After a deep breath, his gaze met mine. “I’m so sorry.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about it. You didn’t do anything.”
Luca scowled and parted his lips, only to press them back together and shake his head. “We don’t have a lot of time. Officer Russo will be here soon to take your statement. We need to be on the same page.”
My chest deflated. He hadn’t come for me, at least not like that. Summoning all my strength, I sat up as tall as I could and nodded.
Blowing out a breath, Luca squeezed my hand. “You and I got into an argument about Zoe, and my father was there. He offered to take you home as a way to apologize. You can decide on the details of that conversation. Pete lost control of the wheel, and then the truck crashed into you.”
Tears burned at the back of my eyes. “Got it.” I tried to pull my hand back.
“Please, just let me hold your hand a little longer. Let me be here with you, knowing you’re okay.”
“Fine.” My words came out like a whisper.
We sat staring into each other’s eyes, the only sound coming from the machines monitoring my body. There was nothing more to say. I’d said the same thing over and over, and it always ended in him telling me no and me running off to lick my wounds.
A knock at the door drew my attention from Luca. Officer Russo stood with his notebook in hand and a grimace on his face. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
He walked to the end of the bed and tipped his chin at Luca. “Mr. Moretti.”
“Officer Russo.” Luca didn’t let go of my hand. If anything, his grip tightened.
“I just need to ask you a few questions, Ms. Mitchell, then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Shoot.”
“Can you describe what happened?”
“Well, Pete was driving me home from the engagement party.”
“That’s the engagement party of Dimitri Chronis?”
“Correct.”
“Go on.” Officer Russo pulled a chair over to the end of the bed and took a seat.
“I was sitting behind the driver’s seat, Mr. Moretti—” His name caught in my throat. Fear wedged itself between the words, and I needed to press on to get this cop out of my face. I cleared it and continued. “Mr. Moretti was on the passenger side. Pete lost control of the wheel, and the car spun. The last thing I remember is headlights coming at the passenger side.”
Russo nodded and flipped his notebook closed. “That’s all I needed. The driver that hit you was over the legal limit, and with Mr. Moretti’s passing, we need to have all eye witness statements accounted for.”
“Wait. What’s the other driver being charged with?”
“That’s what we’re figuring out.” He stood up and reached a hand out to Luca. “My condolences for your loss. Mr. Moretti was a good man.”
Annoyance radiated off Luca as he stood and took Russo’s hand. “Thank you. Do you need anything else?”
Officer Russo looked between the two of us, his eyes darting back and forth as if he was trying to figure something out. “Not right now.” He finally settled his gaze on me. “I’ll be in touch.”
One head nod, and he was out the door.
I sucked in a breath to calm my nerves. Luca dragged a hand through his already mussed hair. Someone was going to be charged for Mr. Moretti’s death. Guilt churned in my gut. Even if we didn’t make the driver drink, we did throw an accident in their path.
Chalk it up to another life I’ve ended.
“I guess we’re in the clear then.”