He nodded, pulling out his phone, thumb already moving across the screen.
“There are more people coming.”
No reaction. The faint hum of the city drifted in through the windows, cars passing somewhere below.
“Raúl, who’s an old friend. He’s working with Henry, and…”Just say it.I cleared my throat. “And Ethan.”
Two perfectly groomed dark brown eyebrows lifted. “Oh.”
“You know he’s my brother-in-law too. He and Henry are very close. And we’re…”
Luca’s attention shifted back to me, the ease gone from his posture.
“We’re friends. He and I.” The words sat there, thinner than I wanted them to.
Luca held my gaze for a second longer, then gave a small nod, like he was filing it away rather than accepting it. “Of course.”
I forced a lighter tone. “It’s nothing. Just lunch.”
“Mm.” His eyes dropped back to his screen, but his thumb had gone still.
“We should get going.” I nodded toward the door. “Or we’ll be late.”
“Yeah.” He slipped it into his pocket and grabbed his bag, heading for the door.
I followed him out into the hallway as he locked up behind us, the click echoing in the quiet space before we made our way to the elevator.
It could have gone worse, all things considered.
Maybe Oliver was wrong about this.
The restaurant was packed, and we sat out on the terrace. A parasol shaded us from the sun, but the heat still pressed in. Ten minutes in, and it was already going worse than I’d expected. The noise helped, at least, as a decent distraction from the tension simmering at our table.
Luca’s eyes stayed on his phone, his expression set, thumb dragging across the screen without pause. He hadn’t said much since we left the apartment, and whatever ease had been there earlier hadn’t come back.
I shifted in my seat, the edge of the table pressing into my wrist, trying to ignore the way the silence kept stretching between us.
Two weeks ago, everything had felt… settled. Predictable. I’d been running a successful, growing business. My life moved in clean lines and controlled outcomes. Could it have used more color? Less quiet? Probably. But it worked. It was enough.
Now, sitting here, it felt like trying to force mismatched pieces together, something that might hold for a moment but would never really fit.
And the only thing that had changed was Ethan.
Work was work. Crises came and went. Being stretched thin was nothing new.
This was.
“Do you want anything else to drink?” I asked.
His glass of sparkling water sat untouched, the ice long melted. He shook his head without lifting his gaze. It wasn’t unusual for him to disappear into his screen like this. Luca andhis friends were always posting, snapping pictures, and talking nonstop. Victims of social media.
Still, something between us felt off—heavier than it should have.
“Luc—” I started, trying to salvage whatever this was before it slipped any further.
“Ash!”
Henry’s voice cut through the noise, pulling my attention. Trailing behind him were Ethan and Raúl.
