Page 83 of Love Arranged

Lorenzo’s jaw ticks. “Dick and I were having a chat.”

I keep my eyes trained on Lorenzo’s face rather than the one currently glaring at me. “Looks like a friendly one.”

Lorenzo releases Richard without giving him a chance tobrace for the landing, so the youngest Ludlow’s knees nearly give out in the process of finding his footing.

“I think you have something to say, Dick,” he spits out with a curled upper lip.

Richard’s eye twitches. “I’m?—”

Lorenzo holds up his hand. “The next word out of your mouth better besorry,or else.”

What the hell is going on?

Richard’s eyes glint with malice. “I’msorryfor your loss, Lorenzo.”

Lorenzo seems more stunned than pissed off, while Richard appears extremely pleased with himself.

His loss?I thought Richard might’ve said something about me that upset Lorenzo, but maybe he’s goading him about the election? Because what other loss could he be talking about?

Richard moves to walk around me, but he leans in at the last second so he can whisper, “He’s the guy who dumped you, isn’t he?”

The words get stuck in my throat.

“Does he know about us, or does he just not care because he doesn’t expect any better of you?” His cutting words might as well have been carved into my chest. “Because if I were him, I’d run far away from a woman like you.”

I know Richard is wrong, and even if he was right, then screw any man who judges my choices, whether it be who I sleep with or what clothes I decide to wear.

Richard gives me a parting glance before disappearing around the corner. I expected Lorenzo to jump in and dosomething—anything will suffice after the way Dick insultedme—but he’s got this faraway look in his eyes that makes me realize he wasn’t listening.

“Are you okay?” I reach for Lorenzo’s arm, but he takes a step back and crosses them against his chest, adding a physical barrier between us. Someone without any context might interpret it as a brush-off, but it seems more like a self-soothing hug than a defensive maneuver, and it makes my heart hurtforhim.

After everything he has put me through, it shouldn’t. But then again, my feelings for Lorenzo have always been…complicated.

And that was before I notice how his hands are slightly trembling.

So, I give in to the impulse to comfort him, wrap my arms around his waist, and squeeze. At first he bristles, his body hard as stone, but eventually his muscles loosen and he exhales loudly, his body loosening automatically.

It’s strange to comfort someone who causes me so much sadness, anger, and self-doubt, but when I see Lorenzo like this—lost, lonely, and paralyzed by some invisible adversary I know nothing about—I can’t leave him to drown in his own demons.

I wasn’t raised to be heartless, even if that’s all he’s known for most of his life.

So, despite my better judgment, I hug him, and I hug himhard. I even rub his back like my mom always does whenever Dahlia and I are upset.

I don’t stop or release him until the tension bleeds from his body, and even then, I struggle because I don’twantto let go.

And that right there is a problem.

18

LORENZO

Ican’t stop replaying the conversation I had with Richard despite Lily’s best attempts to lighten the mood.

Thankfully the cooking class ends soon after the bathroom encounter, and Lily and I leave the space without speaking to one another.

She stays quiet as she climbs into my Ferrari, and I’m grateful for the silence.

I’m sorry for your loss, Richard said with a smile.