Page 68 of State of Mind

She laughed, then pushed herself up. “Maybe it’s the building. Or maybe it’s the Morettis.” Walking to one of his wall mirrors, she reapplied her lipstick, then sighed. “When do you go home?”

Home. She was talking about Savannah, not here, and suddenly it felt impossibly and overwhelmingly real. He stood, setting the wine on the table, and he dragged her back into his arms, holding tight. “Promise this isn’t it for us.”

“Why would it be?” she demanded, holding on just as fiercely. “I’m supposed to be your personal attorney when I’m done with school. Which still means no fucking up until I pass the bar.” She stopped, then groaned. “Does it have to be Georgia?”

“Probably,” he told her, then pulled back far enough to kiss her forehead. He thought about Raphael—about how Raphael would love her to pieces, and how she’d fit in there. “I love you.”

She looked started, then bit her lip. “I’ve been waiting a long fucking time to hear that from you.”

He cleared his throat. “I was afraid. I’m still terrified, but…I should have said it years ago. I love you.”

She laughed, then kissed the corner of his mouth. “Wish me luck. I’m going to get laid, and I feel like you have a lot of packing to do, which is not my thing.”

It wasn’t a lie. “Tell him if he hurts you…”

“You have enough money to make him disappear. And you have brothers on your side who will make sure no one ever touches you,” she finished for him. He’d used that line before—just never on her. Not until now. “I know. Call me?”

“Yes,” he promised, and this time he meant it.

* * *

Luca was slightly drunk and halfway through clearing out his closet when the doorbell rang. He barely heard it, buried under a pile of old hoodies, but he noticed the flashing lights he’d installed for Adriano. At the door, he found his brother, Noah, and a few bags of what smelled like dim sum take-out hanging from their hands.

‘What’s up,’ Adriano signed, pushing past him. ‘Sorry I couldn’t get you earlier.’

Noah smiled, all shy dimples and soft freckles, and he offered a slight nod as he followed Adriano to the kitchen to set everything down.

‘I don’t remember inviting you,’ Luca said when he had his brother’s attention.

Adriano rolled his eyes, then grabbed Noah and kissed him under the ear before murmuring something. Noah nodded, then went back out, and Adriano turned toward him. ‘You weren’t going to eat.’

‘How the hell do you know that?’

‘I know you,’ he signed with an easy grin. ‘You were going to get drunk and wallow because your boyfriend’s gone.’

‘He’s not gone,’ Luca answered, his face sullen. ‘His dad died.’

At that, Adriano’s expression dropped to something like sympathy. ‘Is he okay?’

Luca busied himself with the bags of food just to avoid answering right away, because the truth was, he didn’t know. Wilder had texted just the one time, and then there was silence, and Luca wasn’t sure he had the right to disturb him.

Adriano tapped him lightly on the arm to get his attention. ‘I’m sorry.’

Waving him off, Luca grabbed plates, staring down at the hideous, thin gold pattern and resolved to get rid of them. Everything, actually. Apart from his clothes, he didn’t want any of his old crap. It wasn’t him. Hell, it was barely the man he had been pretending to be.

Adriano touched his arm again, and Luca looked up with a sigh. ‘It’s going to be fine. By the time he gets back to Savannah, I’ll be there.’

Adriano’s eyes widened. ‘You’re going back?’

‘I like it there. It feels…’ But he didn’t quite have the words, in ASL or English, but Adriano’s face softened like he got it.

‘We’ll be back soon.’

‘To live?’

Before Adriano could answer, the door opened again, and Noah walked back in wearing a small grin. ‘My brother says hi.’

Luca groaned. ‘Great.’

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