Page 91 of Beautiful Dangerous

Eddie sighs quietly, reaching behind him for his beer. “We all thought Javier was dead. All of us, everyone did. Except Lucca.”

“Okay… I’m sorry, is this conversation going somewhere?”

Eddie lets a beat or two pass, and downs a mouthful of beer before he speaks again. “You and Lucca, you got closer, right? After Javier left?”

“Eddie, will you just spit it out? Please?”

He casts another glance in Angel’s direction, and I sigh, probably a little too heavily.

“Olivia, I swear, I didn’t tell him anything.”

“He’s right,” Eddie chips in. “He didn’t tell me, I already had my suspicions. But Angel came to me…”

My head shoots up, my eyes flitting from Angel to Eddie, and I’m aware of a creeping nervousness taking over now. “Hecameto you?”

“I’d already guessed, Olivia. How Lucca felt about you.”

I feel like I’m spinning out of control now, this wasnotwhat I expected to happen when I came here this morning. The more people who know about Lucca and me, the more dangerous this situation becomes, and nowEddieknows…?

“And he crossed a line, kiddo. You gonna tell me I’m wrong about that?”

I glance back over my shoulder at Angel, who just throws me a half smile and continues to dry the glasses he’s retrieving from the dishwasher.

“I thought my husband was dead, Eddie. If I’d had any idea that Lucca knew he was still alive…” I feel my shoulders sag, like a heavy weight’s suddenly been dropped onto them. “You said you’d guessed, how Lucca felt about me. How? I mean, what did we do that gave us away?”

“Nothing. You didn’t do anything, there’s just – there’s been something about Lucca, for a while now. Something I couldn’t put my finger on, it just seemed like he had a lot more on his mind than usual. Now we know why.”

“He lied to all of us, Eddie.”

“For a good reason. He would’ve had no choice.”

“But he shouldn’t have let me think we could be together when he knew there was no chance it could happen.” I let out another heavy sigh, dragging my hands back through my hair.

“No. He shouldn’t.” Eddie glances around the room, making sure no-one else is listening in to this conversation. “But sometimes we lose control of shit.” He looks at me, and he shrugs. “It happens.”

Angel comes out from behind the bar, and he and Eddie exchange another glance.

“I saw the way he looked at you, Olivia. Just one look, and maybe he didn’t even know he was doing it, but, that’s when I knew, for sure. That’s when I knew that what he felt for you…” Eddie drops his head and shakes it. “He shouldn’t have acted on it, knowing what he knew, he shouldn’t have done that.”

I don’t know what to feel. Relief? Why would I be relieved that even more people know mine and Lucca’s secret?

“Do you feel the same way? About him?”

“I – I don’t… Eddie, I can’t talk about this.Wecan’t talk about this. Please, tell me you haven’t told anyone else…”

“I haven’t. And I won’t. I promise you, this stays between us three.”

“Javier would kill him, if he found out.” My voice is almost a whisper, and laced with a new-found fear. “He’d kill him.”

“Maybe,” Eddie sighs, sinking a long draft of beer.

“You shouldn’t be involved…”

“But we are. Now.” Eddie puts his drink down and crosses his arms, and I watch as he and Angel exchange another quick glance. “Look, Olivia, there’s absolutely no way the Devil’s Creed is going to jeopardize our relationship with the cartel, we’d be crazy to even think about doing that, but, at the same time, we’re not heartless bastards. Not all of the time, anyway.”

He smiles, but I don’t return it.

“Angel told me he wants to help you and Lucca. Help you get out of this god forsaken world and start again, is that what you really want, huh? To get out? To leave Javier? To start again, with Lucca?”

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