Nova is either naïve or in denial. Either way, discussing it any further seems irrelevant.
“If you’re upset about what happened in the basement, maybe you should ask Luca,” Ashton says. He finishes the slice of pizza and wipes his hands on a napkin, his dark gaze staring right through me.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“Luca was the one doing the questioning. He interrogated Kensley.”
The air leaves my lungs, and I can’t breathe. “Where can I find Luca?”
“We both have philosophy after lunch. You can walk with me. I normally run into him on the way to class.”
After lunch and before my next class, I ambush Luca on his way to philosophy. Turns out, both his class and my statistics class are in the same direction.
Ashton gets the hint and falls behind a few paces, letting me catch up with Luca and allowing us some semblance of privacy.
“You look frosty,” Luca says, glancing at me.
“I’m steaming,” I snarl and fall in step with him. “You interrogated Kensley?”
Luca clears his throat. “That’s a bit harsh a word. I questioned her.”
“She has marks on her arms. She was restrained,” I say and grab Luca’s arms, stopping him from walking any farther. I need answers.
“I didn’t put her in that chair, Moreno did. I just asked the questions.”
“You also didn’t let her go,” I say, guessing he wasn’t there to save her.
Luca shrugs.
I hate that I’m right, that he found it necessary to interrogate her because of me.
“Did you hurt her?” My hand remains firmly planted on his arm.
He yanks away from my touch. “No!” Luca huffs and takes a step back.
I wait to see if he’s going to run away from me, but he doesn’t. He stands there, avoiding my harsh stare. His gaze is on the ground and then his feet. “She knew things. You told her about my family.”
I inhale sharply. “I didn’t have a choice.”
His gaze lifts to meet mine. It’s filled with fury. “There’s always a choice.”
“Right. Like I could have asked you for a bus pass and money to get my ass out of town.” I roll my eyes at him, annoyed that he thinks spilling that secret came easy to me. I was terrified for Kensley, but I did what I thought was best for all of us.
He still doesn’t see that.
Instead, he’s fueled with rage and hatred toward me.
“I told you, anywhere you run, my family will find you.”
Turns out, he was right about that. Luca and Ashton managed to track me down. “I should have paid in cash,” I mutter.
Luca growls and invades my personal space, his hand on my hip. “You should have told me your plan. I could have helped you escape.”
“But you just said?—”
“I know, but I would have led them astray.”
I pull away from him. “I don’t believe you,” I say. “You kept telling me there wasn’t another choice. Anywhere I run, they’ll find me. Your family has friends in other cities, states, probably other countries.”
