Page 74 of Dark Love

What crime lord makes you eat breakfast and wear a jacket before you go out?

Nothing about him makes sense.

And now I have his number in my phone.

He hasn’t texted.

Not once all day.

Did I really expect him to?

Yes.

A loud knock, like a fist hitting the front door, makes me jump.

Is that him?

With the size of Vex’s hands, wouldn’t his knock sound more like anexplosion?

I peek out the window by the door. There’s a very grumpy teenager pacing on my stoop. “Hope, what’s wrong?”

“Where have you been? You didn’t come home all weekend.”

Uh oh. How did she even notice that? We didn’t have any plans to work on her book this weekend. “I’m fine. Would you like to come in for a snack?”

“I’m not hungry.” But she steps inside. “Dinner is soon. And if I don’t eat enough, Dad worries that I’m sick.”

That sounds like Max. “He loves you.”

“He does. And he could love you too.” Hope gives me an expectant look.

“I still haven’t changed my mind. Come with me to the kitchen if you want to talk. I need to eat. It’s been a long day.” And a long time since the strange, but good, avocado toast.

“You could come over for dinner. Nonna is making lamb chops with mint sauce. It sounds weird, but it tastes delicious.”

Lamb and mint?!? “I’m too tired, but thank you. A bowl of ramen suits me just fine.”

“Ramen is a snack, not food.” She wrinkles her nose at me.

“I’ll put vegetables in it.”

“That’s not enough. You need protein too.” Hope plops herself down on a barstool like she lives here.

Protein? I pull the fridge open and stare at the empty shelves. “Um…”

“You’ve got to have something in there.” Hope walks over to stare inside. “What happened to your fridge?”

I shrug. “Food shopping isn’t one of my priorities.”

“You should come over for dinner.”

It’s tempting, so tempting, to just disappear for a few hours into her family. To pretend that the world is perfect. To let the events of this weekend become fuzzy.

Can I really believe that there’s any way the memory of Vex’s face will ever get fuzzy? “It’s been a really long day. I’m not up to a big family dinner.”

Hope reaches past me and pulls out the egg carton. “Hard-boiled eggs taste good in ramen.”

“Thanks.”

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