I lead Russo into the room, taking the chair at the end of the bed, leaving the one closest to Luca free.
“Mr. Moretti, I’m glad to see you awake. I hope you’re feeling alright.”
Luca’s eyes jumped between the officer and me. “As well as you can feel with two holes in your body.”
The urge to scan him for injury consumed me, but I fought back my impulses with the image of Nicki standing in that very room.
“Good, good. Let’s make this quick, then. Can you give me a rundown of what happened tonight?”
Luca’s eyes no longer strayed to me. Pulling his lips into a charming smile, he proceeded to give his statement.
“Around 8 p.m.,two work associatesand Iwere outside the Emerald nightclub, about to go in.”
"Ms. Nicole Ricci and Mr. Marco Moretti?"
Luca’s smile flattened into aline,tension apparent in his face. “Yes.”
“And then what happened.”
“A man approached and attempted to steal Nicki’s purse. I was able to snatch it back, but in the course of the struggle,the guy got off two shots.”
“What did this man look like?”
“Oversix feet, brown hair, nothing too memorable about him. It was dark on that section of the sidewalk.”
Officer Russo jotted down every word Luca said, his eyebrows pulling into a frown. “You got into an altercation over a bag?” Luca nodded, and the officer shook his head. “In the future, please let the bag go. No life is worth the latest Chanel.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, officer. Is there anything else? I’m feeling pretty tired and would like to have a minute with myfiancébefore I pass out from the meds.”
“That should be it for now. I’ll be in touch.”
I bit my tongue to hold back the line of curses I had for that bastard calling me hisfiancéand smiled at the exiting officer.
Without looking at Luca, I asked, “So now I’m yourfiancé? Is that how you decided to handle me? By deciding we’re engaged? What the hell’s wrong with you?”
Swinging my head toward him, I watched all the color leave his face.
“How much did you hear?” His voice was soft, nothing like the aggressive tone he used with Nicki.
“Enough.” I stood up and started to walk around the room slowly. “You’re not in Chicago.”My eyes refused to look at him. Just hearing him breathe in the room irked me.
“No.”
Counting the titles on the floor as I paced, I waited for him to say more, but he didn’t.“Soyou lied.”
Silence. Deafening silence.
Nothing about us had ever been silent, but now, when I needed his words the most, he offered nothing.
“Were you ever even in Chicago?”
A whispered no fell from his lips.
I stopped walking in front of the window. Staring at the highway, I gnawed on the inside of my cheek.
“It’s not what you think, Sash.”
It was my turn for silence.