Page 66 of State of Mind

“And the second?”

Luca drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Planting seeds.”

Jayden gave a nod, and he didn’t say anything else for the long journey to Charleston. They passed by all the same sights they had when Wilder had taken him on that first, impossibly nervous date. He could close his eyes and breathe in and imagine that Wilder was there with him. He remembered what his hand felt like when it reached for his, and how anxious he was, and how much he trembled with that first kiss. He remembered exactly the way Wilder looked with the glow of the aquarium lights haloing behind him—like he was an ethereal demi-god with the power to bring Luca to his knees with a single word.

And he would have knelt and worshipped—gladly.

He wanted that again, and he was determined to find it at the end of this road. Jayden pulled up at his terminal and didn’t offer anything like a goodbye, but Luca couldn’t blame him. He gathered his bag and tipped a wave, then sent a text to his brother letting him know he’d be there in a few hours. It felt wrong, leaving this place. He felt cracked in half, and the bigger piece was staying behind, but maybe that’s how it should be.

At least, for the first time, it felt right.

CHAPTER 20

Adriano’s PA picked him up in his Corvette, and Luca tried not to be annoyed by the lack of his brother’s presence. He had missed him, but Adriano had texted saying he had a photo shoot and that Noah, who was in his second year of his grad program, was busy on campus, so it was hard to blame the pieces of his family who were too busy for him. Luca was used to it—and he wasn’t really upset, it only made him miss the streets of Savannah where no one had to fight for shards of attention.

The man, whose name Luca had never gotten, dropped him off at his condo where his real estate agent was set to meet him to prepare the sale. Very little was required on his part—just that he hire the movers and someone to clean, and the real estate agency would take care of the photos and listing.

He was happy to do it. This place had been home once, but it wasn’t anymore. It was a relic of a life that never wanted him in the first place, and he didn’t think anyone would hold on tight.

He headed up the stairs, with his bag over his shoulder, preparing himself for the task at hand. The front door was half open, and as he peered inside, he saw two people at the counter. The first was the agent he’d only seen through her profile photo, but the second was someone he didn’t think he’d ever see again.

“Gabs?”

She spun, her expensive pumps clicking on his tiled floors with irritation as she stamped her foot. Her hand pressed into her hip so hard, he could see depressions in her jeans, and her full mouth was set in a furious scowl.

“What the actual fuck, Luca?”

He blinked at her. “Uh.”

“You disappear for weeks, then I show up and there’s a real estate agent here preparing your condo for sale?”

Luca rubbed his hands over his thighs as he walked toward them. “I’m…sorry?”

Maria cleared her throat, then slid a stack of papers across toward him. “Initials and signature. Everything’s marked.”

He felt Gabby’s glower as he pushed past her to sign as quick as he could, feeling strangely nervous with her staring at him like he’d done something to betray her. The back of his neck went warm and sweaty, and he fought the urge to swipe at it as he handed the papers back. “Anything else?”

“No, Mr. Moretti. I’ll be in touch. It was…nice to meet you.” She flicked her gaze at Gabby, then gathered everything into her folder and left, closing the door with a firm click.

The room went deathly silent, then Gabby huffed. “So, you’re just fucking off, is that it? You write me a check and then you disappear into the wind like I meant nothing to you?”

Luca took a moment to process what she was saying, and he swallowed thickly. “Why are you here?” His voice was low, raspy, the confusion gripping him, because he didn’t understand. She’d gotten what she put her time in for, and now she was here?

Yelling at him?

Gabby took three steps, then smacked him hard in the chest. “Why do you think, pendejo! You were supposed to go on vacation, not sell your damn house and leave.”

“I don’t understand.” He stepped back when she raised her hand again, but this time she curled her fist into his shirt and yanked him forward. Thrown off balance, he grabbed her, and her arms cinched tight around his waist.

“You’re such a dick,” she said, her voice muffled by the front of his shirt. “You can’t just abandon your fucking friends. You can’t just pay me off!”

Luca held tight. “I didn’t think,” he started, but the rest of the words lodged in his throat because he realized if he uttered them, anything real between them would shatter. He’d been a moron—so wrapped up in his own belief that he wasn’t worth friendship or love, that he’d painted her with that same, broad brush.

And how many others had gone the same way?

“I’m sorry,” he said after a breath. When she stepped away, he cupped her cheeks. “Gabby, I’m sorry.”

After a long beat under her heated stare, she let out a breath. “Talk to me.”

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