend’s way, saying, “Nope. That’s about it.”