How much is it worth?
I smile as my fingers tap out a reply.
LoveLamb:
Thirty minutes of your time.
The typing bubbles pop up. Then disappear. Then reappear.
My leg starts bouncing.
Gargoth:
Okay.
Without another word, I call an Uber and leave for his house.
Thirty minutes in the car. My stomach is tight. My nerves spiked. My breathing uneven. This could go really right… or really wrong. And the uncertainty is driving me mad. I step out of the car carefully, the painting wrapped in paper, clutched in my hands.
I ring the doorbell, and Luca opens the door immediately, like he was standing right behind it, just as anxious as I am. He’s wearing jeans and a tight black t-shirt that outlines every muscle in his chest.
“Hi.”
“Hey, Em.” His voice is tired. His eyes too.
He steps away from the door and walks toward the kitchen. I follow him inside and close the door gently. The tension is thick. I don’t want to upset him again. I don’t want to see that look of hatred in his eyes like I did that night.
The look of betrayal.
He pours two glasses of water and hands me one. Before I can thank him, he turns to the nearest window and stares out at the ocean, his back to me.
“The thirty minutes started the moment I opened the door. I’d start talking if I were you,” he mutters over his left shoulder.
Shit.
So, this is what it’s like talking to the infamous Luca Walker.
I nod, place the painting on the table, and clear my throat. “The day we were supposed to get married, I was nervous. It felt right, but there was something off in my stomach I couldn’t explain. I didn’t realize what it was until I walked out of my house and saw your father waiting for me. I felt like a kid caught doing something wrong. I expected him to tell me he didn’t approve, to say something cruel. I was ready to ignore him and run to the church. But instead… he started listing where my dad worked, where my mom worked, what college Lauren went to... and then he told me how easily he could ruin our lives. I panicked.”
Luca takes a breath, his grip on the glass tight, but he doesn’t turn around.
I continue, “He said you were destined for greatness, and that I was just another girl on a long list. That I’d never be enough for you. And eventually, you’d leave me. He said if I went through with it, I’d ruin your future, that you wouldn’t work at Property Group. And you know what, Luca? I believed him. I understood. Because that’s what felt off in my gut—you had a life ahead of you, and I was the one holding you back.”
“It was my choice,” he says, his voice flat. His eyes were still on the crashing waves beyond his private beach.
“I know. But there was an empire waiting for you… and I was just a village.”
Luca finally turns around, and our eyes lock. “No, Em. You were my universe.”
I look down immediately, unable to bear the pain in his face.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I knew the moment I told you what your father did… would be the moment you stopped speaking to him forever.”
“You were right. I’m never speaking to that son of a bitch again.”
“And that’s what I was afraid of, Luca.”
