Page 44 of Between the Lines

“Luca, I know. I don’t care.” Her colorless cheeks flushed, an angry glint brightening her eyes. “Why do you insist on doing this, on making out that I share Don’s stupid hang-ups?”

“Because you married him!” Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He pressed a hand over his eyes, took a deep breath. He didn’t want to get into this shit. He couldn’t, not now.

“Luca—”

“Can we not talk about it?”

His mom sighed, and Luca felt shitty because she was sick and he was being an ass. “Sorry. It’s just...”It’s just that I think I’m falling in love and it’s scaring the crap out of me.“I don’t even know if I want that—love.”

“You know you have no choice, right?” Jude sounded rueful. “Love strikes where it will and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

He dropped his hand from his face. “You can walk away.”

“But...” She frowned in frank confusion. “Why would you want to?”

He wondered, briefly, whether it was a trick question. “So you don’t get hurt?”

“Luca...” Her eyes widened. “But that’s awful. Have I raised you to be such a cynic?”

“I’m not a cynic. Love—well, sure, it makes you feel—”upside-down, crazy, ecstatic, alive“—good, but it doesn’t last, does it? If you hang around anyone long enough, they’ll leave.”

“That’s not true.”

“Dad left.” The words escaped before he could stop them, hot and slippery with irritation.

“Well.” Jude’s lips tightened. “Yes, but—”

“And then you did.”

“What?”

“When you married Don.”

Stiffly, his mom said, “I’mright here. You’re the one who left, Luca.”

“Because you brought him into my home! A man who looked at me and saw asin.” Who’d look at Theo, at what they’d shared last night, and see the same. And that, he couldn’t bear. He lurched to his feet. “I have to go.”

“Luca—”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come here today.” Fuck, he was choking up and Jude had gone white with distress.

“Please.” She reached for him, breathless. “It’s not true. Don doesn’t see you that way, he just—Luca, stop. Don’t go like this.”

“I have to.”I need Theo.“I’m sorry.”

Eyes blurring, he pushed past Don, who was frowning anxiously as he came to investigate. “What’s going on? I heard raised voices.”

Luca ignored him and kept going. By the time he reached the foyer, he was running and didn’t stop until he was bounding down the porch steps onto the gravel driveway. A large black car sat gleaming in the sun, engine running, and Theo was climbing into the back seat. He glanced over his shoulder as Luca skidded to a halt, his expression strained. Luca raised a hand, not sure whether he was waving or trying to stop him, but either way Theo didn’t respond. He just turned back around and got into the car, shutting the door behind him as the car pulled away.

All Luca could see in its smoked windows was his own reflection staring darkly back.

Chapter Seventeen

Theo sank into the soft leather of his father’s Town Car, watching Luca standing outside the hotel until the car swept out of the Majestic’s driveway and the trees hid him from view. He’d looked upset and Theo wished he could have gotten out and spoken to him, but nobody stopped Eddie Wishart when he was on a mission—and his father was clearly on a mission.

The familiar scent of leather polish and cigars made the skin on the back of Theo’s neck prickle, an unwelcome tension settling onto his shoulders. At some point over the last week he’d shucked off a weight he hadn’t realized he was carrying until now, when he tried to pick it up again. He shifted on the seat, the slick leather upholstery making it difficult to sit up straight, and said, “Are you going to tell me why you’re here? I assume it wasn’t for Don’s personal tour of the site, as informative as it wasn’t.”

His father grunted and pulled a cigar case out of his pocket. “Give me a progress report. What are your thoughts?”

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