First things first. “I had a vision about Mandy. I know where she is, and I went there but wasn’t able to rescue her.”
“You what?”
“I had a vision about Mandy.”
“I heard that part. That’s not the part I’m worried about. You tried to rescue her by yourself? Hang on. I need to sit so we can talk.” Luca pulled her over to a nearby bench, and they sat. Then he turned to her, his eyebrows raised. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m telling you now.”
“Yeah, after the fact.”
“Look, I knew you’d get in trouble if you were involved.”
“Fuck that. A little girl’s life could be hanging in the balance. And holy shit, Dawn, your life may have been endangered too! You should have told me.”
“Well, excuse me, but I was a little busy earlier, trying to process that big news that you dumped in my lap about being a shape-shifting bird.”
“Phoenix.”
“Yeah, and I find this out at your brothers’ double wedding, and now, I’m sure everyone thinks we’re next, because I kissed you at the reception.” She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.
“You didn’t change anything. My mom already loves you, and if you hang in there, everyone else will too.” He grinned.
“So you don’t think your parents will be pissed off at me if we break up?”
“They’ll be pissed off at me, not you. Are we breaking up?”
“No. Of course not. I still need time to talk about your abilities with your parents, but not today.”
“I should have told you at some later time, but we were coming clean…”
“I’m glad you did tell me.”
“Good. Now it’s your turn. Tell me everything that happened from your vision to going to her rescue. And don’t leave anything out.”
Dawn filled him in on her vision and her trip to Keene Street Convenience and how she’d almost been able to rescue Mandy but was stopped by Ice and Carla.
“Shit.” Luca shook his head, his eyes laced with concern. “You could have been hurt or worse. They could have just thrown you in that storage room with Mandy and then hauled you out to a dump in the middle of nowhere and offed you.”
Dawn swallowed the lump of emotion in her throat. She’d never had someone care so much about her, other than Annette. Even her mother had cared more about getting a fix than her own daughter. On the other hand, she wasn’t used to having to answer to anyone. That kind of rankled her.
“Look, thank you for caring, but as you can see, I’m fine.” She didn’t tell him about the part when Ice leaned in for a kiss nor about the gun he had tucked into his pants.
“Thank you for caring?” Luca shook his head. “You could have been killed.”
“But I wasn’t. I got away. So it’s fine. At least I’m fine. Mandy is still stuck there. And we need to rescue her before it’s too late.”
“We will rescue her, but we’ll do it the right way. Not like some half-cocked crazy action movie or waltzing in there like Robin Hood.”
“I couldn’t let Mandy just stay there when I knew where she was.”
“You going over there only made them suspicious,” Luca countered. “For all we know, they could have moved her to another location by now.”
Dawn blew out a breath. She hadn’t thought of that. She may have jeopardized Mandy’s life. Tears sprang to her eyes. “I fucked up, didn’t I?”
“No, I understand,” Luca said, placing his hands on either side of her face. “You’re a brave woman. But I could have lost you. You mean too much to me. I don’t want you putting yourself in danger like that again.”
Luca leaned in and kissed her, underscoring what he’d just told her. When his tongue slipped along her lips, she soon forgot about their argument. His breath mingling with hers, the heat of their bodies, made her wish one of them had an apartment. She’d never felt so attracted to a guy like she did Luca. He did things to her insides that no other guy ever had. Luca pulled away from her, his blue eyes hooded, like he wanted the exact same thing she did.
