Page 57 of Free Fall

“I’ve always known where you were. As soon as Cole knew, so did I,” he started, his voice measured. “Leaving you alone was fucking hard, Zelda, but I knew you needed it. I’m a selfish motherfucker, and there were so many times I came to the town to take you away. To demand you let me in. But I never did. Cole showed me pictures of Leo, videos of the pair of you working so perfectly. You’re a beautiful mother. He’s a kid to be proud of.

“But I was just as fucked up as ever. Not in a good place. Not for a long time. I lost your dad, my best friend despised me. We went to court for the business, did you know that? I was happy to give him everything, but he refused, fought me over every fucking safety pin instead. The bastard refused to make it easy. It was brutal. And not once did he mention you. Or Leo.

“I needed time. Time I wasn’t owed, but took anyway. Because I’m selfish. I had so much to repair, so much I failed to repair. My desire for you, Zelda, it fucked everything up. I had to humble myself and learn a fucking lesson or two before coming back.” He finished his speech by closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “But today? That old familiar possessiveness overtook me and I don’t even care.”

“Holy shit,” I heard Seren blurt from the kitchen, followed by Avery shushing her furiously.

I let his speech wash over me until it made sense. He was never a man of many words, one to just grab me and tell me everything he needed to with his actions. I realized in that moment we’d never even expressed our love for each other. It had only ever been bitter words and kinky fucking - how was I so messed up because of that? Even right before I left, when he found out I was pregnant, he hadn’t talked, he just fucked me, used my pregnancy for his kinks and his own satisfaction. The man beside me now seemed different, more open.

“You can see Leo,” I said after almost too long had passed, and Luca lifted his head up to see me better. He looked anguished. It was so shocking, he was always in fight mode, seeing this vulnerability made my organs squeeze and my resolve stutter. “You never had to hide from him.”

Luca only nodded, a wash of relief on his face for a split second. “Why the name Leo?”

I shrugged. “I liked the fierceness of it. And he came out bellowing.”

Luca smiled, but after a beat, his expression dropped. “I want you, too.”

“It’s too late for that,” I said with a shake of my head. “So unless you’re going to pin me down and take what you want from me with my friends in the next room, and our son down the hall listening to my screams, I think you should go.”

Our eyes remained locked on each other for a moment, and I could see it. The old Luca was there, the deviant who would have no qualms about doing just that, taking what he wanted from me with no concern. The glimmer in his eyes told me everything I needed to know. He was attempting the right words, but they were half-empty. He wouldn’t have done what he had today if he meant it. Though he might have been trying, he fucking failed again earlier.

“Please go,” I asked, standing, gulping.

Luca stayed sitting, leaning back on the chair like he was the king of it. “I’ve met Leo, you know.” His voice was teasing, cold, so juxtaposing from how he’d spoken his apparent truth moments ago. It made my pulse stutter. Here he was. His words and the tone in which he spat them at me making more sense than the man of repentance who’d strolled through my door. “Just today I fed him ice cream at the park.”

The anger didn’t come. Only pain. “I’m going to kill Cole.” It was a betrayal from both of them. Luca could make me feel incredible, but he had a skill for making things feel like absolute hell, too. I’d ignored Cole’s change of personality, yes. I’d been so desperate, I squashed all suspicion away, and he’d been so good with his little brother, so good I let myself forget what a dubious fucker he was. Where he got it from.

“He’s pissed at me, too, for messing it up.”

“Your biggest talent.”

Luca stood then, not crowding my space like I expected him to. He just walked past, saying hello to the kitchen eavesdroppers before leaving, letting the door shut with a soft snick.

I remained frozen until I heard his car start up, until Seren’s hand landed on my shoulder and I crashed into her, sobbing.

It didn’t seem there was ever going to be a way for Luca and me to work. And I wasn’t sure if I wanted there to be. Maybe I was better alone.

Thirty One

Luca

Iwouldnotfuckabout with this. There would be no waiting around with my thumb up my ass. The next day, I was back at Zelda’s door, knocking on the wood with a bagful of breakfast burritos and a smile hiding the scowl. I’d given her the reprieve she’d been after yesterday, sloping off to let her bitch about me with her friends. But I didn’t want to break the momentum, give her a chance to think straight. It wasn’t supposed to happen yet, I had plans and things in motion to be ready for her, to show her how serious I was, but I didn’t care that the timeline had moved up.

I knocked again, unsure if they’d heard me or were just ignoring my presence. The sounds of morning chaos filtered through the cracks in the doorframe, three adults sharing a bathroom getting dressed for the day, a tired toddler battling to get his clothes on and his belly fed. I clenched my jaw and fucking waited like a good boy.

Not a second later, Seren yanked the door open, her eyes narrowing on me in one sweeping judgment. With her face in a tense scowl, she asked, “What the hell are you doing here? You’ve done e-fucking-nough.”

I scowled right back at her and opened my mouth with a retort I was already sure I’d regret. Seren appeared to be the friend to crack.

“Who is it?” Zel’s voice called from the depths of the house, her tone curious and light.

Without taking her eyes from me, Seren shouted, “A cockroach!”

I smiled, not letting it bother me. It was a good thing Zelda and Leo had two such protective people at their sides. “Cockroach brought breakfast.” I waved the bag between us.

“We already ate,” Seren spat back, her body blocking the door, unmoving. She looked like she had a lot more to say to me.

Footsteps and muttering sounded down the hall, and Zelda appeared behind her friend, her head down as she closed the buttons on the shirt she wore. “What the hell do you mean, a cockroach? If it’s those pricks from down the road trying to sign us up for…” She looked up and paused, glanced between Seren and me. “Ah, shit.”

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