Page 80 of Beautiful Dangerous

I shake my head and look back out over the ocean, I don’t know what else to say. I think the best idea is to say nothing, change the subject, and then my phone rings and I’m saved from having to make that decision.

It’s Lucca. And for a moment I just stare at the screen, watch his name flashing in front of my eyes.

“You gonna get that?” Angel jerks his head in the direction of my ringing phone, and I’m suddenly yanked back to reality.

“Oh… Yes. Yes, of course… Hey, Lucca.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the beach. With Angel.”

“Look, I’m not supposed to tell you this, it’s supposed to be a surprise, but Javier’s planning some big romantic night for you both so you need to get back here. Soon. You’ve got to start playing the wife, Liv, or he’s going to start getting suspicious.”

I drop my head and sigh quietly, raking my fingers back and forth through my hair. “Okay. I’m on my way.”

“This is hard, I know it is, but until we can work out a way…”

“I know, Lucca. I know.”

I end the call and tuck my phone away.

“You need to get back, huh?”

“Yes. I do.”

We pull ourselves to our feet and head back toward the car.

“Listen, Olivia, if you need any help, you come to me. You hear me? You come tome.” He’s involved now. Too deep to back out.

“Thank you. But maybe this is something we need to work out for ourselves.”

“Well, you know where I am. And remember, you can trust me. I won’t say anything, to anybody, I promise.”

I lean back against the car, my focus on the beach and the palm trees blowing slightly in the light breeze. “I shouldn’t have involved you. I’m sorry.”

I look at him, and he smiles, and there’s a kindness in his eyes, a genuine kindness that actually takes my breath away.

“We’ll find a way, okay? If you and Lucca really want to be together, we’ll find a way.”

Turning my focus back to the beach, I watch as a young family runs along the sand, a cute little dog chasing after a toddler who’s still quite unsteady on her feet but determined that she doesn’t need mom or dad to hold her up.

“Did you never think about having kids?” Angel asks, leaning back against the car beside me. “You and Javier? Before his faked death, I mean.”

I keep my eyes on the family as the dog runs toward the ocean at breakneck speed, the excited shrieks of the little girl filling the air, mingling with the screeches of the seagulls and the dull thud of music coming from a nearby bar.

“No. We never talked about it, not once. I never even gave it a thought. As far as I’m aware, neither did he.”

The woman I’m assuming is the child’s mom finally catches up with her, just in time to stop her from falling face-first into the sand, while dad throws a ball for the dog, who practically bounces into the ocean to retrieve it. And I’m suddenly smiling, imagining what mine and Lucca’s child would look like. Could we possibly have a life like that? A simple, normal, ordinary life?

“Come on.” I tear my eyes away from the family, and push any thoughts of happy-ever-afters to the back of my mind. “Let’s go.”

“You okay?” Angel frowns, and I look at him, and I smile, but the answer is I don’t know. I don’t know if Iamokay.

“I will be.”

I might be.

But nothing in this life is guaranteed…

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