Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 56508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56508 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Before the arguments? I almost say, but I push that comment down.
“It’s okay,” Dad mutters. “I know what you’re thinking, but we weren’t always at each other’s throats. Lately, things are getting better.”
“I have noticed that,” I say. “It’s like when I was little.”
“We’re both trying harder,” he replies. “We’re giving each other more leeway. We’re making more of an effort to understand.”
“Do the same with me,” I tell him. “Understand that I have to do this. Luca needs me, and I need to be with him.”
Dad nods. “I understand, but that doesn’t make this any less crazy.”
Despite everything, I find myself smiling. “I never said it wasn’t crazy.”
Dad wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug. “I love you, kiddo.”
“I love you too.”
“Sorry, you didn’t want me to call you that anymore, did you?”
“Hey, it’s okay,” I tell him. “But I really should get going…”
Leaving the house, I almost run across the lawn. When I see Luca leaning against his car, the darkness cloaking every part of him, I realize this won’t be the reunion I dreamed of. Luca looks drained, bags under his eyes.
The closer I get, the more life sparks into him. Finally, he moves away from the car and pulls me into a passionate hug. He clutches me tightly, letting me feel his heart beating against me, through me. I want to kiss him, but I know he’s holding back because my dad might be watching.
“I missed you so much,” he says, opening the car door for me.
“I missed you too,” I whisper, meaning it with every part of my soul.
“Oh my God,” I say after Luca explains what happened last night. “I thought he was just a scumbag, but he was evil.”
Luca leans against the balcony railing of his penthouse, the wind disturbing his hair, the late morning sun gleaming through the small silver threads in the black. I stand at his side, my hand on his arm, offering comfort.
“I did it myself, Ruby. I beat him half to death and then finished the job with a bullet.” He turns, looking down at me, his eyes filled with fear, afraid I will fear him. “Are you scared of me again?”
“No,” I say fiercely. “After what he did and what he would’ve continued to do, how could I be? You did the right thing, Luca. It’s time for me to grow up. It’s time for me to accept that, sometimes, things that would normally be bad aren’t. That so-called bad people can make the world a better place.”
He sighs with relief, leaning down and pressing his lips against mine. My instincts make me respond fiercely. Emotion blazes through me as I think about that not even twelve hours ago, Luca took a life. He took the life of the man who violated me and did so much more.
When I dig my nails into his shoulders, feeling his firm muscles through the fabric of his shirt, he gently takes my hips and pushes me away.
“What’s wrong?” I whisper.
“There’s something else,” he replies. “It’s the reason Elio agreed to work with the Kingstons in the first place. He was protecting me.”
“You can tell me,” I say. “Whatever it is…”
“We should sit down.”
He leads me into the apartment, and we sit on the couch together. I lean against him, wanting to close my eyes and simply appreciate the moment, wanting to forget about all the mayhem and the heartache. When I look up at him into his intense eyes, I see that same glint of fear again, as if he thinks any second, I’m going to run away.
“Whatever it is, it’s okay,” I tell him. “We’ve got each other.”
He clenches his jaw. For a somehow terrifying second, I think he might cry. There’s so much intensity draping over every single part of him. “My brother agreed to help the Kingstons because they have some dirt on me. Apparently, one of my, uh, previous partners…”
When I wince, he reaches up and touches my cheek, cradling my face in his hand. I can tell it hurts him to talk about this, maybe as much as it hurts me to hear about it.
“She got pregnant,” he goes on. “She didn’t tell me about it, but she lost her mind after. She did something evil, Ruby.”
When he tells me, I gasp, feeling my heart clenching tight inside of me, heartache rending right through me.
“Oh my God,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry, Luca.” Tears sting my eyes, then start streaming down my cheeks—a mixture of jealousy and hate and just plain old pain. He holds me tightly, seeming relieved when I sink into his chest, pressing my face against his shirt and crying into the heat of his body.
“That’s why we need each other,” he says. “We’re going to push away the darkness. Our future’s going to be filled with light.”