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Yeah, I supposed I’d have to do that as soon as possible, before it was too late for us.

Chapter 22

ILOOKED FOR LUCA EVERYWHERE, but I couldn’t find him. Where the hell had he gone? Since I was on the other end of the house, I texted Rafael.

If I couldn’t track Luca down, then maybe he could. Luca and I had probably just somehow managed to miss each other.

When I got a text back saying that Luca was back in our room and that he hadn’t gone for any of his meals today, I quickly stuffed my phone into my pocket and hurried to get some food.

After I grabbed one of the lunch boxes, I headed straight to our room. When I opened the door, I sighed in relief because Luca was lying on the bed. His eyes briefly flitted to me.

I opened the box and placed it on the bed next to him. “You need to eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“I wasn’t asking. That was an order.”

He reluctantly pushed himself up and picked up the lunch box and a plastic fork. While he played with his food more than ate, I watched him carefully.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, his voice like icicles.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“What are you going to do about it?” His gaze lifted to mine, and there was a sad look on his face.

“Just please talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

I sat down on the edge of the bed, placing my hand over his. “If you overheard me talking with Rafael... I didn’t really mean any of that. Rafael and I sometimes mess with each other. And I guess I... I wasn’t really sure what I wanted. Relationships were never my thing. I never even thought if I wanted one. And I... You came into my life, and suddenly, everything was different. I wasn’t really sure what to do about how I felt about you. It’s all new to me.”

“Don’t lie to me.” His eyes narrowed at me. “You’re saying all that just because you want me to go back to the way I was. You only like fucking me. Why would someone like you want something more from someone like me? I’m your slave. The only thing I have to offer you is my body.”

“Luca, no.” I squeezed his fingers, looking straight into his eyes. “It’s not like that. It’s not just about sex. Yeah, I do love fucking you, but there’s something more between us. I like spending time with you. I like who you are. I know you can feel the connection between us. We can figure it out. We can find out if it leads to something or not.”