Page 74 of Arranged

It was obvious.

I’d managed to make both Luca and myself miserable.

How awesome.

***

WHEN I HEARD THAT LUCAhad passed an important exam, I didn’t think I could wait any longer.

As I was on my way to his apartment, I wondered what was going to happen. Maybe I should turn around and go back.

I should give him more time to get over me.

Except, what if time wasn’t what he needed?

Would he be angry at me when he saw me? Would he throw me out of his apartment?

I bit down on my lip.

There was only one way to find out.

For once, I could let him decide what he wanted to do.

When I pulled over in the parking lot, I sat in the car for a few long moments.

My guards were close by, but ever since I’d killed Santino, and Rafael had stolen Santino’s system and used it to figure out who moved through our territory, no one had dared to come anywhere near me.

I’d never been so safe. Me going to see Luca wasn’t going to put him at risk. I kept repeating that to myself in my mind.

I finally found the courage to get out of the car, and then I grabbed the bottle of wine and a bag with food I’d brought as a gift.

As I climbed up to his apartment—yeah, I took the stairs instead because it would take more time—I couldn’t remember when I’d been so damn nervous about something.

I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

“I’m not interes—” Luca started to say when he opened the door, but when his eyes landed on me, he went quiet.

He hadn’t changed at all.

He was just like I remembered him.

“I probably should’ve told you I’d be coming, but I didn’t want to—”

“What do you want?” His jaw tightened.

“I brought you something. So you can celebrate acing your exam.” I offered him a small smile.

“No. Why are you really here? Do you enjoy tormenting me like this or what?”

“I’m not here to torment you.”

He snorted. “You sent me away because you didn’t want me anymore. Now what?”

“That’s not true. I sent you away because I thought that was what I had to do. I thought it was what was best for you.”

“Well, it wasn’t.” He crossed his arms.

“But you’re going to college. That must be awesome.”