It had worked, but it had come at a price. Being hurt and vulnerable weren’t the only things she’d protected herself against — she’d braced herself against love and friendshiptoo.
It was scary to care about people. To let them care aboutyou.
It meant you worried about them. You were invested inthem.
But they worried about you, too. They were invested in you,too.
She now had a handful of people she called friends: Jenna in Tuscany, Charlotte in Paris, Nora in California. She hadn’t spent as much time with Angel in Rome, but Aria had a feeling that when they met again, Nico’s kind, green-eyed wife would also welcome her with openarms.
Howstrange.
She caught motion out of the corner of her eye and turned to find Damian standing in the doorway to theterrace.
“Ready? The boat’swaiting.”
Aria nodded. “Ready.”
She was ready — to go back to New York and to find Malcolm. She would miss Greece, but New York was hertown.
Damian — and their unborn child — was herfuture.
She gave Nora one last hug and turned towardDamian.
It was time to close the book on her past, on Malcolm, once and forall.