He comes up beside me, tall, broad. An effortless protective presence. “Sit your ass down.”
My body obeys without mental consent.
“This is for upper arms,” he continues.
I scoff. “I figured as much. I’m not completely ignorant.”
He grins, the flash of perfect white teeth increasing the hum in my belly. He leans in, adjusts the weights stacked to my left, then pulls down the dangling bar hanging above my head.
“See how that feels.” He hands over the bar. “Keep your core tight and do as many reps as you can.”
He steps back to sit on another bench as I pull the weighted bar down below my chin, then raise it again. He doesn’t watch me this time. He lowers his gaze to the floor and bends over, resting his elbows on his knees.
There’s no comforting smile. No heated gaze. There’s nothing. Only a flat line of lips against a blank expression that makes me think he’s hiding something.
“Am I doing this right?” I continue to work the bar, my arms wobbling under the unfamiliar exertion.
“Yep.” He nods, his gaze briefly raising only to catch on my chest. His face tightens. Hardens. Then he glances away, his jaw ticking.
I can’t help following where he looked, my cheeks heating when I see my nipples beading through the thin layer of my shirt.
The bar slides from my grip. The weights clatter onto the stack.
Luca shoots upright, his attention flashing to me as he frowns. “You okay?”
I nod and slump my shoulders, feigning fatigue when what I’m really doing is loosening the material around my chest. “Sorry. I’ve never done arm weights. I didn’t mean to let go of the bar.”
I didn’t mean to be sexually insensitive either.
It’s just that I can’t bring myself to wear underwear. Not bras or panties.
I’d dreamed of having those luxuries while I was a slave. I’d always thought I’d love the comforting feel of added layers of clothing after having the option taken away from me. But then I’d come here, and the dreams had come true, only to become another nightmare.
I’d hated the restriction. The suffocation. The itch of something foreign against my skin.
“Don’t worry about it.” He keeps his chin high, as if determined not to lower his vision. “We can try again tomorrow.”
He holds out a hand and waits for me to stand. The offer is forced. There’s something different about him. Something has changed since he reentered the room.
His eyes aren’t as kind. His shoulders are too stiff. He’s on edge, for reasons other than my appearance.
“Who was on the phone?” I ask.
Brief seconds pass as his hand falls to his side, the silence announcing where the shift in his emotion came from.
“Torian,” he admits.
“What did he say?”
He sucks in a long breath, his muscled chest rising beneath his shirt.
“Luca, what’s wrong?”
He winces. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
The admission is barely spoken, yet the words penetrate deep. “Tobias… Is he okay? Did something happen?”
“No. Nothing happened to him.” He rakes a hand through his hair.
“What about my brother?”
“They’re both fine.”
I breathe a little easier. “But something’s wrong… There’s something you can’t say…”
He holds my gaze, his expression hardening. “I don’t want to keep shit from you. Problem is, wanting to protect you and also tell you the truth isn’t possible.”
I swallow as a skitter of unease ricochets down my neck. I want to know what he’s hiding. I don’t want to add to his burden either. “I trust you’ll tell me anything I need to know when the time is right.”
He huffs out a laugh and shakes his head. “You’re not helping.”
I hate seeing him struggle. It’s strange. I never thought I’d consider or care about a man’s feelings after what the opposite sex put me through. Yet here I am, wishing he wasn’t battling whatever weight rests on his shoulders. “Luca, you always make the right decision where I’m concerned. I know you only want what’s best for me.”
“Jesus Christ.” He drops back down to the bench, head hung, shoulders slumped. “Tobias is here in Portland.”
My heart squeezes. Tobias. My beautiful boy.
“He’s been here for a few days.” He lifts his head to meet my gaze. “Torian thinks it’s best if the two of you keep your distance.”
That squeeze becomes a burn, incinerating me from the inside out.
There’s pain. So much pain. But I knew this would happen. I predicted these people would snatch Tobias out of my life. I knew they would never want a constant reminder of their father’s crimes around