“I just want to make sure you’re making this choice for yourself and not because Neal scared you. I tell you to be a bitch because I already watched one guy undermine you over and over, slowly draining your confidence.” He took one of my hands. “I want you to make decisions based onyourneeds, not others’. Take what you want. Do you wantSebastian?”
If Sebastian had truly meant what he’d said earlier about making this work, and if he could forgive me for the way I’d treated him in the breakroom,then. . .
I nodded slowly. “Ido.”
“Do you want the job inBoston?”
I inhaled deeply, thinking back to my conversation with Dionne. Some of it was a blur, my memory short-circuiting from everything that’d come after. But I hadn’t forgotten the confidence she’d had in me. “I would have a team, Lu, one I get to assemble, train, and mentor. We’d be entering a new space where there’s not really much competition yet, so I’d be on the forefront of that. And I’m not bored with my job as it is, but I’d be taking this next step on my own, moving out from under Dionne’s wing after all theseyears.”
Luciano watched me. “Yeah. I guess you do want thejob.”
I squeezed his hand to say what I couldn’t. Leaving wouldn’t just mean saying goodbye to New York, but to Luciano and all the memories we’d madehere.
His eyes doubled insize.
“Oh, don’t get emotional,” I said. “I won’t be ableto—”
“I’m not crying.” He glanced behind me. “I, um . . . I’msorry. . .”
“For what?” I asked as he grimaced. “What’swrong?”
“I probably should’ve mentioned that Sebastian called while you weresleeping.”
“Oh. It’s fine.” Sebastian’s text during Bruno’s crisis had been a request to come over and talk. Once I’d checked Bruno in at the vet, I hadn’t had the emotional capacity for anything else, so I’d ignored the message. “I’m avoiding hiscalls.”
“You were until I pickedup.”
I slow blinked. “You talked tohim?”
He lowered his voice, looking furtively over my shoulder as he rushed out, “Yes, and I was waiting to see how your story played out before I decided whether to stick around for this, but honestly, he got here much faster than Ianticipated.”
“He’shere?” My heart stopped. I whirled around in my seat to see Sebastian striding down the hall with a bouquet of white roses at his side. Still in his suit, his hair was disheveled, his tie crooked. “Why?” I whisper-hissed. “Up until an hour ago, you still thought he was myenemy.”
“He didn’t sound hostile on the phone when I answered it,” he said defensively. As Sebastian neared, Lu quickly added, “He soundedsad. Said he needed to talk to you. For a moment, I was worried he’d start unloading on me, so instead, I told him aboutBruno.”
And here he was. “I came as soon as I heard,” Sebastian said, pulling up a chair. With authority in his voice, the sharp angles of his suit, and the crease in his brow, I almost felt as if I was in trouble. He sat across from us, leaned his elbows on his knees, and let the flowers sag between his knees. “Whathappened?”
25
Sebastian
Georgina and Lucianosat across from me in the vet’s waiting room gaping as if I’d just flown in on a pig. “How’s Bruno?” I asked when they didn’t respond to my earlierquestion.
Georgina flinched. “What are you doinghere?”
I’d been leaving the office when I’d decided to try Georgina one last time. Twenty-four hours earlier, I’d been buried in her in more ways than one, and now I couldn’t even get her to take my calls. “Luciano told me what happened. Or at least, the gist ofit.”
Luciano put a hand to his chest and feigned innocence to Georgina. “I only gave him the name of the hospital and the cross streets,” he told her, “but I didn’t tell him to come, Iswear.”
I couldn’t muster an ounce of offense that she didn’t want me there. Knowing what Bruno meant to her, she had to be in a world of pain. Dark circles under her eyes and goosebumps on her knees and arms told me all I needed to know. Why wasn’t she wearing acoat?
“You’re dripping . . .” Georginasaid.
I glanced down between my feet. I’d bought the bouquet in a hurry from a bodega on the way over, and the wet stems had made a puddle. I didn’t even know if shelikedroses, but it seemed like the right thing to do. “These are for you,” I said, passing them to her. “So, is there anynews?”
“Not yet,” she said, resting the bouquet in her lap. “One minute I was petting Bruno, and the next—” Her voice caught. “He. . .”
“It’s okay, just relax,” I said, standing up. My intent wasn’t to make her cry but to comfort however I could. I pulled a bag of gummy bears from my suit jacket, my other last-minute grab from the corner store. “You must be hungry,” I said. “You haven’t changed since theoffice?”
