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“Here…” Luca said, coming over to me and taking my hand. “Sit down. Let me get you somethi—”
“Water’s fine,” I flopped onto the couch, feeling like I hadn’t slept in years. “I don’t need anything else, thank you.”
Luca sat down beside me, his hand on my knee. Concern creased every line on his face. “Food poisoning?”
I thought back to the meatballs I’d had at his place and then the 4 a.m. risotto. Food poisoning would’ve been a good guess, but I knew better. Those meals were nothing short of perfect, and what I was dealing with wasn’t food related at all.
I avoided Luca’s worried gaze and shook my head. “No, I think it’s just the flu or something.”
“The flu? Has that been going around?” he asked.
I swallowed my guilt and shrugged. I hated having to lie to him, but what was I going to say? I hadn’t taken any kind of test, so there was no reason for me to alarm him if I turned out to be wrong.
I groaned, doubling over and clutching my stomach. It was the last thing I needed, on top of everything else.
Luca moved closer and gently rubbed my back in much the same way Ash had done. “I’m going to call my doctor,” he said with a commanding tone. “I’ll have him come here, so you can just lie down and—”
“No, Luca, that’s not necessary,” I said. “I came here to tell you I’m going to take the day.”
“Take the day?” His frown deepened.
I nodded. “I just need to sleep. I’m going to go home and crash for a few hours. I’ll be fine after that, I’m sure.”
He didn’t seem convinced but didn’t fight me on it either. “Okay,” he said simply. “Have my driver take you home.”
“What? No,” I protested immediately. “If anybody sees me getting into your car then you’ll have to deal with—”
Luca took hold of both my hands and held them to his chest. Then, looking deep into my eyes, he said, “I will deal with whatever I have to deal with. You’re taking my car.”
I softened under his unwavering gaze, allowing his steadfastness to comfort me. I needed it so badly, and I was so damn tired of fighting. If he only knew how much I wanted to curl up against him…
A shrill ringing pierced the quiet of his office, bursting the little bubble he’d created. Luca dug his phone out of his pocket, stared at the screen for far too long, and then thrust the device at me as though it were going to explode.
He was up on his feet in a split second, gesturing wildly with his hands. “You’re my assistant. I’m not here.”
I looked at him and then down at the phone in my lap where it was still ringing. The name Madre glowed on the screen with no picture.
“Your mother?” I asked in alarm. “Luca, what—?”
He made a slicing motion with this thumb across his throat. “I’m not here. Answer it. She’ll get upset if you take too long.”
I fumbled the phone, his erratic energy sending me into my own state of panic, and picked up the call.
“H—hello?” I cleared my throat, remembering Luca’s instructions from before, and tried again. “Good morning, this is Mr. Moretti’s assistant. How can I help you?”
Luca slapped his palm to his forehead, and I shrugged. What the hell was I supposed to say? I had no idea how assistants answered phones. But the woman on the other end didn’t give me any time to rethink my game plan, because she barreled head first into an angry tirade, yelling at me in Italian.
I looked up at Luca, my eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Because even with my fluency in the language, his mother was going at it so fast that my brain could only grab on to broken phrases and throwaway words here and there. He stood with his hands on his hips, watching me intently, and after I hadn’t said anything for a while, he sighed heavily and loosened his tie.
I’d never seen him in that kind of distress before. And over his mother?
I bit back a smile, which seemed to annoy him even more. He threw up his hands and started pacing the floor in front of me.
“Uh… si, Signora.” I squeezed the trite reply between a breath she’d taken and then listened as she carried on scolding Luca via my poor ear.
I had a few more opportunities to offer my humble “yes” in response to her demands and managed to promise that I’d get the message to Luca immediately. Then there was an abrupt click, and a deafening silence filled the room. I leaned forward to gently place Luca’s phone on the coffee table.
“So… that was your mom,” I said slowly.
