Luca stiffened. “For her sake, I really hope not.”
“What was that about?” I asked once we were out of earshot of the bodyguard.
“Nothing,” he deflected. “What were you running from back there?”
“Nothing.”
Our gazes locked, and we both snickered. “For an award-winning actress, you can’t lie for shit.”
“I wasn’t really trying,” I excused as he unlocked the front door. We walked through the house and straight into the kitchen. He opened the pantry door and grabbed a package of Oreos and some cake icing. When I saw it, I shook my head, not wanting to think about the chocolate cake I’d abandoned to get away from Jordan and seeing him fawn all over Mia.
It was stupid. I loved Mia so damn much, but she was the one person in the world I was the most jealous of.
Luca replaced the icing and grabbed an unopened bag of Cheetos. I pushed him out of my way and started grabbing a few things, but since none of her children lived at home any longer, it seemed that Aunt Layla didn’t keep very much junk food in stock.
“This is a sad stash,” I grumbled as we walked up the stairs to Luca’s old room.
“It really is,” he agreed. “But it’s better than having to go back to Aunt Emmie’s and watching Violet be happy with someone else.” Jaw clenched, he dropped down on the floor beside the bed and leaned his back against it. “She glows, Arella. Fucking glows.”
I grasped his arm and gave it a sympathetic squeeze. “I’m sorry.”
He closed his eyes. “Don’t be. I’m the one who fucked everything up. I don’t deserve her.”
“I don’t know what to say here, Luca,” I told him honestly. “I want to tell you it will get better. That you’ll find someone else and be happy. But I can’t picture you with anyone but Vi.”
“Me either.” Opening his eyes, he grabbed the first thing his fingers touched and opened the cookies. Stuffing four into his mouth, he picked up the remote to the television mounted on the wall and clicked it on. “Thanks for coming with me,” he said after we’d both been silent for several long minutes. “Even if we don’t do anything but sit here, it’s nice to have someone to be quiet with.”
I leaned my head against his arm, comforting him and accepting comfort in return. He didn’t know what was going on with me, but that didn’t matter. Just being beside him made things…not better, but more bearable. “Yeah, this is kind of nice.”
After a while, he told me about the house he was about to close on. It was right next door to Uncle Wroth’s farm and just a few miles from Uncle Axton’s house. It was less than an hour’s drive to work for him, but I knew he’d bought it because Violet had always loved West Bridge, Tennessee, so much.
It only made me sad for him, but I let him tell me every last detail about the place. He needed someone to just listen, and I needed someone to just sit beside and not have to worry about what was going on with my stalker or how much it had hurt that Jordan had jerked away from me earlier like I had something contagious he didn’t want to catch.
Would I ever learn not to get my hopes up where Jordan Moreitti was concerned?
Three
Jordan
Mia waited until the door closed behind Arella before putting her hands on her hips and glaring at me. “For such a smart guy, you’re pretty fucking stupid at times. You realize that, right?”
“No one told you to follow me in here,” I grumbled. “Everything was going perfectly until you showed up.”
She rolled her pretty green eyes at me. “Well, excuse me. I’m a little absent-minded right now. I didn’t realize I was going to walk in on you about to kiss the girl.” She poked me in the chest, hard. “But you didn’t have to act like you got caught red-handed with the crown jewels. You just broke her heart. Again, I might add.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face, knowing I’d fucked up—again—but not knowing how to fix anything. Where Arella was concerned, I didn’t seem to have any game at all. It wasn’t until Cole Steel died that I realized I’d fucked up in the first place. After my girl had left me standing in her kitchen after her grandfather’s funeral, Mia had clued me in to how