up in a familiar room I can’t quite place, with a pair of blue eyes on me.
“Hi there.” Luca smiles softly.
I blink around, feeling confused and a bit self-conscious. I frown around Ree’s room, and then up at Luca. Oh, wait, I remember now—we came here with Dani.
We’re in Ree’s double bed, and Luca’s leaning back against some pillows. I’m lying flat, my head near his hip.
“How are you?” I murmur.
“Okay.” His lips curve a little as he looks down at me. “Enjoying a rare luxury.”
“Sleep?”
He smiles. “Watching you sleep.”
I cover my face with my hand, and his fingers delve into my hair. “I probably look like something that the cat dragged in,” I whisper.
“You look perfect.”
I sit up so I can see him better. “You look rested. Did you sleep?”
He laughs softly, looking embarrassed. “I don’t know. I think maybe.” His gaze moves around the room. “Where the fuck are we?”
I can’t help laughing, too. “This is Ree’s house. When we got here, you were out of it. Dani can’t swallow pills—or like, she won’t—so she had some pain patches, which she brought in the car. You were sleeping, but I stuck one of them on your arm. When we got here, you were feeling better. I don’t think you cared where we were. But a little while ago, you woke up and pulled it off and muttered something like ‘dammit, Elise!’”
He smiles, looking puzzled. “I don’t think that happened.”
I laugh, holding up the crumpled patch. “You want to put it back on?”
He shakes his head. “No way.”
“How do you feel?”
He sits up slightly straighter. “I feel like you and your friends…kidnapped me. And maybe…someone made a call saying they saw a dude with my description…get run over?”
“Would that be an issue?” I laugh. “If it were true? I mean, it may just be a fever dream.”
“I don’t think I have a fever.” He laughs.
“Do you think I’m crazy?”
“Yes.” He grins, looking tired but amused. “What’s your goal, Miss D.A.? Sorry.” He shuts his eyes.
“It’s okay. It has a certain ring to it. And…my end goal was to run away with you.”
“What?”
“I thought we could go somewhere together. Not to Timbuktu. I got Lasik, and I get dry eyes like crazy since then. So it can’t be the desert. But I don’t know…maybe the ocean. Europe.”
“For how long?”
“Like, a few years?”
“What?” He laughs.
“I want to be together when the baby comes. I want to be with you.”
He shuts his eyes, his face barely moving as he murmurs, “Where do you think we could go?”
“Spain or Portugal? Italy? The Baltic Sea? Even Iceland—that would be amazing.”
When he opens his eyes, they look wary. “What about your job, la mia rosa?”
“Well…I would resign.”
“For what reason?”
“I wouldn’t say. But we could start a rumor—any rumor. I could even say I’ve been trying to conceive for years. And now I did, and I want to be present for that. People would probably think Jace was the dad. Unless they knew me well, and then who cares? It’s my life. Ours,” I correct.
“Have you been trying?” he asks.
“No, of course not. It’s a lie. You know, for the press.”
“But you won an election, rosa. I saw you give your speech.” He’s frowning deeply. “You were happy.”
“No I wasn’t. I was proud. There’s a difference. I wasn’t unhappy, but this job is me keeping myself occupied. I ran because…well, in part, Ree wanted to run a campaign.” I laugh, feeling somewhat foolish. “She thought I would make a good D.A. Remember, they’re the betas, and I’m just the goldfish. But I wanted it. I did. And now I want to have our baby, and I want to be with you.”
He blinks, looking puzzled and then dismayed.
“Don’t you even think about telling me I’m a failed feminist. Or something about women in the workforce.”
He looks aghast and affronted. “I’m no mansplainer.”
My eyes well. “Would you think it, though? That I’m a failure? I know other people might.”
He smooths my hair back. “Rosa, what would you think? That’s the only thing that matters. Let me tell you something: I can wait for you. I can do…whatever you want. I could be your live-in husband…and only leave in disguise.”
“Would you leave your job?” I ask him.
“I’ll find a way. Like you”—he shuts his eyes, as if he’s tired—“I was just passing time.”
“Would people come after the others on your…erm, team…if you left? Given what happened with Aren?”
“Probably not. If I left…I would be viewed as weak. Like I