My hands gripped the steering wheel tighter, trying not to let my mind go back to what happened to her and how I’d failed. I stopped at a red light and glanced over at Luna, trying to distract myself. Her gaze was fixed to the window, and I couldn’t help but tap her arm to get her attention. She turned her head slowly, her blue eyes fixing to me. She looked unsure of herself, her insecurity at the forefront for me to witness.
“How were classes?” I asked, deciding a neutral topic would be best to start with.
“Good.” She bit down on her bottom lip. “I need to stay late tomorrow so I won’t be able to watch the kids.” That was another thing she’d been doing since I moved her in. Dorothy—the new babysitter who lived two doors down from the house—hadn’t watched them since.
I nodded as the light turned green and pushed my foot down on the accelerator. She didn’t need to watch Cardo and Chiara. That wasn’t what she was there for. But I didn’t tell her that because I knew how much they all liked to spend time together. They had their bond, one that I hadn’t realized was so strong.
“There’s no classes tomorrow,” Aida spoke up. I darted my gaze to the rearview mirror, seeing her eyes go wide as she realized what she’d said.
“I know.” Luna turned in her seat to look at Aida. “But I need to finish my assignment.” She was quick to answer, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
I heaved in a breath, not sure what the burning feeling in my chest was. “Can’t you do that at home?” I heard myself asking. I should have kept my mouth shut. I should have let her explanation be enough.
She shook her head. “No. I need to use the computers.”
Fuck. I ground my teeth together as I remembered what she’d told me. She didn’t have her laptop. Her mom and dad had sold hers to feed their drug habit. It hadn’t occurred to me what she would do without one until that moment. Dammit. I’d been so consumed with making sure Lorenzo knew that what I’d said was the truth that I hadn’t given it a second thought. Given her a second thought.
Making a mental note, I pulled through the gates of the mansion and stopped in front of the mansion doors. If she and I were doing this, then there was no way she’d be living in the library at the college, reminded at every turn what her parents had done.
“What’s Lorenzo doing out here?” Aida asked, unclipping her belt. I snapped my head around, trying not to let my confusion show on my face as he strolled over to the SUV. Aida slid across the seat but by the time her hand reached for the door, Lorenzo opened it and pushed inside. “What are you doing?”
Lorenzo looked at me in the rearview mirror, then to Luna, and finally landed on Aida. “Nice to see you too, baby.”
Luna’s body locked in place at the sound of his voice. She gripped the door handle, her knuckles turning white with the force, and I was sure she’d try to get out of the confines of the SUV any second. He may have let her go, but that didn’t mean she was home free. Not yet anyway. But she would be after today. We both would be.
“It’s nice to see you too.” Aida laughed, leaning into him. “But what are you getting in the car for?” She was confused, as was Luna, but I had a feeling I knew why he was here. There wasn’t much you could keep from Lorenzo, so I had no doubt he’d found out what I was planning today.
“We’ve got somewhere to be,” he said, leaning back in his seat and pulling Aida closer to him. He grinned toward Luna. “I hear wedding bells, right, Mateo?”
“What?” Aida shot upright, pushing her head between the seats yet again. She was doing that more and more, and every time I wanted to tell her how dangerous it was, but I couldn’t face the idea of taking the smile off her face. Not after everything she’d been through. “What is he talking about?” I opened my mouth to explain not only to Aida, but Luna too. “Are you two getting married?” Her eyes were wide as she squealed right down my ear.
Luna snapped her head around, her blue eyes turning navy. “Mateo?” Her voice was a whisper, a question she knew she couldn’t voice completely, not when we weren’t alone.
“That’s right.” I tried to act like none of this was bothering me. I’d planned to do this alone, just the two of us, but now it looked like we had company. “The courthouse is booked for three pm.”
Both Luna and Aida glanced at the time flashing on the dash. “That’s in two hours!” Luna screeched, her panic loud and clear for all to see and here. “Dammit, Mateo. You could have given me warning.”
I stared at her, trying to communicate to her that I hadn’t wanted to do it like this, but apparently she’d come to terms with the fact that we would be getting married. She told me she was breaking the chains, and as far as I knew, she’d kept to her word. She just needed to make sure it stayed that way. I’d lived life far too long trapped in mayhem and I refused to do it any longer.
“Erm…” I stared at the time, calculating the exact minutes. “I’m giving you one hundred and seventeen minutes.”
She stared at me like I had grown an extra head then burst out laughing, the sound so fuckin’ glorious that nothing would have pulled my attention away from her. I could have had a thousand bullets ricocheting toward me, but it wouldn’t have mattered because…fuckin’ damn. She was beautiful. The most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
“Fuck, Luna.” I reached my hand out, cupping her cheek with my palm. “You’re goddamn angelic when you laugh.”
Her laughter waned to chuckles, and when she finally stopped, I missed it like it was one of my limbs. Her cheeks reddened as I stared at her, but I refused to look away. I hadn’t wanted this—not with her or anyone else—but I couldn’t deny that she’d taken root in my mind from the moment I’d touched her bare skin.
“Oh my God,” Aida whispered. “You two are,” she sighed, “just perfect.” Her voice broke the spell we were under and I pulled my hand back. But I didn’t look away. I needed her to know that there was a reason I’d stepped in. It wasn’t just because she’d been in trouble, it was because I couldn’t bear the thought of her getting hurt.
“So...we’re getting married today, huh?” Luna whispered, her eyes lighting up. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of happiness to her clear blue eyes. Or maybe it was relief that I’d stuck to my word. Either way, I was going to soak in every second of her happiness.
“Not dressed like that, you’re not!” Aida shouted. She scrambled out of the car.
“Fuckin’ hell,” Lorenzo grunted, and I looked at him just in time to see him drop his head back. “I should have known this was going to happen.”
Luna’s door flung open and she was helpless to Aida as she pulled her out of the SUV. “We’ll be back in…” She looked up at the sky. “An hour.”
“An hour?” Lorenzo barked, getting out of the SUV. “What’s gonna take a goddamn hour to get ready?”