Flooring it, I raced down the streets until I reached the highway on-ramp.
The entire night had been a cluster fuck. I was no Nancy Drew. Hell, I was just acting recklessly with no plan. This was no way to continue. The intelligent part of my brain told me to stop and cut my losses, but the desire to seewho Luca was sat in the back of my mind, poking and prodding me to keep going. I kept telling myself that if I saw Luca being a bastard, it would be easier to walk away, but nothing I found out today was keeping my stupid heart in check.
As I pulled in front of my building, I had to ask myself, what did I have to see to let Luca go?
What scared me was that I didn’t know if Luca could do anything to kill my love for him.
Maybe I was the fucking monster.
NINETEEN
I never considered myself obsessive. In fact, I was told more than once that I should try to care more, be more invested. I don’t think my exes or my mom envisioned my current state ofshifty-eyed compulsion when they hit me with their criticism.
Ryan hopped on my stomach,scaring me awake. Picking up my phone, I saw it was only 5 a.m., but it wasn’t like I would’ve slept much later. It had been two months since the shooting, but Luca’s blood and our last minutes together still haunted my dreams. I found myself waking up earlier and earlier on less and less sleep.
Dragging myself from my blanket cocoon, I jumped into a hot shower. My morning routine had become more perfunctory than joyful. I used to enjoy the preening and primping, but now I was just maintaining expectations.
The worst part of the morning was when there were no more products to apply, and I was left to sit and stew before work. I’d made the mistake of getting to work early the first few weeks, which left me getting worried looks from Ashley and Miranda and the ridiculous suggestion of sunrise yoga from Scott. The boy had lost his damn mind.
Sitting at the kitchen counter sipping hot coffee, I scrolled through the news. My eyes scoured for any mention of Moretti or Chronis, but I always came up empty-handed. A sense of peace would settle over me before reality sank in. Just because the local news didn’t say anything didn’t mean there was nothing to know.The itch to know more was there, but the memory of my failed sleuthing experiment kept me in check, so I headed to work, determined to stay out of a world that would surely kill me.
Miranda was on the phone as I walked in. With her hushed tones, it was obviously a personal call. I would need to have Ashley talk to her. It had been decided that I was too temperamental to address our receptionist professionally. Apparently, something about my sarcasm was cruel.
Whatever.
To my surprise, the lights in my office were on, and a dark-haired woman sat in front of my desk.
“Uh, hello?”
The tiny figure twisted in the chair. When her dark brown eyes landed on me, I tripped over nothing.
“Mrs. Moretti.”
Standing up, she quickly closed the distance between us. Her warm hands grabbed mine, and she squeezed. “Oh honey, call me Rosa.”
“Oh-okay.” Pulling from her grasp, I circled the desk and set my purse down. “No offense, but what are you doing here?”
The frown on her face made my heart thump wildly. Would they send this tiny, beautiful woman to take me out?Rosa moved back to her seat and reached into her purse.
I put my hands out in front of me. “There’s no need to—”
She pulled out a velvet box, effectively cutting me off from groveling for my life. “I was helpingLucapack and found this. You must have forgotten it when you moved out.”
With shaky fingers, I took the box from her. Popping it open, I gasped when Luca’s grandmother’s necklace sparkled back at me. Staring down at the diamonds and emeralds, I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I didn’t forget it. It’s not mine to keep.” Snapping the box shut, I pushed it across the desk.
“Well, I’m just going to leave it here.” Patting the black box, she slid it between us,placing her hands in her lap.Her set jaw and steady eye contact kept me from arguing. The Morettis had a gift. They knew exactly how to drive me absolutely bonkers.
“Fine. Is that everything?”
Warm brown eyes peered at me as her forehead scrunched up. “I needed to see if you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”Clenching my fists in my lap, I tried to pull back the tears that threatened to spill.
“No, honey, I don’t think you are.”Rosa crossed her legs, settling further back in the chair.
“I—”
Mrs. Moretti held her hand up to stop me. “Neither is my Luca. Stomping around like a dictator, barking orders at family like he’s forgotten who he is. No, I don’t think either of you is fine.”