I don’t know what I expected. A sleek bachelor pad, maybe. Cold chrome and black marble, something impersonal and glossy. But this? This is a cathedral of luxury.
Every surface gleams like it’s been hand-polished by angels. The floors are veined marble, flawless and cool under my scuffed sneakers. The ceilings soar, impossibly high, with recessed lighting that makes everything glow gold.
Floor-to-ceiling windows display the entire Manhattan skyline like it belongs to him and likehebelongs to it. The furniture is modern, curated, expensive in that subtle,you couldn’t afford to breathe near itkind of way.
It doesn’t just look expensive. It looksuntouchable.
I’ve never felt more out of place in my life.
I feel like I’m trespassing in someone else’s dream. A dream where I don’t belong. Like I stepped out of the shadows into a story that was never meant to include me, and somehow, I’m still here. Still breathing. Still held gently in Luca’s orbit like I won’t be tossed out the second the spell breaks.
“Wow,” I murmur, unable to hide it.
Luca says nothing at first, just watches me. And I swear, if he doesn’t stop looking at me like that, I might melt straight into the floor.
“I’ve never been somewhere so beautiful,” I say softly, but the word feels too small for what I mean.
It’s not just the space. It’s how it makes me feel, like I’ve been plucked from my ordinary life and dropped into someone else’s fantasy. One with gold trim and silent air conditioning and enough elegance to make me want to stand still, so I don’t break anything.
“It’s…” I trail off, struggling for the word. “Perfect.”
“It’s just a place,” he says quietly. “You’re what’s beautiful in it.”
My face flames. I turn away, too overwhelmed to look at him.
But then a new thought creeps in.
He brought me here. After everything. After that kiss, those kisses. After I came apart in his arms, and he didn’t.
A flush creeps up my neck. Is that why I’m here? To finish what I started?
I turn to him slowly, fingers brushing the hem of my dress. “I can… if you want, I mean, I could…”
I step closer, hands reaching for his belt, trying to undo the silver buckle. It’s clumsy, hesitant. but he stops me, gently catching my wrists.
“Erin.”
I can’t look at him. “I just thought, you brought me here. And earlier, I… but you didn’t…”
I don’t know how to say it.
“You think I want something in return,” he says, voice low.
I nod.
He tilts my chin up until I have no choice but to meet his eyes.
“I meant it when I said you’re here to rest. That’s all. You’ve had enough taken from you today. I’m not adding to that.”
My heart clenches. I didn’t even realize how much I needed to hear that until now.
He releases me only to walk to a drawer and hand me a neatly folded shirt, black, soft, and far too big.
“Shower’s through there. Take your time.”
I take the shirt with numb fingers. “Thank you,” I whisper.
He gives a single nod, then turns away to give me privacy.
