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“My uncle was sick when he was a kid. Really sick. He’s only about ten years older than me, so we’ve always been close.”
Confusion bloomed on Carla’s face. “Luca’s father?”
I shook my head, trying not to laugh at the idea of my uncle Dom being anything less than perfect. He was the epitome of strength. I’d never seen him with so much as a sniffle, and while that was the persona that one wanted in their Mafia Don’s, I always felt like it made him feel cold and out of touch.
“No,” I told her. “My mother has a younger brother.”
Carla nodded. “But he lived?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yes,” I told her. “He still has some struggles today because of the medication and treatments, but he’s doing well. My father managed to get him into an experimental treatment, and it worked. Mostly.”
“Mostly?” she asked. Carla was one of the most curious people I’d ever met. She did not hide the fact she wasn’t a fan of school, but that did not mean that Carla did not like learning.
“Yes,” I said, a twinge of sadness in my voice as I thought about my uncle. “He’d been on the wrong medications for so many years that they damaged his heart and liver. He does alright, but he’s on other treatments for the rest of his life.”
My uncle’s plight had always inspired me. It was part of the reason that I wanted to study at Harvard. The research department here was top of the line, and there were a number of opportunities that would be at my fingertips.
“I’m excited to see what you are doing,” Carla told me, a soft smile on her face. “It’s clear that you are passionate about this.”
“I don’t know if I’d associate the word data with passion, but I’m hoping that we might be able to use it to change the way that we diagnose illnesses in children. If we can look deeper, we might be able to save people without causing lasting damage from ill-fitting treatments.”
Working in research was what I’d hoped to do with my life. It wasn’t that I was too good for the family, or that I wasn’t capable of murder. I wasn’t so high-minded that I thought that. There’d been times in my life where my anger had been so red hot, I knew that I could strangle a person with my bare hands.
The scary thing about all of that was that I sometimes wondered if I would even feel guilty over it.
“You can be passionate about data,” she told me. “There are worse things that you could be involved in.” She paused. “Trust me.”
I was dying to ask her more, but we were at the door of the building that I needed to go in. “I have a meeting in here. You’re welcome to come, but there’s also a coffee stand in the lobby.”
She lifted the sketchbook. “You’re fine. I have more than enough to keep me busy.”
I nodded and started for the steps. When Carla didn’t come, I stopped. “Are you coming?”
The sun was shining behind her, and if I was able to paint, I would have immortalized the moment. There was a softness to her face that looked grief-filled and also serene.
I wanted to protect Carla. I wanted to fuck her. I wanted to be her everything. Those thoughts gave me pause.
Carla Moreno could ruin the peace I’d created.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Eli and I were in the library. He needed to find some piece of research that was key in his project, and I had gotten bored sketching in the coffee bar. Even though it was summer, there were a lot of people on campus, and while it had been fun to people watch, it wasn’t as interesting as watching Eli.
He was like a completely different person when he was at Harvard. His shoulders were more relaxed, and the tension that he carried with him was absent. I’d even spied him laughing several times. It was full-bodied.
The sight of it did something to me that I couldn’t explain, and before I could consider what I was doing, I was abandoning my things at the table I’d been sitting at and sauntered towards Eli.
His brow was furrowed as he gingerly touched several books in the stacks.
I leaned against the bookcase, pressing my breasts forward slightly. We were in an abandoned part of the library, and I was glad for that.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“I can’t find this damn book I need,” Eli muttered. His face was full of concentration as he looked at the various titles. They were leatherbound and looked important. Apparently, there was some sort of legal or biological tome. Frankly, I didn’t really understand what Eli was building, but I knew that watching him get intense about academia turned me on.
But Eli wasn’t looking at me, and that wasn’t going to do.
Reaching out a finger, I trailed it down the back of his spine. “What is it?” I asked. “Maybe I can help.” The tone of my voice was husky, and it immediately drew Eli’s attention.
