Page 72 of Count Down

“Oh, I didn’t tell you,” I say. “Alvaro, the Artistic Director, he loved my piece. He wanted to meet and talk about having me do some choreography next year.”

Luca frowns at me, “I’m not surprised. Everyone loved it.” One side of his frown twitches up, “Me especially.” He frowns again. “You’re going to miss out on choreographing for them.”

“I know, but maybe my father was right about one thing. Maybe my time with PBT is done. There are companies in Spain. Or I’ll start my own.” Luca’s frown disappears and he takes my hand and kisses it.

Lexi arrives a minute later and parks her car in front of Luca’s. I get out and Luca follows me.

Lexi runs to me as soon as she’s out of her car, “Gina!” She wraps me in a tight hug. Then she holds my shoulders and looks me over, checking that I’m not injured or missing any fingers or limbs. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

She turns to Luca and gives him a hug. Luca is surprised at first. “I knew you’d save her,” she tells him.

Luca lightly but awkwardly hugs her back. “She’s safe,” he says. “You, too. The Russians shouldn’t be bothering you again.”

Lexi lets go of Luca and pulls my passport from her pocket. She hands it to me. “I guess this means you’re going somewhere?”

I nod to her. “Europe, we think.” I trust Lexi, but until Luca’s safely out of the country, he’d probably prefer I shared as few details as possible.

“For how long?” Lexi asks.

“Indefinitely?” I look to Luca, and he nods in agreement. “You’ll have to come visit!” I add to Lexi. “When we get settled.”

Lexi smiles, but I can tell she’s sad to say goodbye.

“Thank you, Lexi.” I tell her. “You’ve been a really good friend.” We hug again. I hear a soft jingle as Luca takes his keys out. We probably have to get going.

“Lexi,” Luca says after we stop hugging. He’s holding out the keys to his house. “You can have my old place. It’s all paid for. All the utilities are automatically paid from an account. Just don’t burn it down,” Luca grins.

Lexi hesitates. She looks to me, back at the keys, then back at Luca. “Take it,” I tell her. “I don’t want to feel bad about not paying my half of the apartment. And I don’t want you to go back to your old roommate.”

Lexi takes the keys and hugs Luca again. He hugs her back.

“Some guys will probably show up looking for me,” Luca explains. “Tell them the truth. Tell them I fell in love with your friend, left the country, and gave you the house. They’ll leave you alone.”

Lexi hugs me again. “I’ll be in touch. We’ll meet up somewhere in Europe,” I promise her.

I hold back my tears until Luca and I are back in his car. I wave out the passenger side window to Lexi as we drive past her car. As soon as she’s out of view, they spill over, all the emotion of the last 24 hours flooding out of me. I wipe the teardrops from my cheeks with the hem of my shirt.

“Thank you for that,” I tell Luca. “For what you did for Lexi.”

“Hopefully, she’ll enjoy it,” he says.

“I’m sure she will.”

“It’s two hours to New York,” Luca says as he heads north on I-95. “It’s safer if we get out of town now. We can get a hotel in the city. Then we’ll get a flight tomorrow.”

I reach over to hold Luca’s hand. I feel raw and utterly exhausted as the adrenaline is finally starting to wear off. I lean my head back against the headrest of my seat and close my eyes.

* * *

Luca shakes me gently to wake me.

“We’re here,” he says.

I open my eyes but all I see is a bright amber blur. Once my eyes focus, I see a grand brick hotel, with sconces highlighting the walls between each window. Luca pulls up in front of a door with a long red awning that says, “The Chatwal Hotel, New York.”

“Where are we?” I ask. It’s slowly coming back to me. What we’re doing. That we’re running. Leaving the country together.

“I guess they call this Midtown?” Luca replies.

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