Page 57 of Killing Emma

“Who is it, Luca?” My voice comes out in a near whisper. “Who calls you all the time?”

His eyes drop. “I don’t know. It might be Ivan. It might be someone checking on the hit that’s due in twenty days. It’s not Jude, so I won’t answer.” He’s holding something back, and as reluctant as I feel about it, I have to press.

“What is it?”

Luca sighs, his gaze meeting mine. “Ivan knows Manny is dead, and I’m sure he knows I did it or had something to do with it.”

My eyes widen. “When did you find out?”

“At the lookout with you that morning,” he says. “I’ve got Jude looking for him, but he’s disappeared from the face of the earth.

My heart jumps to my throat. “Does he know where we’re at?”

“No—maybe. I don’t know,” Luca answers me, his voice tinged with fatigue that I realize he’s kept hidden. “If he did, he’d probably have shown up by now. I might be dead by now. Hard to say.” The frankness in his words is sobering.

“So, you’re just going to sit around and wait?”

He raises a brow. “Going hunting for Ivan without his actual location is suicide, Emma. He could be skulking out in the woods right now, and the moment I leave you here, you’re at risk. But I can’t take you somewhere to wait it out because Ivan knows my contacts. If he gets a whiff that you’re still alive—which I’m sure he has—he’s coming for you, too.”

“Great, someone else wants me dead,” I snort, picking up my coffee.

“Yeah, join the club, sweetheart,” he shoots back at me with a wink. “It’ll be fine. Jude is like a hound, he can damn near sniff anyone out, and he’s upped his game even more so in the last six months for whatever reason.”

“So, Jude finds him,” I begin, throwing out the scenario. “Then what?”

“Then I go to him.”

I narrow my gaze. “And that’s not suicide?”

“I mean, maybe. I’ve never gone up against Ivan before, but I was taught by the only man who could upend him, so I think I stand a chance, albeit small.”

“I don’t like that.”

“Me either,” he chuckles. He reaches across the table, brushing his hand over mine. “But even if I found out his location today, I won’t leave you here. I won’t move until the time is up and I know you’re in the clear.”

“And we know for certain I’m in the clear then?”

“Jude confirmed the hit is solely for your fortune, so yes, once the divorce is finalized, you’re done, Emma. I’ll take you somewhere safe, so I can handle my business.”

“And that somewhere safe is to your friends,” I put it together. “You’re assuming you’ll have the answer for Ivan’s location by then.”

“Smart woman,” he laughs, giving me a cheeky grin. “They’re gonna flip shit on me though, that’s for sure.”

“Why?”

“No reason.” He smirks and then pushes back from the table, grabbing his empty bowl. It’s painful how attractive he is, especially when he’s shirtless in just a pair of jeans. I run my eyes over the tattoos lining his olive skin, taking in the violent depictions of war covering his body. For some reason, that seems to be an overarching theme. My eyes land on the battlefield on his upper right arm, a warrior standing amidst a gruesome scene, holding his bloodied sword.

The warrior’s back is turned away from the viewer, and I can’t help but wonder if the ink soldier is exhausted or victorious.

“You wanna see something?” Luca’s voice draws me away from the tattoos.

My gaze jumps back to his, and I blush. “If this is a dick joke…”

“No, not everything is a dick joke, but I’m happy to show you that later, too.” He gives me a look that makes me forget he tried to kill me, and I push back from the table, jumping up to join him.

He grabs my hands and leads me upstairs. Somehow, we’ve fallen into this state of bliss, and I have this longing to call it ignorant, but it’s not ignorant. That would provide the assumption that we don’t know what we’re doing—that we don’t know that this won’t last. I mean, how could it last?

I know it won’t. It’s only happening because I’m here.

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