Page 57 of Broken Bonds

I laugh out loud. “A classic never goes out of style.”

“That’s what I thought,” he says, his voice full of pride. “It’s my favorite place. It was nothing but a hole in the wall when I discovered it during my college days, since then I’ve become a fan. It’s not Chicago-style, or the same as what they eat in the East, but I thought you would like it.”

The truth is, it’s actually delicious, a light and crisp crust with a mountain of cheese. I bite into it carefully so as not to leave white threads everywhere.

I’ve only eaten deep-dish pizza once, and I don’t really remember much. So besides the one they sell at Carrollton—which I still really like—I have nothing to compare it to.

“Listen.” Lionel’s tone changes, he’s stopped being playful and has become serious. “Beginning Monday, I need to return to the office, at least part-time.”

My heart stops, like he just told me that he plans to travel to a distant land or something, it’s silly, but I can’t help it. Our bubble is about to burst.

“Don’t make that face,” he teases me a little, although it doesn’t go very well. “My employees are efficient, but some matters are exclusively on me. I’m compelled to take care of what it took me so much hard work to build, there are many people who depend on me.”

“Yes, of course, I understand.” At least the rational part of my brain does.

“I’ll go to the office from Monday through Thursday, especially in the morning, like I used to,” he begins to explain. “In the afternoons, I’ll come here for therapy, so we’ll still have time to do things together. Now that a few days have passed, I would like to show you around the city.”

His voice sounds in higher spirits now. The truth is, the idea of hanging out with Lionel is exciting. It doesn’t have to be a big deal, just as long as we’re together. It sounds perfect to me.

“We’ll have to go out with security around us, of course. The police are still investigating what happened, so we must be careful.” With how close I was to losing him, those words are a bitter reminder, as his eyes don’t leave mine. “Also, one of the men I hired will escort you when you go out.”

Me? Why me?

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Lionel, nobody knows who I am.”

A sad smile is drawn on that mouth that I’m dying to kiss again, and he looks down, while intertwining his fingers with mine.

“After you arrived at the hospital, your information leaked to the press. Your Instagram account is public, so it wasn’t hard for them to get a photo of you and publish it everywhere.”

In an instant my life has changed.

I look at him with my mouth open, stunned.

“You know this is all your fault, right?” I claim. “Until I met you, I never published a personal photo, only of the soaps and other products we sell. But you got it in your head that our special moments had to be documented.”

Lionel clears his throat, looking at the place where our fingers are intertwined.

No, that’s not true. His gaze is fixed on my ring finger.

To be exact, at the thin gold band that has been there since the day he put it on in front of the judge.

“A woman like you deserves something special,” he says softly, tracing the edge of my band with his finger.

The film continues to roll, but neither of us is paying attention to it. Someday we’ll have to try to watch it again.

“It’s special to me,” I reply, telling the truth. “You gave it to me, what could be more special than that.”

“And what does it mean to you?”

That question leaves me confused. I have to look at it for a moment and think well before answering.

“A perfect circle, without beginning or end. Eternity.”

He seems to have liked my words, because he looks me into my eyes with a little smile.

“We can do better,” he says. “We can make our forever more beautiful.”

I have no idea what that means, nor do I care much now.

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